Originally published in 1967, Hinton's freshman year at the University of Tulsa, it is a tale of friendship, family, and loyalty. It also focuses heavily on violence, cultural differences, and classism. Hinton originally wrote it as a student at Will Rogers High School here in Tulsa, one of the oldest schools in the city and where my roommate did her two-year TFA commitment.
There was little reference to any specific Tulsa places in the story, but the plot centers around a group of boys on the "east side" who are at odds with another gang on the "west side" with some identifiable landmarks like the Arkansas River. Although it takes place in the '60s and is a meditation on Hinton's view of problems in town, the themes, characters, and plot situations are incredibly universal. Told from a 14 year-old's perspective, the more I read the more I recognized the book's value and the reasons my students consistently picked it up out of our classroom library. Even though the story's characters may have looked different than most of my students who loved this book, many of the issues the characters deal with are strikingly similar to violence that still exists in many urban centers, including Tulsa, today.
One of the main messages that consistently struck me regarded the uselessness of focusing on differences, motivations for violence, and how meaningless most violence is. There are good moments to discuss all of these, and some of the action in the story made me realize how gray some situations are, no matter how obviously black and white you want everything to be. Instead of reviewing the plot, I'd rather reflect briefly on two passages that made this story for me:
"It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different." -pp. 41
The concept of the "same sun" has always been fascinating to me. Although viewing the sunset or staring up at the stars can be a very personal experience, every day, it is shared by millions of people. We are all under the same sky and somehow, we manage to put up walls, create obstacles, and very handily decide that our differences are greater than our commonalities. We nit-pick about the little things: political viewpoints, religious differences, even the variety of colors present between us. Why do we waste time on the negative side of these differences, judging "the bad" instead of valuing the good? I frequently get annoyed by some of the differences of opinion I may have with some people, and I may also be confused or sometimes frightened by the things I don't know about somebody - so confused that judgement may pass. But ultimately, I like to reflect on why I made those judgements, get to know somebody so that I can alter my perceptions, and talk with those people with different opinions to challenge my beliefs and deepen my thinking. In that way, I'd like to think I recognize and value the differences everyone has. I may get scared, uncomfortable, annoyed, or even angry sometimes - but the idea that we all have different stories under the same sky is somehow life-affirming and a big reminder that the universe is greater than ourselves. So, why worry about the petty things?
"I could picture hundreds of boys living on the wrong side of cities, boys with black eyes who jumped at their own shadows. Hundreds of boys who maybe watched sunsets and looked at stars and ached for something better. I could see boys going down under street lights because they were mean and tough and hated the world, and it was too late to tell them that there was still good in it, and they wouldn't believe you if you did. It was too vast a problem to be just a personal thing. There should be some help, someone should tell them before it was too late." - pp. 179
The poetry of this passage wasn't the only thing that reached me. This paragraph encapsulates what teaching became to me as I delved deeper into life in my classroom and the surrounding community. So many of my students were on the "wrong side of cities" and some were "mean and tough and hated the world." Even those that weren't had moments of fragile frustration, angst, or pessimism. Through literature, through writing, and through my relationship with my students, I tried to be a beacon of "it will get better" or "I'm here for you" or "It's not too late." The pressure of that was tremendous sometimes. The walls erected by resistant teenagers seemed insurmountable at others. But what kept me going was the knowledge that 1) we share the same sky, and 2) all they need and want is love. Sometimes, I sucked at showing that love - but never for a moment did I not feel it. It's crazy how easily that strong feeling can come up in a room of complete strangers on day 1 of being in the classroom, and how quickly that feeling can evolve and deepen over the course of a year. Even more, how much of a void there is without them sometimes.
I read this book because I thought I should as a resident of Tulsa. I finished it reminded of so many of my students - their love of this book, their diverse stories and struggles, the importance of love in any success we had together. The narrator of "The Outsiders" and his characters continually stress the importance of friendship. That the sunset is better when you know somebody is there to enjoy it with you.
It's books like these that reaffirm my values and help me to strive to be a better person. I know from reading this that I want all children to have loving friends and family, to be able to read good books and grow intellectually. I also reaffirmed by reading this book my belief in the power of my friends in family in who I am today. Even those who have betrayed me or left me or were never really friends to begin with. Without them, I wouldn't be half of who I am, and may not have the wherewithal to grow as a person. I miss those I've lost, like our narrator does, but also hold dear the lessons they taught me and the traits they instilled within me.
We ALL still share the same sky. And without each other, each and every one of us, we don't have anything.
~MJ
