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The Outsiders Comparative Essay

Decent Essays

Around ½ of the world’s population live on $2.50 a day. The Poem “Poverty and Wealth” and the novel The Outsiders are very similar to each other. In more ways than none, there are many themes in the poem, that are represented in the novel. In both the poem and the novel, you learn that turing away from conflicts won’t solve anything. During the poem, a rich man travels around the world, but never becomes happy. “He journeyed over the whole wide world, but discontent his heart lay curled.” This man has all of the money in the world and can do whatever he pleases, but it doesn’t make him happy. Recently in the novel, Ponyboy runs away from murder and being hit, but ends up turning himself in to the police. “We’re goin’ back and turn ourselves in.” Pony and Johnny decide to go back home because they feel guilty and can’t deal with the chaos of being on the run. So, they learn that running away did nothing for them. …show more content…

While reading the poem, you see that the rich man thinks he’s better than everyone because he’s very wealthy. “ And proud with the pride of a millionaire.” The man really doesn’t have anything that other people don’t besides money. You figure out that it’s better to be kind and caring, rather than being rich and self-centered. This theme also relates to the Socs in The Outsiders. “ He had on a madras shirt. I can still see it. Blue madras. One of them laughed, then cussed me out in a low voice.” Foolishly, the Socs thought that they could mistreat the Greasers because they’re wealthier. This isn’t true though, the Greasers are actually kind-hearted

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