The Thin Red Line

Stereotyping plays a large role in the events of S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders. The two main opposing groups, the Socs and Greasers, constantly face problems because of the stereotypes associated with their social groups. As seen in the novel, stereotypes and prejudice cause extreme and unnecessary conflicts. Both groups have predetermined opinions of the other, but as the story progresses, many of the characters begin to realize how similar the groups can be. The stereotypes observed in the novel can easily be compared to those in real life. Both the Greasers and the Socs share many of their opinions with the other members of their groups, and this leads to many misunderstandings. In fact, most of the conflicts in the novel are caused

Oftentimes, in the public, people have to be “normal” to be successful and accepted. Author William Saroyan believes that society steers people to be conformed and fit in, but he wants people to be able to be diverse. In the short story “Gaston,” Saroyan shows that carving a unique path can turn out to be erroneous. Through symbolism and contrast, Saroyan conveys the theme that society does not always accept people’s differences.

William Gay’s short story, “The Paperhanger” does an outstanding job illustrating how social class, judgement, and deception effect the modern world. Today’s society relies on social class and appearances to gain opinions, which directly affects how people interact and treat with one another. Subsequently, this puts people at risk for deception because things are not always as they seem. While someone with a high social stature may appear honest and hardworking on the outside, their inner personality traits may be very different. On the other hand, someone who seems poor and nasty on the outside may loyal and hardworking on the inside. William Gay demonstrates the themes of social inequality, judgement, and deception through his characters’ interactions with one another. While each character in the story are equally important, some characters tend to think they are more important than others. This leads to social strife, inaccurate judgements, and cruel malicious deception.

Throughout the novel many problems occur. Some of the main problems are racial and equality issues. Events in this book show how prejudice and intolerance can ruin numerous friendships and change lives.

In the short novel The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hinton, many 1960s stereotypes are used which separate the characters by where they live, how they dress, and how they act, but Hinton quickly gave characters who did not abide or fit these stereotypes. This showed that no matter your hair, dress, home, hobbies, or financial situation, everyone will always be different, but that doesn’t mean no two people cannot become friends. The stereotypes that follow you do not determine your personality or actions, only you.

Humans have a natural tendency to conform to each other; they strive to fit in with their community and to blend in with the crowd, undoubtedly because modern society seems to have put everyone on a leash. Its harsh judgment and constant pressure forces everyone to follow each other around like sheep — compliant — staying in line in fear of the repercussions. Likewise, in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., conformity is an ongoing theme that causes the entire community to isolate Hester in The Scarlet Letter, believe in witchcraft in The Crucible, and discriminate against African Americans in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Hawthorne, Miller, and King all show the effects of the pressure and corruptions in the community, as well as the punishments the individuals receive as a result of conformity. In all three pieces of writing, the authors describe the community as a powerful oppression that forces people to be obedient, simultaneously asserting that conformity ultimately leads to consequences in both the community and the individual.

Craig Silvey dedicates his book to show how beings regarded as ‘evil’ always has a reason for their wrongdoing. Whether they be being brought up in an abusive family or just the development of bad habits, Jasper Jones combats both of these hardships as part of being an ‘outcast’. It also shows the devastating effects it has on not only himself, but the world around him. Also touching on discrimination, the audience learn that false perception is the reason why there are many stereotypes in society. Moreover, the main message being conveyed is that ‘ You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view’. And this was what Charlie did to unravel the secrets of discrimination and injustice such as from Jasper’s point of view when being beaten and mistreated just for being suspected of a

Brent Staples’ essay “Just Walk on By” informs readers of the corrupt stereotypes and social standards that still exist in modern day society. Every person carries a stereotype whether it be positive or negative, and for most, there is an unspoken assumption that everyone is paired with. Many times people are associated with specific things because of what their physical appearance dictates towards other people or which racial group they belong to. In ”Just Walk on By,” Staples uses rhetorical strategies to convey his message that unconscious racism and stereotypes still exist; he uses diction and pathos to create a frustrated persona while also inspiring the audiences’ apprehension.

From the start the novel is laden with the pressures that the main characters are exposed to due to their social inequality, unlikeness in their heredity, dissimilarity in their most distinctive character traits, differences in their aspirations and inequality in their endowments, let alone the increasingly fierce opposition that the characters are facing from modern post-war bourgeois society.

The sense of belonging humans naturally seek in life reflects the feeling of security and being accepted. They struggle with their identity as they make the choice whether to reject the individuality and belong to a community or group. When individuals seek to belong and rigidly follow society’s norms and practices, they must adhere to the strict rules of their society. In doing do, the desire to belong comes into conflict with the need to be an individual. These ideas are powerfully evident in Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible”, “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger and the Gurinder Chadha film “Bend it like Beckham.” In each of these texts, most desire to belong but need to restore the balance between the need to belong and the

The concept of judging other individuals based on their looks and class status is a reflection seen within Flannery O’Connor’s short story called “Revelation.” In this story O’Connor illustrates a women who is extremely arrogant, and believes that she is superior to others because of her white skin and wealth. This

Through history people have tended to judge the lives of other by what they see on the outside, and completely disregard their actually character. “Stereotyping in the World” today has become a greater and greater problem has history moves on. Some have been known to look past these cases such as Reginald Rose’s book Twelve Angry Men. The play has been shown that one voice can change the thoughts of many by getting past the first layer and breaking it down to their inner person. Twelve Angry Men has showed the theme of “Stereotyping in the World” through the characters’ proper reasoning, communicating, and believing in good faith.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight how Robert Hammond and Josh David’s visionary idea transformed an unused, abandoned railroad line into a spectacular green space in the sky –New York’s High Line. Hammond and David were locals who believed that tearing down the railroad line was not a good idea. Meanwhile other people in the community, including property owners and Mayor Giuliani wanted the unused railroad demolished. With the help of photographer Joel Sternfeld who captured the abandoned railroad line’s overgrown greenery and fields of wildflowers that changed with the seasons, they were able to get people to recognize that this was a green space in New York city that was worth keeping.

In the book Rash by Pete Hautman the concept of conformity is portrayed. Through the use of characterization, the author suggests that conformity can change the way people view others.

Morris’s The Thin Blue Line is a documentary that relies heavily on re-enactments with interview narration over top. This is intercut with talking head interviews that explain the story as it unfolded for each interviewee. I think that the building blocks of this story are the way that more of the story is revealed slowly as sound effects of what the situation might have sounded like are played along with the re-enactment. For example when Morris shows the drawn image of the victim as the cop explains the injuries, the sound of gun fire can be heard in the back ground.