Character Traits In The Outsiders

Sherry Valance, a 16 year-old Soc, who goes by the name Cherry, influenced Ponyboy not just a little, but caused him to ponder about the meaning behind all the rivalry between the Socs and the Greasers. Hate between the Socs, the rich kids of the west side, and the Greasers, the poor kids from the east side, has always existed. Beforehand, Ponyboy greatly disliked the Socs, for they continually jumped and attacked Greasers. He always regarded them as an enemy. However, that one night when Ponyboy Curtis clashed with Sherry Valance, she demonstrated that not all Socs were malevolent and self-centered. While conversing with Cherry, Ponyboy felt her empathy and understanding and softened towards her. She talked about her boyfriend, Bob, and how he

In the novel The Outsiders by S.E. HINTON the main character Ponyboy’s identity changes multiple times over the text. In the beginning of the story Ponyboy was introduced as a greaser, a greaser is someone who is usually poorer than the middle class and like to screw around and start gang fights and they are considered hoods as stated on pages 2-3, “We’re poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we’re wilder, too. Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace almost like hoods.” this shows that even though the Socs are much more wild the greasers are still considered the bad crazy hood people. Ponyboy didn’t like being a greaser

Most people in the world are misunderstood at some point in their life. However, if other people’s perceptions of a person create a reputation, it can camouflage their real traits. Dallas (Dally) Winston is a victim of this. A character in the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Dally is commonly known for being a tough ruthless guy who doesn’t care about anybody but himself. He’s a great fighter and is very confident, but because of his past, it seems his real qualities have been masked. Even though Dallas Winston’s friends misunderstood him to be a cold-hearted and tough person, his experiences and how he treats his friends reveals his loving, self-reliant, and dependable nature.

In the beginning of “The Outsiders”, Ponyboy only likes a few people but in the end, he realizes that he judged people unfairly. In the beginning, he only appreciated Johnny (the second youngest gang member), Soda (the middle child in his family) and Two-Bit (a wisecracking member of the gang). He dislikes Dallas (the most criminal of the gang) and Steve and thinks that his oldest brother, Darry, dislikes him. He also believes that all Socs are bad. His judgments are first brought into question when he meets Cherry Valence, a female Soc. Ponyboy, referring to her and her friend wrote, “It seemed funny to me that Socs -if these girls were any example - were just like us.” (37) Pony’s views on the Socs evolve again when he talks to Randy. After talking to Randy, Pony thinks, “Socs are just guys after all. Things are rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too." (118) By the end of the novel, Pony does not think all Socs are good because there are Socs like Bob, who jumped Johnny and Pony, but he realizes that people should be

This causes Dally to become reckless and finally ending in him being killed by the police, Ponyboy tells the reader “Dally Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted.” (p.187). From this the reader can gather how the events had modified Dally, creating a more emotional and caring character, weakening his value for himself and in return, strengthening his value for others.

It was only two gangs, three deaths, and many injuries, but the bloody, death defying, life changing brawl is what ended all of the chaos.In book The Outsiders by S.E Hinton Ponyboy learns a lot about being caring. In this novel two groups called the Socs and the Greasers fight each other continuously. This leads them to unexpected fights and deaths, causing things to not go as planned.Ponyboy is caring because he is thoughtful, trustworthy, and brave.

Have you ever wondered how the 1960’s was like? Would you have been fearful, jovial, or melancholy? In the book, The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton the main character Ponyboy Curtis lives with his two brothers, Sodapop and Darry, and is involved in a gang called the “greasers.” Ponyboy realizes what it is to be a kind person instead of being violent, he is always on top of his studies and is very observant of others.

Ponyboy Curtis probably changes more throughout the course of The Outsiders than any other character. His loss of innocence is a major theme of the novel. Pony is a good student at the start of the story, and he is a member of the track team. Aside from the death of his parents, Pony has suffered less than most of the characters. His older brother, Darry, tries to protect him from the gang violence that

One character trait to describe Dally is helpful. This is evident when Johnny and Ponyboy get into a situation no one else can get them out of. Knowing Dally would be at Buck Meril's party, they show up seeking his guidance. Johnny and Ponyboy tell him what happened and how Johnny had killed a Social named Bob. Once they finish Dally lets them come inside and warm up. As they are there Ponyboy states, "He handed us a gun and a roll of bills." (Hinton 60). Based on this evidence, it is clear the he is helpful because even during his friends' worst times Dally helps them instead of turning his back. In addition, when Johnny and Ponyboy ran away he goes and finds them. Dally spends more money on them, gives Ponyboy a letter from his brother, Sodapop, and tells them what he knows about what is happening in town. Without

