Stereotypes can be the most dangerous when people start listening. Just as greasers did when referred to as “dangerous”. In this scene, Ponyboy is getting taken to a hospital after literally saving children’s lives from the burning church and the school teacher praises him for his heroics, “Mrs. O’Briant and I think you were sent from heaven.” “No we’re just greasers” (Hinton 95). I chose this quote because this shows that throughout their lives no matter how heroic they were, they were always thought as thugs or people who are of a lower class and there are so many stereotypes surrounding that. Furthermore, I separate text that I collected greater relates to the stereotypes in modern day and how they can affect someone.

    Sometimes, we think that our world is flawless in the terms of stereotypes because we think that they have been happening for so long that surely we would have come to an open minded conclusion. Well, a lot of the times,, that isn’t the case. But not all stories are ones of sorrow. There are people out there who are willing to make the difference to support others instead of silently judge them. And those people are the people who make all of the difference. An article is about a football team from a correctional facility who are similar to greasers in the modern day. These boys are used to people crossing the street when they walk by so when they get cheered on by another team during a game they are shocked. The article is called, Gainesville state high school football gets the best gift of all; hope. and is written by, Rick Reilly link to it is here. After the game the article slides in, “The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said,” “You’ll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know.” (Reilly). This piece of evidence allows you to get a view into how something so simple could mean so much to someone. Not following the foot pattern of stereotypes seems so easy and almost bare minimum. But stereotypes are blotchy and hard to predict so the supporting people are the ones who could change somebody’s life without ever realizing it. all in all, we realize that as Mahatma Gandhi said, we need to be the change we wish to see in the world. Away from greasers, socs, preps, hoods, geek, dorks, and everything in between. 

We are our own people. We don’t have to fit anyone’s perched reality of us. Be you not for others but for yourself. The entirety of this short novel is based upon these ideas of stereotypes and how they can dig into our daily lives. We are all victims whether we realize it or not which is a hard thing to think about. However, we can’t just solve all of our problems with a wave from a magic wand. We play a larger role than we realize so you need to ask yourself, what are you doing to brighten up someone’s day, to make someone’s life that much better by listening.

The Outsiders talks about stereotypes and here is an example. Pony and Cherry are opening up to each other and talking about bob and his group. At this time Pony still thinks all socs are rich and have everything easy but then he starts thinking to himself that maybe we’re all the same. “It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset.”

Pg. 35. It shows that though these kids are divided by stereotypes in the end we are all just people living life and we shouldn’t let stereotypes dictate our life. This passage shows that stereotypes are something that happens in real life and not only in the outsiders. This passage talks about the racist stereotypes towards people of color. From “brute” to “thug:” the demonization and criminalization of ...

ww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Written by the Department of Justice Studies, This passage talks about how people of color are often racially stereotyped as “thugs” and “brutes”  “Misconceptions and prejudices manufactured and disseminated through various channels such as the media included references to a “brute” image of Black males. In the 21st century, this negative imagery of Black males have frequently utilized the negative connotation of the terminology “thug.” It connects because it talks about people being stereotype just like in The Outsiders. The Outsiders and this passage 

are connected because we learn that stereotypes often tear people apart. Families towns aven countries or the world itself. It tells us that stereotypes are a real-world thing and not only in the book. I think reading the outsiders could help someone who wasn’t well acquainted with the stereotypes many people face in life every day, understand them more. In the book, the greasers often get called names like “🤬”, “🤬 with grease” or the main name “greasers”. This article also talks about stereotypes towards black people and how racists and people who stereotype them sometimes call them “thugs” or “brutes. In the end, we realize that we’re all just humans and should be treated equally. Even though our skin color may be different or our amount of money were all humans living life and we shouldn’t let stereotypes divide us.

    The outsiders is a great example of how a basic person can do courageous and kind actions. In the book when Ponyboy,Dally and Johnny are just about to leave DQ to go back to the rest of the greasers Ponyboy sees that the church that he and Johnny were at was on fire caused by a cigarette the boys had dropped. After arriving Ponyboy is told there are children trapped inside of the church and he immediately goes into the church to save them along with Johnny. The line, “ Don’t worry,I’ll get them”(page 91) that ponyboy says to the man shows that he has the courage to help others before himself. When the ponyboy finds the children he says, “We are going to get you out”(page 92) which shows his devotion and that he is willing to help others for their own needs.Finally,after he is brought to the hospital because he was burnt,he is told by the man that he was a true hero showing that a basic greaser like him can do amazing things. 

