Similarities and Differences

Authors Note: This is an essay comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences shown throughout the two books the two books, the Outsiders and War Comes to Willy Freeman.

Nick Roberts

11/15/11

            There are similarities and differences between the books, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton and, War Comes to Willy Freeman, by James and Christopher Collier. The books both talk about people being stereotyped. There are also many other differences. Some differences are that in the books they are fighting for different reasons. There are many similarities and differences between these two books.

            First off, there are many very obvious similarities between the two books. One of the most obvious similarities in between the two books is that there are people stereotyping the main characters. In the book, The Outsiders, people are stereotyping the greasers and the socs. They think that all greasers are mischievous and commit crimes, which some do, but not all. Also the people think that the socs are all nice and polite, when that isn’t the case. In the book, War Comes to Willy Freeman Willy is stereotyped because people thought that because she was black, she was no good and because she’s a girl she is weak and soft. Let me tell, you, they were completely wrong about that. Stereotyping was one of the biggest themes in these two books.

            Likewise, another very important similarity the two books is that both main characters have evil and kind side of them. In the Outsiders Ponyboy is a very nice, caring person if you get to know him, but if he needs to, he will defend himself and become a tough, hard-nosed person. In War Comes to Willy Freeman, Willy is a hard working person who will get what she needs to get done, done. When she doesn’t get something that she wants, the evil side of her comes out. She kicks and scratches until she gets it. There are many ways that the main characters show the good and bad sides of them.

            However, on the other side of things, there are many differences between the two books. One big difference that really stood out to me is what the people are fighting for. In the Outsiders, the greasers are fighting to prove themselves to the world and society. In War Comes to Willy Freeman, they are fighting to save their country and to be free from British control. Another big difference in the two books is the main characters family. Willy came from a family whose dad bossed around her mom and was very disrespectful to towards the family, but she still considered them her family. When they died, Willy lost everything. She lost her home, anyone who cared about her, and most of all herself. She began to let that affect her decision making and led her into making poor decisions at the time. In the Outsiders, Ponyboy was raised in a loving and caring household. He always had someone to go when in a situation. When they died, luckily, he had his fellow greasers to turn to for advice and help. Something that Willy never had.

            As you can see, the two main characters are two very different people in the two books, the Outsiders and War Comes to Willy Freeman. The main characters in these books are different, but the books themselves are similar in many, but also different in many ways. These similarities and differences are shown very much throughout the books. Stereotyping, family, and the main characters are just some of the many similarities and differences that are shown throughout the two books.

Suviving on Your Own

Authors Note: This is a short response about the story ,War Comes to Willy Freeman, talking about how the cause and effect relationships in the book are explained and described.


Nick Roberts

11/09/11

My book, War Comes to Willy Freeman, by James and Christopher Collier a young woman named Willy was living a peaceful life until the British marched right into her city. The people of her city fought back at Fort Griswold, but the British were to powerful and Willy was forced to see her own father die right in front of her eyes. On top of that, when she returned to her house she found out that the British have captured her mother to become a slave over in New York. After two long years Willy’s side, the Americans, finally won the war and Willy’s mother got released, but in very bad health. In a little over two weeks, she passes away and Willy and her Aunt Betsy bury her and Willy is forced to try to survive on her own.

The climax of my story is when Willy’s mom gets captured. This is the climax because Willy was forced to go to find her and trespass through heavily guarded British territory. The big thing that affected Willy was when the British invaded the town. That affected Willy because her dad forced Willy to help him in the battle. She didn’t want to, but at the time period you do whatever the man of the house says and you obey it. Another event that affected Willy was when her mom was captured. This was a major turning point in her life because she had no one else that cared for her so she had no choice, but to go after her. This affected Willy because she had no clue where she was and didn’t know where to look and it hurt her to think of what the British were doing to her.

There were many consequences to Willy’s actions. She was almost killed by the British, but escaped. She was starving and had to ask people to spare scraps of food for her. Another consequence was that she still had to work for the things she got from strangers because she was black. That didn’t change from where she came from. Last, the major consequence in all of this is that she didn’t find her mom, but she found out that she was back in the town she ran away from. So she had to risk going back to the town that she was from, which was, as explained in the book, a very hard task to do.

In conclusion, all the chances that Willy took usually paid off except the fact that Willy had to go back to her hometown. There are many other things that helped her along the way and she was very lucky to survive. She luckily found shelter and food, but not her mom, which was bumming her out. Willy proved that she can survive on her own in this book and proved many people wrong by surviving. Willy believed that she could survive and found her mom and she did. She has proved that if you put your mind to something, you can do anything.

All About Willy

Authors Note: This is a short piece written about the Point of View in the story, War Comes to Willy Freeman.

Nick Roberts

11/07/11

What would you do if your father had been killed in war and your mother captured by the enemy. In the book, War Comes to Willy Freeman, Willy is a young girl whose dad has been killed and mom has been captured by the British. She has decided to leave her relatives and go look for her mom in a city on the other side of the lake. Willy makes it to where supposedly the British are keeping the prisoners and is being housed by the world famous Mr. Fraunces in his tavern. Willy goes out every day in search for her mother, but there is no trace of her.

Sadly, Willy witnessed her father’s death, which affected Willy a great amount. When seeing her father’s death she was traumatized her for awhile. When Captain Ivers wanted to put her back into slavery, when she was free made her undoubtedly enraged. She did not accept the fact about going back to be a slave because she was freed when her father fought in the war. Another event that Willy thought was unfair was that women were bossed around and treated were just plain immoral and selfish. She thinks that they should get more respect for the things they do. To the husband in the house it seemed fair because they are the toughest and make the money to run the house. Also the man of the house is the person who would deal with the money and figure out what to do with it.

This book might have been different if written in the eyes of Captain Ivers. He thought that Willy was a way to make money so he wanted to sell her to the West Indies, even though he knew that she was free. Like most white people, Captain Ivers thought that all black people should be a slave. He believed that black people were dirt and there only purpose for them was to make white peoples’ lives easier. Also another way that this book would have changed if it was written in the eyes of Captain Ivers is the book would be mean and nasty, like Captain Ivers. Willy is an outgoing, loving person who respects everyone. Captain Ivers on the other hand is the exact opposite, so that would have changed the book tremendously.

As you can see, this story would be a lot different in the perspective of Captain Ivers. In War Comes to Willy Freeman, it only showed you how peoples’ decisions affected Willy Freeman, not the other people around her, like Captain Ivers. This story would have been so different in Captain Ivers perspective in so many different ways. Captain Ivers changed Willy’s life for the worse and his decisions leaves you thinking, “Why would he make that decision.” You will never know because the book is only written in Willy’s point of view.