Oversimplified ideas regarding the expected behaviors of human kind have been the leading causes of conflicts from the beginning of time. Called stereotypes, these beliefs have played key roles in defining how much the 21st century has improved in terms of acceptance of differences. Stereotypes often dictate the plot of a book or movie, such as The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton and Akeelah and the Bee, written and directed by Doug Atchinson.
Sometimes, characters in such literature are challenged by stereotypes, and their fates are decided by how they react to them. For instance, Dally and Ponyboy from The Outsiders are both affected by the stereotype of being troublesome kids, as they are poor and come from the East, or “bad”, side of town. Similarly, Terrence and Akeelah from Akeelah and the Bee are also impacted by stereotypes that state they cannot be as smart as rich, white kids, as they are black and come from a poor neighborhood.
In both The Outsiders and Akeelah and the Bee, the characters’ choices demonstrate how stereotypes, resulting from social disparity, threaten to establish their identities, so that characters like Ponyboy and Dally and Terrence and Akeelah must regulate how they challenge or accept these stereotypes. Dally and Ponyboy react to stereotypes, classified by social discrimination between the poor and rich classes in The Outsiders, in different ways.
As stated by Ponyboy, the character-narrator of The Outsiders ‘We all had money to get in-it only costs a quarter if you’re not in a car–but Dally hated to do things the legal way. He liked to show that he didn’t care whether there was a law or not. He went around trying to break laws. ” (Hinton 20). Through this statement, Ponyboy conveys how Dally accepts the stereotypical idea of how he is a hood as he takes a liking towards stealing and breaking laws. Also, Dally’s decisions lead o him developing an identity of a troublemaker, as Dally breaks into the movies, though he has enough money to pay for entrance. Another example of a response to stereotypes is when Ponyboy reacts to the stereotype of poor kids on the wrong-side of town being no-good hoods, saying “Suddenly, it wasn’t only a personal thing to me. I could picture hundreds and hundreds of boys living on the wrong side of cities… they were mean and tough and hated the world, and it was too late to tell them that there was still good in it…
Someone should tell their side of the story, and maybe people would understand then and wouldn’t be so quick to judge a boy by the amount of hair oil he wore. It was important to me. ” (Hinton 179). Ponyboy expresses his discontentment towards the stereotype of boys living on the wrong-side of town being hoods; he sees how people like him start to believe that there is no way out of the stereotype and, thus, begin to live as the stereotype dictates, similar to how Dally accepts the stereotype and moves on.
Unlike Dally, Ponyboy challenges the stereotype of kids living on the wrongside of town being trouble-makers, a stereotype that is determined by the social disparity among the poor and rich classes within The Outsiders, through his choices; this is depicted when Pony decides to write The Outsiders to convince people to stop judging kids like him based on something as facile as their community. Therefore, Pony does not embrace his identity as a hood, like Dally, but instead takes action to alter his stereotypically-assigned image, resulting from social discrimination.
Terrence and Akeelah have different responses to stereotypes establishing their identities. For instance, when Akeelah asks Terrence why he comes home late at night and tells him about the spelling bee she wants to compete in, he responds, ” Mama should just chill, a’ight… Oh yeah, I heard about that. You going up against a bunch of rich white kids. They gonna tear your black ass up. ” Terrence develops the identity of poor, trouble-making, no-good kid from the wrong side of town by choosing to stay out late at night with a gang, disregarding all spects of authority in his life, like his mother.
Also, Terrence portrays how he falls under the stereotype threat of poor, black children not being as intelligent as rich, white kids, when he tries to convince Akeelah that she cannot win the spelling bee because of her race; this demonstrates the use of a stereotype developed due to social disparity amongst black and white communities in Akeelah and the Bee. Furthermore, Akeelah trains for the spelling bee with Dr. Larrabee, an English professor from UCLA, without her mom knowing.
Akeelah fights the stereotype that poor, black kids are not as intelligent as rich, white people, by studying tirelessly for the spelling bee, outperforming all races of participants in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. In addition, Akeelah creates an identity of a smart, intelligent young girl by her choice to study unremittingly to win the bee. This contrasts Terrence, who accepts the stereotype that black people are not as smart as white people, and, thus, confirms the stereotype through his decision of hanging out with gangs, instead of focusing on education.
Hence, Akeelah challenges stereotypes within Akeelah and the Bee, while Terrence accepts them and creates his identity accordingly. The choices of characters, like Ponyboy and Dally in The Outsiders and Akeelah and Terrence in Akeelah and the Bee, reveal how these characters must control how they react to stereotypes resulting from disparity between social groups, as these beliefs threaten to create their identities for them. Ponyboy and Akeelah exceed their environmental limitations with the assistance of supporting characters within their respective stories.
Akeelah receives help in training for the spelling bee from Dr. Larrabee, her spelling coach, along with her mom, brother, school teacher, and friends, who quiz her on spelling bee words written on flashcards. Additionally, Akeelah receives support from her school principal Mr. Welch, who drives Akeelah to all her bees. Mr. Welch also designs a school-credit program specifically for Akeelah, so that she finish summer school while training for the bee with Dr.
Larrabee. This permits Akeelah to spend all her time studying, resulting in Akeelah’s victory in the national spelling bee and, thus, allowing her to break past the stereotype of not being smart enough to compete in the bee. Ponyboy’s brothers Darry and Sodapop help Pony surpass his environmental limitations. This is because Darry and Sodapop drop out of school so that they work odd jobs throughout the day, earning money to support Ponyboy’s education.
This allows Ponyboy to break out of the stereotype of being a hood, as his educational background allows him to write The Outsiders to express the perspective of boys like him, who live on the wrong side of town and are judged for it. However, Terrence and Dally do not receive any support from characters to help change their stereotypical ways; Dally’s parents do not worry or care about him, so he is free to act as recklessly as he pleases, while Terrence is under the influence of a street-gang that seeks trouble.
Thus, Terrence and Dally are susceptible to living as their stereotype dictates. In conclusion, stereotypes do not only cause infuriation or distress among individuals, but also help distinguish the high-minded from the weak-minded victims of such unjust judgment, as depicted by Akeelah and Ponyboy, who break past the limitations of their community to reach their goals, and Dally and Terrence, who end up dead and arrested by letting their stereotypes plan their life out for them.
