Comparing The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time And The Outsiders

571 Words2 Pages

In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time by Sherman Alexie, and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, the two protagonists are more distinct than one may think. They both react differently to their challenges, and they both live the journey in different ways. They are dissimilar because of the way they receive the call, the way they react to their challenges, and the way their lives restart after their adventure. When the two heroes receive the call, they both get it differently. In S.E Hinton’s The Outsiders, Ponyboy, doesn’t want his journey to start. He knows he can’t avoid it, and thinks “this can’t be happening … [as] a panic [is] rising in [him]” (Hinton, 57). He acknowledges the situation, and wishes he could go back in time. However, in Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Junior decides to start his journey and tells his parents “I want to transfer schools … I want to go to Reardan” (Alexie, 45). Junior decides to leave and accepts the challenges of the journey ahead. When the two initiates receive the call, Ponyboy doesn’t want his adventure to start, but Junior does. …show more content…

The day after the escape, Ponyboy wakes up and realizes the gravity of his situation. He starts to think about the future, which terrifies him and makes him think of questions like “whatta we gonna do … I was crying by then … I was cold and lonesome … the tears came anyway” (Hinton, 74). However, when Junior goes to his first day of school, he feels happy and confident “I have to do this… I felt stronger so I stepped out of the car and walked to the front door” (Alexie, 55). Junior gets out of the car determined and confident he will succeed in his first day of school. The two main characters both jump into the adventure in different ways : Ponyboy is terrified, but Junior is confident and

Show More
Related

  • Differences Between The Outsiders Book And Movie

    88 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Outsiders was a great book, and the movie was a great way to wrap everything up. There were some similarities, but a lot more differences. When I watched the movie, I could see how the characters in the movie didn't exactly match how they were portrayed in the book. My imagination was on a different track than what I saw in the movie. In my next paragraph I will explain the character differences in the book and the movie.

    Read More

  • The Outsiders Movie Vs Book

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    On April 24, 1967, a remarkable book was published by eighteen year old S. E. Hinton. Themed on a greaser named Ponyboy who him and his gang are treated badly by the Socs, the book is about Ponyboy and his best friend Johnny on the run after Johnny kills a Soc. With help from one of their gang members, they sneak on a train to get to a church in the countryside. While eating at a restaurant, the old church catches fire with kids stuck in it, leaving Johnny and Ponyboy the ones to save the kids. While saving the children, a large, scorching piece of timber falls on Johnny, putting him in critical condition. While Johnny is in the hospital, a ‘rumble’ goes on in which the Socs and greasers fight in the vacant lot,

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Outsiders Movie Vs Movie

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    Which is better: book or movie? The age-old debate. But which is better? S.E Hinton's, 'The Outsiders' book is far superior to Francis F. Coppola's motion-picture film portrayal of the book in 1983. You might remember it from the popular quote, "Stay Gold". Today it is mostly read in middle school classrooms. The Outsiders was published by S.E Hinton in 1967 when she was a teenager. The main focus throughout the story is the feud between two gangs: The Socials (Socs) and the Greasers. "We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we're wilder too". The whole book is written in Ponyboy Curtis's point of view. So, we are hearing the story through a Greaser's perspective. It is often difficult to make a connection with a character over the big screen. You miss out on scenes that did not make it into the movie, some that were are not emphasized like they should have been, and some characters were portrayed wrongly.

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of True Diary And Smoke Signals

    595 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself with others”. In stories The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian and Smoke Signals by Sherman Alexie, the main characters struggle with finding themselves. They spend most of the story going on a journey to find who they really are. Both of these stories are very similar, but also have many differences. True Diary and Smoke Signals are similar but different in characters, plot, and theme.

    Read More

  • Johnny And Dally Analysis

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton introduces two characters that have similarities and differences, but they are family to one another and that will never change. Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston have problems of their own. They may deal with some differently, but they always have each others back. Johnny deals with his problems by being good when he goes through pain everyday. But Dally is not the type of person to behave even when he is upset, instead, he likes to break the law. Johnny and Dally compare and contrast to one another in good and bad ways, but always watch out for one another as family.

    Read More

  • Life Differences And Characters In The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    Usually, authors write their book in a character’s point of view like how Hinton wrote the book in Ponyboy 's point of view. Also, readers get to know the thoughts and views that Ponyboy thinks of each character in the story. For example, Ponyboy thoughts on Steve Randle was that he knows Steve dislikes him, since he kept on tagging along with Sodapop and them. In my point of view, the parts of the book that I dislike was the part where it did not have any dialogue and mostly narrating. I also disliked how Ponyboy had flashbacks or when the days flashed forwarded. Many readers can daze off and fall asleep while reading and can forget what happened before the flashback or the parts without dialogue. The author should have wrote instead is “in the past” or “the following days” to informed the reader ahead of the flashback or the flashed forward. The author seemed to wanting to rushed to the past or future quickly than going on with the present. However, this book was amazingly unique than other books that I have read. This book itself is Ponyboy 's essay for his English class. Towards the end of the book, it states that Ponyboy started his essay with “When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two thing on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home,” In the beginning of the book, the same sentence pops up, so you can inferred that this whole book is the essay

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Essay On The Outsiders

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout life individuals face many challenges testing their values and personality one situation at a time. In the evocative novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton themes of growing up and innocence are shown. Ponyboy is not your average 14 year old he is part of a gang known to many as the Greasers. He encounters many situations testing his values and beliefs. Having lost both his parents recently he and his brothers stick together like a true family but this relationship is tested when Darry hits Ponyboy. He also experiences the loss several close friends in a very short period of time. Throughout this novel, Ponyboy encounters many life changing experiences that prove he is a dynamic character.

