In “The Outsiders” by S.E Hinton, we are introduced to a wide range of characters whose actions and personalities are widely affected by the environment in which they grew up in. This is a very pervasive theme in the book, as the main element of the story is the rivalry between the street gangs “The Socs” (short for Socials), and “The Greasers' ' In Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Socs are depicted as a gang of well-off rich kids who aren’t afraid to show it off, and the Greasers are the polar opposite of this, most of the Greaers grew up impoverished, without one or both of their parents, or grew up in abusive households. This dynamic and disparancy between the individuals of the gangs leads to some interesting interactions between the characters.
In the novel ‘How to Bee’, written by Bren MacDibble, there is a hierarchy among people based on their social status. The novel focuses mainly on the differences between the city and the country. The hierarchy takes its toll on ‘Peony’ (MacDibble 2017, p. 1), the narrator, when she is forced to leave her farm for the city and work for the ‘Urbs’ (MacDibble 2017, p. 28). The place where you reside in How to Bee (MacDibble, 2017) determines your place in the hierarchy. Peony describes the homeless as ‘raggy people’ (MacDibble 2017, p. 55).
(Twain 223). Here the “n word” is used to show that African Americans weren’t considered people at all, but property, and the loss of an African American life was viewed as insignificant. The book appropriately uses the “n word” to spotlight the inequitable treatment of African
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.
In the 1920’s, the largely wealthy white community was deemed superior to the lower class. In ‘The Great Gatsby’, Nick acknowledges that some people are born with, “a sense of the fundamental decencies [that] is parcelled out unequally at birth” (pg. 7). This is a metaphor, and it highlights the idea that social class is not solely determined by wealth or material possessions, but also by the intangible qualities and values that one is born into. An illustration of this is protagonist Jay Gatsby, a self-made businessman who makes a fortune by unlawful means. Despite his wealth, the Old Money elite still see him as an outsider and despise him for his lack of social standing.
Colson Whitehead’s novel The Nickle Boys explores how the actions of other people affect the interactions the main characters, Elwood and Turner, have with the racial and social hierarchies. In part one of the novel, The Nickle Boys, Elwood learns from his new teacher, Mr. Hill, that you must not let the racial hierarchy get in your way of being successful. Chapter 3 begins with the students at Lincoln High School receiving used textbooks from the white school across the road.
When students are unaware of the history of social class, they begin to believe false information, such as, poor people deserve to be poor. Loewen does a great job of pointing out student’s misunderstanding of social status and strongly believes that it is the high school text books to
Elwood is the leading character of the book as he discovers what life is like on campus and what all happens behind closed doors. Both Elwood and Turner are black and face lots of racism. The Nickel Boys is based on a real reform school
Becoming Aware of your surroundings The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead is a novel about a fourteen year old boy named Elwood, a standout student, who is wrongfully arrested and sent to a correctional center called Nickel Academy. Throughout Elwood’s life he is faced with many injustices. Elwood becomes aware of himself after being taken advantage of at the hotel, he then becomes aware of society after being wrongfully arrested for stealing a car, and he finally becomes aware of the environment at Nickel after being wrongfully beaten. These injustices make Elwood become aware of himself, society and the environment.
The Nickel Boys Essay In the novel The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, racism against black people is a constant topic that the author embraces. Throughout this essay, I will talk about how racism was a big part of this novel, how this influenced people’s mindset to think that white people were in control of black people or felt they had a certain power over them, and how this impacted the treatment they had over black people. The setting of this novel, which is the Nickel Academy, portrays these topics because this was the housemen’s behaviour towards the black boys. From my point of view, the part I found most racist was when Elwood Curtis was sent to this academy for a false accusation of stealing a car.
In his method of trying to get through the ranks by simply following the school's rules, he's stopped following his passion. This highlights the importance of resistance in situations of oppression and injustice. While it may seem easier to comply and go along with the rules, this led to a loss of Elwood’s true self and values. Once he has recovered his mental strength, he makes a connection between his circumstances and those of history, as well as Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches and words. When considering telling the truth about the school to the inspectors, Elwood remembers, "They had whipped Elwood.
When Elwood first arrives at Nickel he needs to adjust to a new perspective on the world. After having been brutally beaten, Elwood begins to change. “ Elwood’s beating at the white house had him scarred all over, not just his legs. It had weeviled deep into his personality”(Whitehead 121). This quote is important because it describes how Elwood tries his best to resist Nickel’s ways and stay true to his morals.
“It was a triumph for the whole community” (Ellison 2). But when he arrived at the ballroom where the “smoker” was being held he was herded into an elevator with nine other black boys like him. “I didn't care too much for the other fellows who were to take part” (Ellison 2). He resented them, considering himself superior to them, after all he had been invited there to read his graduation speech, besides he “suspected that fighting a battle royal might detract from the dignity of [his] speech” (Ellison 2). They resented him too, since one of their own had lost the money he would have earned for that night’s event because the narrator had replaced him.
Amara Crook Harmon—L202 Major Paper 3 Clever Title Countee Cullen’s “Incident” explores the concept of unprovoked and unwarranted racism through the eyes of an eight-year-old boy. In his short yet powerful poem, Cullen uses a single incident in which a young boy “riding through old Baltimore” (1) is singled out and called the N-word by another very small child, despite having done or said nothing to offend the boy. Although this incident is clearly hurtful, why is this incident in particular so important?
The first example we see in the novel that portrays social class are the islands of East Egg, West Egg, and the Valley of Ashes. Nick is a member of the new money class and describes West Egg as being, “the less fashionable of the two, though is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a
