In this essay, I am going to compare and contrast the two novels ‘Scorpions’ by Walter Dean Myers and ‘Outsiders’ by S.E. Hinton. I will summarize the stories and then describe their differences and similarities. For example, both books are about gangs. But in Scorpions, there is one gang; in the Outsiders there are two.
The Scorpions is about a 12 year old boy named Jamal who lives with his Mama and his little sister, Sassy, in Harlem. When his older brother Randy ends up in jail, Jamal is expected to take over the gang his brother left behind. Mack, who is the only one who thinks Jamal should be the leader, gives Jamal a gun. Jamal doesn’t want to have anything to do with the Scorpions but he knows it’s the only way to get money for Randy’s appeal. In the end the gun gets Jamal and his best friend Tito into a lot of trouble. What I learned from this story is that even if you really want to do something for someone, sometimes it’s better to think about yourself first. If Jamal just hadn’t of joined the gang, nobody would have gotten hurt and nothing would have happened.
The Outsiders is about 2 gangs, the Socs and the Greasers. The Socs are the rich kids from the West side. The Greasers are from the East side, they are considered juvenile delinquents by other people. One night two Greasers (Ponyboy and Johnny) talk to some Socs (Cherry and Marcia) at the movies. Later that night, the two boys fall asleep in the lot. When Ponyboy runs home, his brother and guardian, Darry, slaps him and Ponyboy runs away to find Johnny. A big fight happens between the boys and the Socs at the park, which eventually gets to the point of Johnny killing Bob. In the end the boys go hide out in a church for a week. A fire happens at the church and the boys run in to save the children inside. Johnny gets fatally hurt and in the end he dies. I learned that even if you do a lot of good, sometimes bad karma still comes around.
The Scorpions and the Outsiders