    Read More

  • A Deconstructionist Perspective of S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    The unseen layers present in S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders make it possible for the reader to develop differing interpretations of the novel. The ambiguity of the text is recognized within the deconstructionist approach to literature. Deconstruction allows the reader to focus on particular elements in the text that divulge the underlying themes. In focusing on two key scenes in The Outsiders, deconstruction explains how Hinton's use of these scenes gives the reader insight into two opposing themes within the text. The two scenes consist of Ponyboy's and Johnny's confrontation with the Socs and also when Ponyboy and Johnny save the children in the burning church (54-57; 91-93). In these two scenes, Hinton manipulates the characters' reactions to illustrate two divergent readings of the text. Critics have consistently argued whether Hinton intended the text to be read as a realistic account of teenage life, or a text that embodies the idealism of youth. I believe the answer lies within both interpretations, for the boys must face the reality of their actions and also individually come to terms with what or whom they consider worth dying for.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Differences Between The Outsiders Book And Movie

    643 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the movie, “The Outsiders”, the beginning started different than the book. The movie started with a fight. In the book, “The Outsiders”, the greasers are in the East and the socs are in the West. In the movie, “The Outsiders”, the greasers are in the South and the socs are in the North. In the movie “The Outsiders”, when Dally robbed the store he got shot at by the clerk and in the book, Dally didn’t get shot at by the clerk. In the book, “The Outsiders”, it ended differently than the movie. In the book Ponyboy was going to court, failing school, sick, and he was working on a writing

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On The Outsiders

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    To emphasize, when Ponyboy is with the gang at the movie drive-in, Cherry and Marcia don’t believe that Ponyboy is in high school. “‘You don’t look old enough to be going to high school,’ the dark-haired girl said. ‘I’m not. I just got put up a year in grade school’”(23). This shows that Ponyboy puts effort into his education and never gives up. He shows responsibility in achieving his goals and trying to be someone that his brothers didn’t have the opportunity to be. In addition, there was a time when Ponyboy explained what the news reporters wrote in an article about him, Sodapop, and Darry. “...that I made the honor roll at school all the time and might be a future track star...Then it said we shouldn’t be separated after we worked so hard to stay together” (108). This not only shows about Ponyboy’s view on staying with his brothers, but the public’s as well. Ponyboy gets motivation from his brothers and tries as hard as he can to be the best possible. He shows responsibility by earning good grades, that he probably couldn’t earn without the help and advice from his

    Read More

  • The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pursuing one’s dream, adjusting to change and gaining confidence is all about life, but in order to achieve those goals, you need to understand how to accomplish them. Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is about a boy named Junior who transfers schools, but can not identify his role until he meets Penelope, and gets advice and motivation from his grandmother and sister. In the beginning of the novel, Junior has very little confidence, but as the novel progresses,his conviction grows larger and larger. Next, Junior feels the urge to chase his life goals because he learns that staying still will not lead him anywhere. Finally, after living on the reservation for all his life, Junior learns to adjust to

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Outsiders Book And Movie

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first thing is the movie obviously doesn’t show what Ponyboy is thinking. One could mistake Dally or Johnny, maybe even Two-Bit as main characters along with Ponyboy. The author must have wanted Ponyboy to be the main character, being that the book is about what Ponyboy does, and what he thinks, not what about Dally does after Johnny dies. Though interesting, showing how Dally robbed a store with a fake gun wasn’t in the original book. Like mentioned earlier, the Outsiders movie ended abruptly after Dally dies from the police gunning him down. In the book, Dally died at page 154 out of 180 pages. Each page in the Outsiders book gave important details about character, events, or paces, so missing twenty four pages of the Outsiders book made the movie feel short and very different. Finally, like mentioned earlier, there is no Johnny backstory. The makes Johnny feel more bland in the movie. A lot of details from Ponyboy’s thoughts and little flashback about Johnny let readers know this; Johnny is a strong person, but has fears in his life. In the movie, all watchers know about Johnny is that his parents are fighting, and that he is Ponyboy’s friend. Overall, that is the main things the movie had that the book

    Read More

  • Sense Of Belonging In The Outsiders By E. Hinton

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Outsiders it is given that through faith and devotion to one another Ponyboy and the gang use their close friendship in troublesome situations for instance when Johnny tells Ponyboy “i had to” he does this as an act of loyalty to Ponyboy to show him that he can trust him no matter what situation they are in. Most of the story is told from first person or Ponies perspective which shows us without exception every aspect of the story. When Johnny dies at the end of the book Ponyboy only then realizes the importance of him, and the gangs need for someone like Johnny to give them a sense of purpose after mentioning “we couldn't get along without him . We needed Johnny as much as he needed the gang.” Throughout all of Ponyboys hardships Johnny was always there to support him even when Ponyboy wanted to run away after darry slapped him, he never asked any questions.

    Read More

  • The Outsiders

    400 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Outsiders was written by Susan Eloise Hinton. It is one of her most popular books about foolish gang rivalry existing between the Socs, the rich kids from the west side of town, and the Greasers, the poor kids from the east side.

    Read More

  • Lifestyles In The Outsiders

    822 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever tried explaining to someone how you feel about something and they could not grasp what you were trying to say? This is because every person is different; everyone thinks in unique ways. Many other things can change how a person thinks, for example, their social and economic statuses. But no matter how different people are, they are still human and they still have feelings. The Outsiders is about two groups of very diverse people who have very different ideas about the world.

    Read More

More about Comparing The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time And The Outsiders

Open Document