    The Outsiders is not the only thing that can compare to the theme of being a basc person and doing courageous actions. In the New York times there is an article called, “Helping one another during the pandemic” By Marie tae McDermott that has a great example of doing caring actions for others and thinking of others before yourself. Some examples of stories are volunteers loading vehicles at food distribution for people who could use the extra food without having to pay money for their needs. This example shows acts of kindness because people are volunteering to help others before themselves. Also in this article are stories from the readers telling about how they helped around their community with actions such as giving toilet paper to a person in a neighboring apartment. 

    In conclusion,there are many ways to connect the outsiders and current events with the theme of caring for others and thinking of them. As Charles Dickens says, “ A little goes a long way” showing how small changes can make a big difference. How can you step up and help someone else with their needs?    

In the Outsiders book,  there is a conflict between the Socs and the Greasers. The theme of violence is never the answer was revealed after the Greasers had beaten the Socs in the rumble. Ponyboy looks around and sees this, “I did a double take when I first saw Two-Bit — blood was streaming down one side of his face and one hand was busted wide open” after the Greasers had won the rumble. “Useless... fighting's no good” - page 148. These quotes connects to the theme of violence is never the answer because the Greasers were doing the rumble for Johnny yet when they went to go tell him the good news that they had won, he replies saying it was useless. Also, the rumble didn’t resolve anything because Johnny still passed away and the greasers were injured.

Pursuing this further, nearly 55 years later, this theme continues with the Insurrection on the Capital text. In the Insurrection on the Capital text, there is a conflict between civilians who think the results of the presidential election weren’t accurate, and the Congress. The theme of violence is never the answer is shown after the Capital gets stormed. In the Insurrection on the Capital article by Ted Barrett and Manu Raju, civilians who were contesting the election results stormed the Capital while the congress was conforming the electoral votes. Later that night when the Capital was secured, congress men and women returned to the Capital to finish what they had started. "Today, a shameful assault was made on our democracy. It was anointed at the highest level of government. It cannot, however, deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden," Polosi said. Mitch McConnell said "[The]United States Senate will not be intimidated. We will not be kept out of this chamber by thugs, mobs or threats." The evidence connects to the theme because the goal of the rioters and protesters was to disturb the conforming of the electoral votes. The senators did not let the rioters and protesters intimidate them and they returned to the senate the same night and finished conforming the electoral votes. Henceforth, the Outsiders book and the insurrection on the Capital article convey a very similar theme. 

The theme of violence is never the answer is a big idea in both the insurrection on the Capital article and the Outsiders book. In both texts, there is a conflict between two groups and they choose to use violence to resolve their problems. In both scenarios, the violence doesn’t solve their issues, but leaves more harm done. In the Outsiders book the Greasers and the Socs have a conflict and in the insurrection on the capital article, the rioters and the congressmen and women have a conflict. In both situations, the violence only caused more issues such as injuries and even deaths and the conflict was still left unresolved.

In conclusion, violence is never the answer whether it’s in a modern day article or in a realistic fiction book. How could the conflicts in both texts have been resolved differently if the groups had abstained from using violence?

Throughout the outsiders book there are many examples of fights and disagreements between the greasers and socs. In this quote from The Outsiders Randy is talking to Ponyboy before the rumble and states, “you can't win, even if you whip us. You’ll still be where you were before—at the bottom...we’ll forget it if you win, or if you don't. Greasers will still be greasers and socs will still be socs. Sometimes I think it's the ones in the middle that are really the lucky stiffs.”- (Hinton117). This connects because it talks about the cycle of violence present throughout the whole outsiders book. And no matter the outcome of the rumble, things will stay the same because they are following along with the violence and not stopping it. The last line of the quote is also showing that the people not participating in the violence are the lucky ones because they don't get caught up in stereotypical greaser vs soc fights. It is also shown in the book that they have trouble overcoming all the violence in their lives making it so they become very overwhelmed at times. One of the only people we see in the book who decides to step away from all the fighting is Randy when he doesn’t go to the rumble.

