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The Attitudes Of Society In The Outsiders, By Harper Lee

724 Words3 Pages

The society that we live in today influences our lives in ways that we don’t even realize in everyday life. For example, we often look down upon people who are simply just not like the rest. Kind of like the Greasers in the book, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. The Socs terrorize and look down upon the Greasers because of the attitude of society that has always been there. Or in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, where Tom Robinson wasn’t believed by the jury just because he was simply a black man. These are all people who suffered as a result of the attitude in society. Ponyboy, the main character from S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders, is one of these people who sees’ this and suffers from it. The Socs love to jump the Greasers and hurt the …show more content…

He gets beat up by a gang of Socs for the first time. Ponyboy has the classic “greaser hair” which automatically makes him fish food for the piranhas in a Corvair. If Ponyboy didn’t have that hair or dressed the way he did, Pony would’ve probably gotten home safe without a scratch on him. “We’re gonna do you a favor, greaser. We’re gonna cut all that long greasy hair off” (5). Another way that Ponyboy suffers as a result of the attitude of society is the fact that he lost Johnny because of all of the fights between the Socs and Greasers. Johnny and Pony get jumped by a gang of drunk Socs which leads to Pony’s head being held underwater and Johnny stabs Bob Sheldon, the “leader” of the Soc gang, in self defense to stop them from drowning Pony. Johnny and Pony have to run away because Johnny just killed someone and they …show more content…

That character would be Tom Robison from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom Robinson was a black man who got accused of raping Mayella Ewell. This book was set in Alabama in the 1930s, so there is a lot of racial discrimination against every person of color, but mainly black people. Atticus is chosen to defend Tom for the trail and Atticus wants to try his hardest with the case. Therefore causes backlash on the Finch family. People were calling Atticus foul names referring to Tom. “He’s nothin’ but a n*-lover” (94). Almost everyone discriminated against black people because of the past history of slaves still being quite fresh. To even acknowledge black people back then was super frowned upon by society. The verdict of the very long trial was guilty. For a black man to win a case was very rare back then. Tom went to jail leaving his wife and kids. Tom got himself killed in jail because, what I think, it was better to be dead than to face a lifetime of scorn for a crime he didn’t do. “Tom’s dead” (268). Tom died because of the prejudices, discrimination, and stereotypes that were seamlessly a part of society for hundreds of

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In the beginning the book ponyboy grows up hating the Socs. The Socs have have all the power and money and ponyboy hates them for this and also hates them because they are always picking on and fighting greasers. They do this because they think that they they’re better than the greasers. He hates them even more after he gets jumped. “I fought to get

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(pg. 74) Ponyboy knows that if he goes home, he can avoid being caught by the police and avoid being punished for a crime Johnny did. He stays with Johnny even though they are stuck in an old church for over a week. Ponyboy even shaved and bleached his hair to disguise himself even though he didn’t need disguising.

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Using Cherry and Ponyboy’s similarities, the relationship of the Curtis brothers, and the reason for Bob’s actions the author gradually helped the readers understand this. All of these characters had similar aspects of being misunderstood and cursed with their title of being a Greaser or Soc. Even in today’s world people can live by this rule of not judging others based on their appearance; like, ethnicity, religion, place of origin, or sex. This book teaches all of us that when we divide ourselves and our communities nothing will change and hate and discrimination will continue. Before judging someone, allow yourself to put yourself in their shoes and understand who they are.

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They run away to an abandoned church which burns down and Johnny is hurt when saving the kids inside. When Johnny is taken to the hospital, Pony reunites with his brothers, the greasers and the Socs have a huge rumble, he gets to know Randy, and Johnny and Dally die. Throughout the novel, Ponyboy’s views and

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The main character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is Atticus Finch, a middle aged man living in Maycomb Alabama. Even though he is a southerner he isn’t racist and he believes that everyone should be treated equal, Atticus teaches his children empathy and not to discriminate against other people, he does his by telling them “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Even though Atticus treats everyone as equals he gets affected by the town and their prejudice way of thinking. Because Atticus accepts Tom Robinsons case he gets called a “nigger lover” and him and his children get treated differently by the town.

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Even after the trial and Tom is found guilty, Atticus was still getting treated poorly by some people. Bob Ewell sees Atticus walking down the street and walks up to him and starts cursing him out. After he was done cursing him out, he spat in his face, Atticus just wiped his face and walked off. This is another example of racism affecting people because if Tom was white, Atticus deciding to defend him would have been normal No one would have treated Atticus differently like

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HINTON, 3. According to the text in chapter 4 it says that Johnny and Pony are walking in the Socs territory and they end up seeing the Socs Pony boy and Johnny got into an argument and pony ended up spitting on one of the Socs they get into a fight and they try to drown pony and Johnny sees his friend getting beaten up and grabs a switchblade and stabs on the Socs named Bob and when pony wakes up he is shocked to find Johnny holding a knife with blood and bob lying- in pool of blood. HINTON 24.From the reading I can predict that Pony Boy will be in the denial stage and not accept that his innocent johny killed a person, so Pony boy will do anything to help himself and Johnny, So they go looking for Dally for help because dally is cold and tough he can help people who might need help with dirty work so dally sends them out of the city to go hide in a church, Pony boy and Johnny will be hiding because if they are seen again they are afraid they will be jailed for the rest of their lives and they learn to survive as friends

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Tom is a black man who lives in a time where many people consider Blacks as inferior. Blacks had a very small chance of winning a case in court. Most of the juries were made up of white men who only worried about getting rid of Blacks and nothing else. They would convict a black man even if all of the evidence pointed to him being innocent, especially if the case had anything to do with a white woman. Black men were not even allowed to offer their hand to a white woman without being accused of rape.

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When he was falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell, "Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed." (241). This shows the injustice and racism Tom experienced because he did not get a fair trial because the jury could not look past the fact that he was black from the start. The town assumed he was a criminal because of the color of his skin. Tom was killed while trying to escape prison.

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Ponyboy lived with his two brothers Darry and Sodapop after his parents were killed in a car accident. Ponyboy had some friends in the gang: Steve, Two-Bit, Dally but his best friend was a boy named Johnny who was considered the gang`s mascot. Ponyboy was a boy who always wanted to be tough but an accident that happened in the story might make him change of mind on what he wanted to be. He also finds a way of how to finish the gang that was taking place from many tima.

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In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus takes on the case of Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape. He is repeatedly

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He could take anything. It was Johnny I was worried about.” He knows how frightened and anxious Johnny is after being jumped and how he is not as tough as the rest of the Greasers. Especially without a loving family at home, Johnny only has the gang and is not able to take as much. Throughout the whole novel, Ponyboy expresses how much he cares for others both with Johnny, and

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The only physical evidence is a choke mark, yet the all-white jury decides that Tom is guilty unanimously. Although the evidence is mostly circumstantial, the jury follows their beliefs and votes for the black man to be convicted. These scenes can thoroughly show the disgust the white townsfolk had for Mr.

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Similarly to Christ, he was falsely accused and lost his life. Naturally a gentle person, Tom simply tried to do what he thought was best: “Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her” (Page 125). The victim of those who were biased against him, he was victimized as the result of another person's issues. His death was not without purpose, however, and it illustrated the abominable racism that existed during the time in which the novel takes place.

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Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth.” Scout understands that, despite evidence of the contrary, the white jury will believe a white person instead of a black person"(Champion). Even though Tom was innocent just because he wasn 't white he was set to die the moment he stepped into the courtroom. If people saw past his skin color and actually looked at the evidence. Tom would 've been a free man and wouldn 't have had to die.

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