Hot and Cold

             Have you ever been in a situation where your choice might affect how the rest of your life turns out? One wrong choice and you will regret your decision for the rest of your life. Caroline in the book Cast Two Shadows, and Ponyboy in the book The Outsiders both had to make a choice: stay home and be safe, or travel far away risking everything they have.

            Caroline, a 14 year old girl lives in an old time period of 1780. Back then things were much different than they are now. War was going on and there was much danger within the town of Camden. I can’t imagine living in such danger. I would be so frightened that I would get killed or captured. But Caroline and her grandmother, Miz Melindy, face this fear. They go on a mission to find and take home Caroline’s brother that has been wounded in the war. On the journey, they face many hardships which include getting captured for one night by a woman and finding a man whom is tied up with a rope in his own house. Their journey is similar to the movie, Finding Nemo. Nemo has been taken away and his father is trying to find him. He goes through many obstacles including fighting sharks and getting hurt by jellyfish. I would never be that brave to do such a thing. Even though Caroline was in a different time period than most, the same situations can happen to anyone.

            In 1980, things were difficult for Ponyboy, a 14 year old greaser. Unlike Caroline, there were no worries about war, but another problem sat before him. Gangs and violence were the most dangerous things to worry about. After getting into serious trouble and killing someone, Ponyboy and his friend, Johnny run away to the country so the cops won’t find them. They wait in a vacant church for their friend to pick them up. When they turn away for one hour, they find the church to be on fire. They all get severely injured from helping little kids out of the burning church. Sadly, Johnny ends up dying. This shows how brave they are for risking their lives to save others. If it were me, I would not have gone in that burning church. Ponyboy and Johnny were very brave to go in it. Even though Ponyboy and Caroline are so different, they are more similar than anyone would think.

            People can change. Even if you might not think they can, everyone has a change in heart.  Ponyboy and Caroline are innocent, young teenagers who are not very outgoing and are not known by many people. When problems set into place, they both must face a decision. To go away from everything they have or stay where they are. Well of corse they both go away and face many things on their way to their destinations. Luckily, they both come through safely. While on their journeys, there are little to no parents with them. Caroline traveled with her grandmother whom is old and weak. Ponyboy travels with his friend, Johnny who is 16 years old. They are not very experienced at how to take care of themselves or know what to do in problems. This reminds me of a movie where a boy about 8 years old finds the president’s dog. He sets out on a journey to try to bring the dog back to the president while traveling half way around the world. This shows that he is very brave and determined. There are many people like Caroline and Ponyboy in the world who would do just the same thing.

            Take a moment to think about why teachers make you compare and contrast. They probably do it to make you realize how much different and unique everyone is. It also could be to make you think about how much we are the same as well. Caroline and Ponyboy share many similarities and have many differences. Yet, they are both the same in some way because of the things that happen in their lives.