Crossing the Line

Author's note: this is a comparative essay on two characters from two different books.

 

Every boy wants to become a man, they don't want to be called by "boy" anymore, no, they want to be addressed as "sir." Man-hood is something all boys aim for one day, some think it can just happen over-night. Others think it takes time to for a boy to develop and prove himself as a man. Where does the line between boyish acts turn into man-hood stand and, how do you know when you've even crossed that line or not? Adam Cooper from April Morning and Ponyboy from The Outsiders are to two similar characters, along with the fact that they both want to cross the line into man-hood and a couple other things.

            Both Ponyboy’s and Adam’s dad died when they were young so obviously, they both don’t have a father which becomes a big part in both stories. Adam’s dad dies the second the British let out fir on their colony right in front of Adam’s eyes, it devastates Adam but, he must move on, he was on his own for the time being his own father shot dead in plain sight, along with many others, all which people he knew. Adam stood there in shock as the bodies hit the ground until a close gunshot that saves him from dying walks him up and drops him hard on the surface of reality. Adam runs to a shelter and hides until the way is clear of red coats (British army men). 

Ponyboy on the hand has a much simpler to the point story; his dad died in a car crash. Along with his brothers, Ponyboy was on his own now, all they had was each other, but that’s all they needed. Darry, Ponyboy’s older brother, was always yelling at him he treated Ponyboy like he could never do the right thing.  Sodapop on the other hand, he’s the piece maker between the three of them, any time they fight Soda’s always there to make things stop.

Ponyboy was tired of being treated like a boy, he was a man (so he thought), he figured he should be treated as one. Ponyboy was out to prove that but instead he just got himself into one huge mess. He ended up running away and hiding from the cops with his friend Johnny. Another member of the gang came to check up on them to make sure they were okay. That’s when Johnny came to the revelation that he wanted to fess up to the cops and tell them what had all happened top to bottom. Johnny and Ponyboy had something back up at their hideout and had to go back and pick them all up. On the way there they saw the hideout on fire with children inside. Ponyboy knew he had to do something, he couldn’t just sit there and let them burn, it was unethical, it was cruel, it was corrupt, and most of all, it was against every fiber in his body to do nothing. So he ran inside the scorching building to retrieve and save the children trapped inside. Once everyone inside was safe he to get out or he would die, he jumped out the same window as put the children through and passed out once he got outside. That moment in time when Ponyboy went into the building with the huge risk of not getting out alive was the moment when Ponyboy turned into a true man.

Adam also wanted to prove that he was a man that he wasn’t a boy anymore, which is the whole reason that Adam joined his colonies forces and went up against the British to stop them from ruining the entire village. That’s how he planned on proving himself, and he did, he managed to get away without getting shot.  Once he came back to his mom and grandma back at the house when he found the time and told them, “this isn’t over, it’s far from. I need to go back out there, I need to help them. I don’t care what you say ma, I’m going back, they took pa and I’m not going to let them take our land, it ends here.” That was the moment when his family knew, Adam wasn’t a boy any more, he was a man.

Both Adam and Ponyboy are trying to prove themselves indifferent ways, very different ways. Yet, they are trying to achieve the same exact goal, to be called “man” not “boy.” Two very different books based off almost the same idea. To prove that one person can achieve anything even when unplanned for. In the end, everyone’s a good person; it’s just whether or not they have the courage to show it.