Some Things Never Change Even in 200 Years

           Author’s note: This is about two books, Give me Liberty by L.M. Elliot and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, who have the same theme but they have many differences and similarities.

           

            Have you ever thought of two books having both similarities and differences, but still having the same theme? The books Give me Liberty and The Outsiders, by L.M. Elliot and by S.E. Hinton, have the same theme, which is Family. In the Outsiders, the theme is family because the main character, Ponyboy, loses his parents in a car crash and his friends become his family. In Give Me Liberty, Nathaniel loses his parents when sent off to America as an indentured servant. The two books have the same theme even though they have differences, and similarities.

            First, the obvious similarity is that both Nathaniel and Ponyboy lost their parents. Even though Nathaniel’s parents didn’t die, he still lost his parents. When he was taken away from his parents he was sold off to a master in America. He told himself that he would never see his parents again. Nathaniel missed his parents so much that his mothers quotes came back to haunt him, such as “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy,” (p.306). When Ponyboy was little, his parents died in a car crash and Ponyboy felt like life would never be the same again. Nathaniel has a chance to see his parents but he has still lost them. Nathaniel is hopeless now because he can’t change what’s happening to his parents. Also Ponyboy was living a nice life but when his parents died, he changed from rich to poor and doesn’t believe he will never have a good life again. That’s how Nathaniel and Ponyboy’s families relate to each other.

            Another similarity is that Nathaniel and Ponyboy have their friends take the place of their families. When Nathaniel was devastated that he got taken away from his parents, there was a nice friend named Basil that found him and took Nathaniel under his wing. After that Nathaniel’s family was Basil. Also, when Ponyboy’s parents died all of his friends became his family. Nathaniel and Ponyboy’s friends also looked after each of them. Even when times were rough, their friends were always there for them.

            Even though Ponyboy and Nathaniel have a lot of similarities, they also have differences. Because Nathaniel’s parents didn’t die, Nathaniel still has some hope on meeting his father or mother again. Ponyboy was the unlucky one and he can never meet his parents ever again. Nathaniel did meet his father later in the story and got together with him. So really the only person who didn’t get their parents back was Ponyboy. Ponyboy also made a quote about his parents, which was, “My parents are dead. I live Darry and Soda, my brothers.” When he said that he thought, “I took a long drag on my cigarette. That’s how Nathaniel and Ponyboy are different.

It's clear that these two books are really the same but yet very different. It’s amazing on how an indentured Britain boy can relate to a 70’s boy. You might not think that but they do relate. What makes the similarities clear is when both characters believed that there is no hope for them now. The two books have the theme of family, and they have differences too.