Growing up as a Buddhist Chinese Malaysian in an increasingly Islamic Malay-centric Malaysia, I oftentimes feel like an outsider. Consequently, I was drawn to the outsiders and the social Other in literature during my undergraduate years in NCCU. The presence of the Other and the outsider can be traced from ancient Greek dramas to modern literature, from Medea to the Underground Man. However, the outsider in literature who resonates with me the most is the titular protagonist of Jane Eyre. As the penniless orphan daughter of a deceased gentleman, Jane Eyre is treated as the social Other wherever she goes, for she doesn’t fit into the establish social moulds of either gentry or servants. Apart from the orphans at Lowood and recluses at Marsh End (who are social outsiders themselves), characters in Jane Eyre shun the protagonist from their social circles. For example, at Gateshead, John Reed marginalizes Jane by calling her a “dependent” who doesn’t deserve to live amongst “gentleman’s children” (8). Mrs. Reed likewise separates Jane from the Reeds’ social circle by confining her to the nursery while her cousins spend their days in the drawing room (22) and calling Mr. Lloyd, the apothecary for “ailing servants,” instead of the family physician for Jane’s illness (15), thus placing her among the servants. However, the servants too reject Jane from their group—Miss Abbot told Jane that she is “less than a servant” because she does “nothing for [her] keep” (9). Jane thus
Ultimately, as a woman, she is a limited agent and can only do so much indecently. Jane breaks off from the domestic sphere to which she is confined
Jane Eyre Chapters 5-6: I chose the quote, “The “real” subject of [Jane Eyre] is the emotional and intellectual needs (the two inextricably related) of a woman.” to connect with Chapter 6. In pg. 51, it states, “‘You dirty, disagreeable girl! you have never cleaned your nails this morning!” This exclamation spoken by Miss Scatcherd shows the current state the girls are in [in the orphanage].
Janes nearest of kin were her grandmother and her aunt, both of them lived a humble life and hardly had a sufficient income. Her aunt Miss Bates was a very popular and always welcomed person, although she was “neither young, handsome, rich nor married” (cf. Emma p.22). She cares for her mother, Jane’s grandmother, the widow of a former vicar of Highbury and together they live in a small and simple home.
An outsider usually is someone that is not with a group or a person that’s separates themselves from a group or society. Maybe the Greasers and Ponyboy are outsiders. They might be outsiders because they have long hair that they never wash. Maybe they’re outsiders because they don 't have money like most the Socs do. Maybe they’re outsiders because they don 't wear fancy clothes and drive fancy corvettes to school.
Humans are and will always be social creatures, they like to stay in groups, chat with others, and socialize with other humans and some might even say that it is necessary for survival. So knowing this, the greatest dilemma one could face would be the separation and social outcasting of themselves from the group. Isolation can be very impactful and dangerous for one’s self, for a glimpse of its consequences authors write tales of separation and isolation which the reader can soak in and understand its potential. Crace Chua and F. Scott Fitzgerald are two examples of authors who shared stories of social dissolution in The Great Gatsby and “(love song, with two goldfish)”. This theme of isolation and separation affect many aspects of a story but the characters and various conflicts are truely altered and somehow brought to life when real human nature is tested and denied.
Outsiders Exclusion is a serious word when it comes to The Scarlet Letter. For Hester Prynne, being excluded does not simply mean that she is barred from society or even miniscule conversations. Hester bears the sin of adultery and wears it quite literally with shame. Therefore, she is excluded in a way that punishes her while the Puritan society speculates what their options for her punishment are. The effect of exclusion mainly separates the person from themselves, or society.
What makes someone an outsider? In Tulsa, S.E. Hinton went to a large high school and in all large high schools they would have different groups. Everyone would stay in their own groups as they grew up S.E. thought it was idiotic. She made the book The Outsiders which had the socs and the greasers S.E. would get letters from kids who told her they also had the two groups in there school but they had different names for them.
It is ironic that Jane is seen as the guilty party in the incident with John Reed because John started the fight when he slapped Jane. Then when John’s sisters, Eliza and Georgina, go to “tattle tale” on Jane, their mother blames Jane for the whole situation. Jane compares John to a “murderer,” “slave-driver,” and “Roman Emperors” (Bronte 9). During this comparison, she is implying that he is a very cruel and awful person. That he would beat her and boss her around.
An outsider is someone who is isolated or detached from the activities or concerns of one’s own community. (American Heritage Dictionary) It may come as a shock that there are people like this all over the world. In fact you may know some in your own life. Over the three stories there are examples in all of them.
Outsiders are used in novels to demonstrate a different perspective of a character where it is how other characters in the novel are perceived and not how the characters see themselves. It can also be used as a satirical tool to demonstrate the flaws within society. It can also be argued that society is to blame for the marginalisation of its people. Some of the characters in the Great Gatsby and the Reluctant Fundamentalist are portrayed as outsiders. It is evident in the way characters treat each other.
Jane dislocates herself from the society of her family, one that in a perfect world is every kid’s closest society. Jane’s dislocation results from a ¨lousy childhood¨ filled with a ¨booze hound running around the house naked, with Jane around¨ as a step dad (Salinger 32). Jane lives in the unfair situation where she grows up in an unstable home, and it alienates her from her family. Holden tells how Jane never spoke of her family situation, and that shows how she tried to isolate herself from the family and think about the situation as little as possible. Jane is alienated from her family, but she chooses to do it and feels it is best for her.
she finds two unwed sisters who share animosity with each other, a son who committed suicide (or presumed to have committed suicide) and tarnished the Reed Family name, and a dying old lady who still holds a decade long grudge and hate for her husband’s favorite niece. Because of John Reed’s resulting self-inflicted violence we can observe how the Reed family has fallen from the top of the wheel of fortune to the bottom. Also by creating the approaching death of Mrs. Reed we can see how mature Jane has become after a decade away from Gateshead. We can observe this through Jane’s patience with Mrs. Reed by trying to make peace with her and staying at Gateshead longer then she should have for Georgiana. Through Mrs. Reed death we can see the difference in
Stephen Chbosky uses Irony in which Charlie says his Aunt Helen is his “favourite person” but in she is his least favourite person. This shows that there are factors that contribute to why someone could be considered an outsider. Both novels The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and TPOBAW by Stephen Chbosky show that an outsider can be classified by may different things. Both text explore the ideas of a group of outsiders and how they cope with society. It is seen that outsiders are isolated from society and even their own
The definition of an outsider is “a person who does not belong to a particular circle, community, profession; a person originating from elsewhere; a person unconnected with a matter; a person lacking special knowledge of a subject; a person positioned physically on the outside or fringe of a group” (Oxford University Press). There are many ways to define an outsider but basically, it is someone who does not fit in. Throughout various short stories or novels, authors write about the theme of not fitting in. “The Doll House” is a short story about the Burnells getting a dollhouse, but their parents will not let them invite the Kelveys. “Fences” is about a family who works at a resort but can not use the beach.
“This is the pedestal of infamy, and you will remain on it all day long. You will have neither food nor drink for you must learn how barren is the life of a sinner. Children, I exhort you to shun her, exclude her, shut her out from this day forth. Withhold the hand of friendship and deny your love to Jane Eyre, the liar.” Bessie Lee is a maid at Gateshead and is the only person in the Reed’s residence that treats Jane Eyre kindly by singing hers songs and telling her stories.