The Theme Of Optimism In 'The Outsiders'

Ben Reinwald 7/3/2014
SMS-8 E.L.A

Keep your head Up What is optimism in the face of despair? Optimism is always seeing the positive things in life. If you're an optimistic person, you will see a glass half full, rather than a glass half empty. Despair is loss of hope or hopelessness. So, optimism in the face of despair means to see the positive in something that seems so hopeless. Over the summer I read THE ROAR by Emma Clayton and THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton, which both fit the theme of optimism in the face of despair. The lesson to be learned today is to always keep hope, no matter what… Ponyboy was a teenage boy who was part of the greaser gang. He lived alone with his brothers Darry and Sodapop, who were also Greasers, ever since his parents passed away. The brothers lived in "the bad part" of Tulsa, Oklahoma in the mid 1960's. Ponyboy was a good kid and never got into any trouble, until one night, when Johnny, a fellow Greaser, and Pony tried to run away
from home but were jumped by a group of Socs (the Greasers and Socs were rival gangs)! Johnny pulled a knife on one who was drowning Ponyboy and killed him! When the two boys realized what they had done, they saw no other option but to run from the law. After a week of hiding, Johnny began to feel guilty and decided he was going to turn himself in. While making their way back to Tulsa, the church they'd been hiding in caught fire with children inside! The boys burst into action and pulled every last child out of the barn. While exiting the church, a piece of the roof fell on Johnny and broke his back! After about a week of hospitalization, Johnny passed away and Dally, another Greaser, snapped. He robbed a store and was shot down by the cops when he pointed an empty gun at them. After everything settles down, Ponyboy writes the story of his adventure for his end-of-semester theme as an attempt to receive a passing grade and turns out OK. Twelve-year-old Mika Smith lives in an overpopulated, futuristic London.
There are no signs of life outside the wall that was built to protect the people from the "animal plague". Mika was told that his twin sister, Ellie, was kidnapped and killed but he refuses to believe the story. When Mika suspects that a competition will help him find Ellie, he takes the chance. Mika won the competition and did get to see Ellie, who'd been kept in captivity by and evil man named Mal Gorman. Mika knew there was something fishy about the competition from the beginning, and it turns out that Mal Gorman had been training the competition participants to fight in an army of children throughout the competition! When Mika heard the news, he escaped in a pod fighter with his friend, Audrey, in the gunner's seat. Mika and Audrey flew over the wall and what they saw left them dumbstruck. They saw trees, animals, and plants; and they were real! It was all a lie! Their whole lives had been built on
lies... THE OUTSIDERS and THE ROAR give great examples of optimism in the face of despair. Mika stays positive that he will find Ellie even when everyone has given up one her, even his parents. Mika also doesn't give up when loses two of his best friends; Tom to jealousy, and Helen to the government. Ponyboy sees the good in life when his life seems so hopeless. Ponyboy also carries on with life even when his parents die. In THE OUTSIDERS, Ponyboy writes a great end-of-semester theme about the troubles he went through after Johnny killed a boy. In THE ROAR, Mika and Audrey find out that their lives were built on lies but there was still a chance for people to enjoy nature once again. These books fit the theme of optimism in the face of despair because Mika and Ponyboy always stay positive and they eventually find what they were looking for and recovered from great losses. Always remember to keep your head up!