“Boston is diverse— it's just really segregated.” This quote is from Sheena Collier, who was pursuing a master's degree at Harvard in boston. Boston is very segregated in terms of communities where people live. Most of Boston’s black residents only live in three neighborhoods. This artical, How Has Boston Gotten Away With Segregation For So Long by Cathrine Elton talks about the long history of segregation from Boston’s government programs and housing discrimination. In 1933 the federal Home Owners Loan Corporation, also called HOLC was made. It was where many major cities were broken up into small segments, and then rated based on whether they were likely to increase or decrease in value. In the criteria for sorting areas into the categories were the races and ethnicities of the areas inhabitants. Despite Roxburys good transportation, schools, and jobs. It was given a bad rating due to the amount of blacks living there. This is one of the many government programs that helped establish and maintain segregation in Boston. This connects with the theme because it shows one of the  many government programs that continued segregation in boston. Which helped maintain the cycle of segregation in Boston.

Overall, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and the article, How Has Boston Gotten Away With Segregation For So Long by Cathrine Elton connect because they both deal with cycles in society that everyone needs to break through. In the outsiders there is a cycle of violence that takes place throughout the book. While in Boston and the rest of the world, there is a large cycle of segregation that has started in the past but continues today with no clear way to resolve it. Because the truth is, there is no easy way to just stop segregation and it will take much more time and effort to fully resolve it. 

People around the world are suffering from power and poverty and some people don’t recognize it “That's why people don't ever think to blame the Socs and are always ready to jump on us. We look hoody and they look decent. It could be just the other way around—half the hoods I know are pretty decent guys underneath all that grease, and from what I've heard, a lot of Socs are just cold-blooded mean—but people usually go by looks. (S.E Hinton, 141) People judge people on how they look instead of how they act and not understand the situation that they are in, people are getting stereotyped on how good they look without even getting to know them.

The rich and powerful are able to act selfishly and not suffer the consequences. Poverty, Broken Homes, Violence: The Making of a Gang Member by Robert T Muller shows that power is uncontrollable. “Several risk factors have been identified that increase the likelihood that a teen will join a gang including the presence of gangs in the neighborhood, having gang members in the family already, histories of sexual or physical abuse, growing up in poverty.” Some people might not have a choice and some do, but most of the time people join gangs because they are poor or in the lower class like the greasers. More than 5000 people have been killed in California for the last decade.

something I’ve heard people saying is that “we are all equal” After reading the outsiders and connecting it with power and poverty i realized that you can’t buy happiness 

Like Eric writes in The Value of Selflessness, “if we lived in a world where everyone was only out for themselves and never acting selflessly, arguably no one would be happy.” So what is Selflessness? Selflessness is putting someone else before yourself, someone you may not even know; a stranger. It is, as described in The Value of Selflessness, “it’s less self. In practicing this trait, we take some time to think of our self [sic] less, and we think of everyone else more.” These little acts of kindness are precious. When was the last time someone unexpected helped you? When faced with someone in need, will you hesitate to help them?

(SPOILER ALERT)

Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade, characters from the novel The Outsiders, did not. They immediately rushed into the burning church to try to find and save those kids. Being selfless isn't always as easy as helping someone pick up some papers or hold the door for the person behind you. Sometimes, helping others means risking themselves. By saving the kids, Pony, Johnny, and Dally were subject to physical harm from bruises and burns to a broken back and other injuries that ultimately led to Johnny’s death. Pony also dealt with mental tolls, dealing with grief and denial that had an impact on his behaviour, attitude and grades in school. “‘What I like is the ‘turn’ bit,’ Two-Bit said, cleaning the egg up off the floor. ‘Y’all were heroes from the beginning. You just didn’t ‘turn’ all of a sudden.’” This is what Two-Bit, a member of their gang, thinks when he sees the newspaper headline: Juvenile Delinquents Turn Heroes. No one else sees a problem in the headline, simply because the usual heroic acts of Johnny and Ponyboy aren’t noticed and appreciated by the general public.

Although you may think that The Outsiders is just a fictional story that is exaggerated and unrealistic, many people make selfless choices everyday. Think about the frontline workers for COVID-19. They could have chosen to stay at home with their families and worry about buying toilet paper and hand sanitizer instead of working to help people with coronavirus. They could have chosen to put their families health before the health of others. Not many people realize that having so many frontline workers tirelessly working is a privilege we should be grateful for. Matt Kristoffersen writes in his article, For Many Frontline Health Workers, COVID-19 Comes with an Emotional Toll, that a 40-year-old nurse writes “the look of sheer confusion and disappointment on his face has stayed with me all of these weeks. I cannot get that image out of my head,” when describing how she felt when keeping her young son from hugging her after she came home from work.

