Outsiders And The Miracle Boys

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Compare and Contrast of the Outsiders and The Miracle Boys.

The Outsiders is a book written by Susan Eloise Hinton. It is about a strong rivalry that existed

between two gangs; the Socs and the Greasers who were living in a southwestern region of the

United States. The Socs were rich children who lived in the western side of the town while the

Greasers were poor children who lived in the eastern side of the town. The Greasers had long

greasy hair and used to steal things. The Socs were rich, they drove good cars and had beautiful

girls. There was deep enemity between the two groups.

Miracle’s Boys is a young adult book written by Jacqueline Woodson. It features three young

brothers, Lafayette, Ty'ree and Charlie who were bi-racial living without parents in New York.

The three boys know that life is not going to be easy without their parents and they really

struggle to survive. They know that they can only survive by abstaining from any form of

trouble. Lafayette and Ty’ree are humble boys who stay mostly together but Charlie in very rude

and violent.

In both books, there is teenage violence. The youth are ganging up and engaging in serious

crimes. In the Hinton’s Outsiders, Ponyboy Curtis, who is the main character, struggles to grow

up as a poor youth with his two elder brothers Darry and Sodapop. They belong to the Greasers

and are very poor since their parents died in a car accident. One night, he goes out with his friend

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Johnny. He is attacked by the Socs who beat him but Johnny comes to his rescue. Johnny beats

the Socs and ends up killing one of them. They become very scared and decide to leave the scene

before the news spreads.

A great fight has been arranged to take place between the Socs and the Greasers. The fight is

planned to determine which the better gang is. Since the Socs are rich, they think that the

Greasers are bad and dirty. The Greasers think that the Socs are made kids who have a lot of

wealth. After Johnny died, Danny rans and robs a grocery store then he calls his friends to come

and help carry the property. On arriving, they find that the police have already arrived and in the

process, Danny is short dead.

In Woodson’s Miracle’s Boys, the integral part of the novel is taken by urban poverty and gang

violence. Charlie is taken to the Rahway Home for Boys which is a rehabilitation centre after

being convicted of armed robbery where he had robbed a candy store at gun point. After leaving

the rehabilitation centre, he prefers to spend most of his time with his friend Aaron who is also

naughty. His brother calls him Newcharlie because of his changed behavior.

There a lot of differences in the society. In the Outsiders, the Socs and the Greasers hate each

other although they come from the same area. Their difference is that the Greasers are a family

and they are great friends while the Socs are only a gang. During a previous fight, Johnny who is

a member of the Greasers stabs one of the Socs with a switch blade killing him. Johnny and

Ponyboy flee the town to go and stay in a church. In the Miracle’s Boys, the two brothers

Lafayette and Ty’ree are very different from their brother Charlie. The two are very polite and

cool but Charlie is very rude and he prefers to spend most of his time with his friend Aaron

whom they are equally naughty.

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In both books, there is a lot of love and brotherhood. The church Johnny and Ponyboy moved to

caught fire and they saved the little kids who were in the church by taking them out through the

window. By doing this, the two boys become heroes and everyone recognizes them. In the

process of rescuing the children however, Johnny gets hurt after a piece of wood hit his back

making him crippled. He stays in hospital while Ponyboy and Danny go home to pass the sad

news. When Danny was killed by the police, Ponyboy was very sad and even after going back to

school, he could not easily forget the death of his two friends. During the big fight between the

Socs and the Greasers, Darry was very worried because of Ponyboy because he was the smallest

and he looked sick. Darry tells Ponyboy to stay close to him during the fight so that he may

protect him. In the Miracle’s boy, the two brothers Lafayette and Ty’ree are very good friends.

They always stay together sharing stories and keeping busy with their daily duties so that they

can avoid engaging in dangerous behaviors. Ty’ree gave up his scholarship to MIT so that he

could take care of his younger brother. The two brothers really fear for Charlie’s hostility and

they are willing to help him out to become a good person.

The difference between the two books is that, in the Outsiders, there is a lot of action. There is a

lot of fighting between the Socs and the Greasers while in the Miracle’s Boys, there is no much

action. The story is told inform of conversations.

The main themes from these two books is that people should not be judged from their

appearances. If someone is rich and belongs to a tough gang, it does not mean that they are cruel

like the other members. They also educate the youth to abstain from criminal activities and

notorious gangs and this can easily ruin their life.

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Works Cited.

Beetz, Kirk H, and Suzanne Niemeyer. Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults.

Washington, D.C: Beacham Pub, 1989. Print.

Donelson, Kenneth L, and Alleen P. Nilsen. Literature for Today's Young Adults. Glenview, Ill:

Scott, Foresman, 1980. Print.

Nilsen, A.P., Blasingame, J., Donelson, K.J., & Nilsen, D.L. Literature for Today’s Young

Adults. (9

edition). 2013.

Hinton, S E. The Outsiders. New York: Viking Press, 1967. Print.

Woodson, Jacqueline. Miracle's Boys. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2000. Print.

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