Have you ever had two friends that are enemies? In the story, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, Cherry Valance (her real name is Sherri) is a fashionable, fiery, red headed, emotional, understanding, and trustworthy friend. The story took place in the mid 1960’s in Tulsa, OK. Greasers and Socs are two very different, yet same groups, which most definitely do not get along. After Ponyboy and Johnny got jumped, Johnny killed Bob, a Soc who was also Cherry’s boyfriend. During Ponyboy and Johnny’s hiding out in an abandoned church, the church starts on fire, while the children are playing in there. Johnny and Ponyboy somehow made their way back in to save the kids. Johnny and Ponyboy both made it out alive. Unfortunately, however, Johnny gets out with severe burns and a broken back. While he is in the hospital, Cherry has a conflict with herself: she is asked by Ponyboy to go see Johnny in the hospital, but she says no because she doesn’t want to face the person who killed Bob. In the time of the trial, Cherry and other Soc’s testify and come clean about the night of the stabbing. Consequently, since they told the truth, Johnny, Sodapop, and Darry all got to stay together. Cherry Valance is an emotional, caring, and trustworthy friend.

By making friends with two socs girls in the movie house, Ponyboy realized that not all the socs were violent, and were fond of fighting for fun. ‘ All socs aren’t like that,’ , she said. ‘You have to believe me, Ponyboy. Not all of us are like that.’ (Hinton 36). These words was said by cherry, one of the socs friends of Ponyboy. After hearing about the experience that Johnny was beaten up by four socs, Cherry explained to Ponyboy that not all the socs praised violence. She told Ponyboy that socs were always behind a wall of aloofness, and not to let their real selves show through. Therefore, Ponyboy began to understand the socs. He knew that although the socs were wealthy, sometimes they would meet troubles which the greasers have never ever heard

Bob was also a Soc. He was friends with Randy, and he was in a gang with Randy. Bob also jumped a lot of greasers that he came across. Since Bob was Randy’s good friend, when Ponyboy had his talk with Randy, Ponyboy got to know more about Bob’s life and who Bob really was because Randy knew what was happening in Bob’s life before he died. On page 116, Randy said, “They spoiled him rotten...

In the book it says that, “We’re poorer than the Socs and the middle class. The Socs. I’m not sure how you spell it, but it’s the abbreviation for the Socials. The jet set, the West-side rich kids”(4). This already explains how the Greasers are doing in their social status versus the Socs, who are ahead of them, and are not poor, like most of the greasers are. To make it worse, the Socs are the ones the people like to look up to, but they’re not making themselves sound like a good role-model. In the novel, it quotes, “Not like the Socs, who jump Greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day, and an asset to the society the next”(4). Surely, most of the people in the town look up to Socs for their higher social status than the Greasers, but are setting a bad example of role-modeling by making fun of the Greasers because of their lower level class. And lastly, Ponyboy is not the only one who is feeling this way towards their society; so is a friend named Two-Bit. Two-Bit says, “I am a Soc. I am the privileged and the well-dressed. I throw beer blasts, drive fancy cars, break windows at fancy parties”(116). Two-Bit is mocking what the Socs do to the Greasers by pretending he is one. He is stating what it sounds like to live a day in Soc life. When you add all this up, it clearly states that

S.E. Hinton’s novel “The Outsiders” is about Greasers vs. Socs, Socs are the rich kids so they can afford expensive clothes such as striped, checkered or Madras shirts. The Greasers are poor so they can’t really afford clothes, so they wear white tees with leather jackets or jean jackets and blue jeans. The characters in the book, “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, were not very heroic-they were just humans-it was easy to believe that this is the way they should be. The characters in the plot give the reader a feeling this can be a true story.

S.E Hinton once said, “ ‘The Outsiders’ cast in particular was a joy to be around- sweet kids, normal goofy teenagers off camera and serious artists on. They were great, I never got them mixed up with the characters though. Each of them had his own strong personality.’” The novel ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E. Hinton shows that you can't always be so quick to judge others. People aren't always as different from others as it may seem, even if your appearance says otherwise.