The Outsiders Comparative Essay

In the world, people are sometimes judged by others, and this can make them feel like they don’t belong because of how society treats them. Ponyboy in The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and the speaker in the poem “I Look at the World” by Langston Hughes are both segregated and judged. In The Outsiders, Ponyboy, the main character, is a greaser. The greasers are poor and lower class compared to the Socs, who are higher class and rich. The Socs treat the greasers unfairly because of their socioeconomic status. Similarly, the speaker in the poem “I Look at the World” explains how he is separated from others, and how he is ready to stand up for himself and others. Ponyboy from The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and the speaker of the poem “I Look at the World”

Ponyboy Curtis and the speaker of the poem both feel separated. Ponyboy is a fourteen year old boy who lives with his two older brothers, Sodapop and Darry. Ponyboy, Sodapop, and Darry are and live in a neighborhood of greasers. When Ponyboy goes to a drive-in movie theater, he meets a girl named Cherry, who is a Soc. In the story, Cherry says “ ‘I know,’ … ‘but we’d better go with them. Ponyboy…I mean…if I see you in the hall at school or someplace and don’t say hi, well, it’s not personal or anything, but…’ ‘I know,’ [Ponyboy] said. ‘We couldn’t let our parents see us with you all…’ ” (Hinton 45-46). In this quotation, Cherry is explaining to Ponyboy that she doesn’t want him to feel offended if she doesn’t talk to him in public. Cherry’s speech about how she won’t interact with Ponyboy publicly reveals why Ponyboy feels separated from the Socs. S.E. Hinton uses the phrase “we couldn’t let our parents see us with you guys.” This shows how Cherry and other Socs feel like they have to be separated from

In the beginning of the story, Ponyboy goes to the movie house all by himself, even though he knows he should have gone with someone in his gang. As Ponyboy is walking back from the movies, he gets jumped by five Soc boys. Ponyboy explains to the reader that “One of them laughed, then cussed me out in a low voice. I couldn’t think of anything to say. There just isn’t a whole lot you can say while waiting to get mugged, so I kept my mouth shut” (Hinton 5). In this quotation, Ponyboy is explaining how he was frightened and felt like he had no control over the situation. The position that Ponyboy is in reveals how society mistreats people different from them because of their differences. S.E. Hinton used the word “mugged” which means to be attacked and robbed by someone. This shows how some people in society badly react to someone who is different from them. Along the same lines, the speaker of the poem “I Look at the World” deals with cruel actions when people see him. Because of his race, society treats him poorly. The speaker expresses this in the poem when it states “That all these walls oppression builds” (Hughes 9). In these lines, the speaker is explaining how society mistreats him over and over with cruelty. This explanation reveals how the speaker has to deal with unjust treatment just when people look at him. Langston Hughes used the word