In both stories there are groups of outsiders or misfits. In “The Outsiders” the misfits were the greasers. These were the poor whose everyday life was a struggle “some poor dumb looking hoodlum”. In “The Stolen Bacillus” the outsider was the anarchist, who was battling to bring the government down. In both cases these outsiders or misfits were not accepted by society. Society saw them to be lower than themselves.
Both stories also have a moral “The Stolen Bacillus~ moral is that no matter what you do governments are strong and society will prevail. The moral in “The Outsiders” is that there is no point in gang fights or wars. Greasers will still be greasers and Soc’s will still be Soc’s. S.E. Hinton is trying to say that things are bad all over. In this book the Soc’s are “an asset to society one day and a public disgrace the next” the were excused for there behaviour because they had good homes. Johnny says to Ponyboy on his deathbed “Nothing can stay gold forever” which means that things will always change – life goes on people grew up and changed.
The vocabulary and speech used within both stories are different and gives an image of the era they were written in. The characters in “The Outsiders” use American dialect and accent with their own vocabulary mostly slang and coarse language. Within “The Outsiders” it is made to look as if it is through a teenagers eyes. E.g. “pop bottle”, “heater”, “fuzz” these words would not be used often today.
“The Stolen Bacillus” is based on the period in time of which it is written The Victorian Age. The language and vocabulary used is very formal E.g. “yes dear… nothing dear” because the book was aimed at a higher social class.
In both books the language shows and gives a clear image display of what the times were like in those days. You are able to picture what it was like from the descriptions used. “The Stolen Bacillus” describes very well the sense of dress and “The Outsiders” describes very well the sense of teenage transport.
Two characters, one from each book - the anarchist from “The Stolen Bacillus” and Dallas Winston from “The Outsiders” are both battling against society. Dallas Winston is trying to prove that he is proud of being a greaser and is trying to live up to the name that society has given him. The anarchist is also battling with society but he is trying to bring the downfall of the government and chaos so that anarchy reigns For Example. “Devastate a city! Wonderful” and “Devouring the little tube with his eyes” shows how obsessed he is with the virus and how mad and powerful he really is..
In stories books these two characters have pointless deaths but both characters are happy and have a sigh of relief when they die. The anarchist feels that he has achieved his goal and Dallas Winston is happy to die because of Johnny’s death. Johnny was the only thing Dallas ever cared about and was destroyed when he died. Minnie and Cherry Valance on the other hand are very different. Minnie is a stereotypical middle class housewife that listens to her husbands every command. She uses very formal language and has a lot of pride in herself but not very used to the outside world E. g “Yes Dear… Nothing Dear”. Cherry Valance on the contrary is very tough and is used to the outside world and hard life. She can defend and stand up for herself. Cherry uses forceful language “that might cool you off greaser”.
In these two books there is a chase. The chase in “The Stolen Bacillus” was between the anarchist and the bacteriologist who in turn was being chased by his wife. The bacteriologist was trying to get the anarchist because he was under the impression that he was carrying a biological weapon to destroy the government. His wife Minnie was chasing her husband because she did not want to embarrass herself and her family by the way her husband was dressed.
The chase in “The Outsiders” was between Dallis and the police. This chase was pointless and finished in a futile ending. Both chases are related in that there endings both resulted in death.
In conclusion I think that both authors portrayed a sense of hopelessness although in a very different way. “The Outsiders” is about gang life and the hardships they face and create themselves. “The Stolen Bacillus” is how a minority group can try and cause a downfall in society. In both books the misfits (the Greasers and the anarchist) are rebelling against the society they live in.
By
Terry Curtis 10s2
