The Outsiders Comparative Essay

Comparing Divergent and The Outsiders

Divergent is a dystopian novel that talks about societal divisions and struggles with discovering ourselves, it's through the eyes of a teenage girl in a corrupted world. The Outsiders is a realistic fiction that shows the issues with stereotypes and barriers when defining ourselves, it's told from a teenage boy point of view as he struggles with misconceptions and grief. They may seem vastly distinct, but really aren’t. Although Divergent and The Outsiders have their differences they have much more similarities, they both expose how our society's morals impact humanity and individuality. Divergent tells the story of a teenage girl called Beatrice, she lives in a world divided by factions. At sixteen

They are constantly judged just for the label society puts on them, being forced into a box of what everyone expects them to be. It's told from the perspective of Ponyboy, a 14 year old boy that has recently lost his parents and lives in a lower class neighborhood with his two older brothers, Darry and SodaPop. Greasers are frequently jumped and attacked by Socs, the rich snob kids, in one of these attacks Johnny, part of Ponyboy’s gang, panics after they try to drown Pony and stabs Bob (a Soc), they run away with Dally’s help (a Greaser), to an abandoned church in a city nearby. They spend a few days there, until the church catches on fire with kids inside, Johnny and Ponyboy jump in to save them, successfully, but Johnny is taken to the hospital in critical condition. During Johnny's stay, everyone is scared to lose him since he was such a special part of the group and themselves. A few days later the Greasers get in a rumble with the Socs, and win. Sadly Johnny dies, leaving the whole gang lost and in sorrow, Johnny was everyone’s little brother, and suddenly he is gone, but before he does, he tells Ponyboy to “stay gold” meaning to keep his innocence and naivety from the brutal reality. Dally enters a gunfight with the police and is shot dead bringing more grief to the gang, we also see a shift in Ponyboys attitude,

Both have to deal with grief and loss, and in both stories the main character goes through some type of war, either literal or emotional. The themes of these stories are also very similar. Both books have to do with society norms, in Divergent is the division of the factories and that's what defines you, you are stuck in a box with a destiny already chosen, “how will you think, what will you do”. In The Outsiders it's the same, everyone is heavily induced by stereotypes and how a person of a certain group should act, again you have no control of being yourself because it doesn't matter what you do everyone will only see your