Being selfless is not an easy task and it is not always safe. But being selfless is a choice we make. Despite all that happened, at the end of the day, Johnny writes in his letter to Pony, “listen, I don’t mind dying now. It’s worth it. It’s worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for. Some of their parents came by to thank me and I know it was worth it.”  

There are several examples of violence in the outsiders. One example that I thought had some unneeded violence was on pg 55 when randy & bobs gang approached Johnny and Ponyboy and attacked them. Bob states “You could use a bath, greaser. And a good working over. And we’ve got all night to do it. Give the kid a bath, David.” This violence was not needed. It proves violence is not the answer because Bob started the violence and got killed because of it.

The article that I found is this New York Times article(https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/12/us/capitol-mob-timeline.html). In this article it talks about how people stormed the capital to protest against the results of the votes. They used violence while storming the capital. I chose this article because there was unneeded violence in this situation like the unneeded violence in the Outsiders.

The article relates to the outsiders because there was unneeded violence in both of these situations. By comparing the two we learn that people chose violence over being peaceful and there was a price to pay. The thing that is similar between the article and the book is in both situations people used needless violence to solve their problems. The thing that is different between them is that the violent protesters were protesting something, but in the outsiders there was no reason for Bob & Randy’s gang to attack Johnny and Pony. Reading the outsiders helps us understand that needless violence can happen if people don’t think about their actions.

In the book outsider the Socs and Greasers are always violent with each other they never tried to use their words.  Whenever there was any disagreements or arguments they would solve them by fighting each other in violent ways.  After watching the video Bryan Stevenson on kids in the criminal justice system, By Bryan Stevenson. I learned that violence is never the answer and can lead to horrible things happening to children. Bryan Stevenson talks about what could happen to kids that commit crimes at young ages and how much time they could spend in prison. For example, “250,00 children are serving very long prison sentences for crimes they committed under the age of 18.” This connects to the theme because it shows what violence can do to young children and what it could lead to. This also connects to the theme because the video was about the criminal justice system, it talks about crimes and violence can cause for all of these kids that did so.

These 2 texts are very similar and different in their own ways. They both connect to the theme violence is never the answer. The book The Outsider and On kids in the Criminal Justice Systems are similar because they both contain violence in the Outsiders it is happening in the moment, but the video was talking about what violence could lead to. What happened in the outsiders really connected to the video because that was what could have happened to Johnny after he killed Bob. 

So what would have happened to Johnny in The Outsiders if he didn’t die? Would he have been in prison? Would it have been self defense?

    Ponyboy Curtis from The Outsiders has shown pride toward being a greaser throughout his story in a few ways. When Ponyboy and Cherry Valance are talking when they’re watching a movie they start talking about being greasers and socs, Cherry says “You’re more emotional. We’re sophisticated-cool to the point of not feeling anything.” (pg. 38). This quote shows how pride can affect Ponys judgment. Before talking with Cherry, Pony looked at his life through a lens showing him how the only characteristics of greasers and socs are that socs are mean and rich and greasers are nice and poor, which really isn’t true.

Ger Duany had been through so much in Sudan. He had lost two brothers and a sister before he came to the US. He used everything he had to leave Sudan and get a better life in America. After Ger had come to America from Sudan, he moved several different places over several years trying to fit in with America while keeping some of his African heritage apparent before he decided to create a fundraiser for the “Lost Boys and Girls” of Sudan. He made the situation in Sudan noticed and he gave Sudanese refugees a chance to meet their families again. After talking with his friend and organizing a fundraiser for Sudanese refugees, Ger says “We managed to raise over thirty thousand pounds and finally had a unified, audible voice.” (pg. 267). He managed to keep his pride of his nationality throughout his life in America which resulted in many people being able to reunite with their families across the world.

    Ponyboy and Ger have been through so much trauma throughout their lives but still remain prideful of where they came from. After reading these two books, I have seen how prejudices and stereotypes can affect people's perspective and can change the way they think of others.