Themes of Manhood and Coming of Age in The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and The Poem If by Rudyard Kipling (Essay Example)

In the novel, The Outsiders By S.E Hinton and the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling, both authors share the idea of manhood and coming of age, they discuss how being manly comes with age in their books. In the novel, Hinton describes how being manly isn’t always the answer, and having a “heart” is better than being stone. The author of the article describes how having to man up over time and not “manning up” would be not growing up. In the novel The Outsiders and the poem “If”, the coming of age is displayed by the idea of manhood, but with their twists to the topic.

In the novel, Hinton describes that growing up and becoming more manly, manly can mean different things. In this example, manly would mean:“ being manly is a heart of stone and caring eyes with a voice that cheers people”. But in the poem, for example, that isn’t the definition of being manly. This is highlighted by the quote being used, how Darry says “I thought you knew that by now. You don’t quit!” (pg 173). Here one can see that the quote shows how one can tell by Darry’s voice that he has those caring eyes and the voice of a speaker, the true definition of being manly. Clearly, this shows what Hintions definition of manhood is, and which is the intent of the whole book. Specifically when Darry said in the book “You don’t quit!” It shows how the author Hinton describes manhood in that way, with the voice of a speaker. Therefore, the author uses the characteristics of Darry to show how manhood should be used. 

Unlike the poem though, as in the poem, manhood is shown as just being physically strong and confident. For example, in the poem, it says how when one grows up, (aka coming of age) one gets stronger, manlier. Creating the expression of being “manly” is just like being strong. This is highlighted in the quote being used; “If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute” (Last Stanza). Now, one can see that the quote used shows to shut one’s heart off and forget emotions, with only strength. Plainly, this shows the difference between the novel and the poem’s view on masculinity/being manly. Notably when the author says “foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you” this shows with its message is that “ditch the people that can hurt you, become manly with us”, which is different from the expression of the novel on manliness. Therefore this shows the clear as day difference between the poem and the novel’s view on manhood and how it comes, with age or with spirit.

In the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling, the author describes how coming of age in boys ends up going to manhood, and the showing of masculinity and such is required for being “manly”. It shows in the poem this when he talks about how men are described. For example on lines 3-6, “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; 5If you can wait and not be tired by waiting Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,” In this quote, one can see how, unlike the novel, it is telling oneself that one is only manly if one shuts off their emotions. This is another example that shows that the poem and the novel have different expressions on manhood, where the novel thinks that being manly is about full confidence, while the poem’s definition of being manly would be a cold heart and minimal emotions. Precisely when the author says “Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies Or being hated, don’t give way to hating” it shows that it’s telling one to give up on the emotions and forget them, leaving them behind. Hence in the poem, it has a completely different outtake on the word manhood and unlike the novel where manhood IS coming of age, the poem sees it as something to be learned.