Differences On The Society In The Outsiders

Have you ever had a simple feud between peers, or even close friends? Imagine if you had a fight over social classes, would it be worse? S.E. Hinton, the author of the 1967 novel, The Outsiders, uses unique characters, symbols, and hectic events to prove that class conflict is pointless, unwarranted, and destructive. In the novel, fictional characters are brought to life by the author, as she connects and compares their taxing lifestyle to that of the reader. Using 14 year old boy, Ponyboy Curtis who is a greaser who has it fairly bad, living with only his brothers after his parents dies in a tragic car accident, Hinton shows that it’s tough all over, no matter your social status. Ponyboy can only rely on Sodapop and Darry, and the rest of the gang. The author displays class conflict throughout the book, by using the ‘socs, or ,the rich kids with mustangs and madras, showing that this dispute, between the greasers and socs, does not make life any easier. The Outsiders uncovers that blood, may not be thicker than water, after all.

The novel and movie The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hinton, is about a boy, Ponyboy Curtis, and his struggles. Hinton writes about two gangs: the Socs and greasers. Ponyboy is labeled a greaser because of his lack of wealth and popularity. When his friend, Johnny, murders a Soc to save Ponyboy’s life, they flee from town and hide in an abandoned church. This event brings many stereotypes that greasers are cruel people and hoods. There are many themes in The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, although one is stronger than the rest: injustice is caused by money, status, and circumstance.

The Outsiders is a story regarding the privation and accomplishments experienced by the Greasers and the Socs, two rival gangs living in the inner city in the early 1960’s. The novel The Outsiders is about two groups of teenagers of bitter rivalry which was due to socio-economic differences.The Outsiders takes us through a journey of violence, struggle and death. It examines the life of a recently orphaned young man born into poverty confronted with the prejudices that he could not change. The novel tells the story of Ponyboy Curtis and his conflicts between the lower and the upper class youths and struggles and with the right and wrong in a society in which he considers himself an outsider. The society is divided in two groups Greasers and Socs, ‘Greasers’ are those who are from East side and belongs to a poor section of the society and ‘Socs’ a short word for society used in the novel, means those who are from West side and belongs to a richer section of a society. The greasers and Socs also have somethings in common like Cherry Valance, a member of Socs, and Ponyboy Curtis, a geaser discuss their love for literature, for popular music, and sunsets. A view of honorable action appears throughout the novel, which works as an important element of the geasers behavioral code.

Most all greasers have broken and dysfunctional family lives. johnnys parents used to beat him and they fight all the time and then there's ponyboy, darry and sodapop who don't even have parents at all. “[Johnny’s] father was always beating him up, and his mother ignored him, except when she was hacked off at something, and then you could hear her yelling at him clear down at our house.” (12). This quote from the book points out how messed up johnny's family is and most other greasers have a family similar to this or broken in their own way.

The novel The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, gave a realistic portrayal of teenage slum life along with depicting common themes such as loyalty and crime; in fact, the gangs of Tim Shepard and Ponyboy Curtis had their similarities and differences. First of all, the most apparent difference between the two gangs is their structure. Ponyboy stated that “the difference between his gang and ours---they had a leader and were organized” (Hinton 146). This shows how the two gangs were dissimilar because Ponyboy’s gang was composed of friends who looked out for each other. Moreover, Tim’s gang was unalike Ponyboy’s gang because of their nature. Ponyboy knew that “Shepard’s gang were used to fighting with anything they could get their hands on ---bicycle

“The silence grew heavier, and I could hear the harsh heavy breathing of the boys around me. Still Darry and the Soc walked slowly in a circle” (Hinton, 143). The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a realistic fiction novel taking place in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1966. The story informs the reader of a rivalry between two gangs, the Socials (Socs) who are the rich people that have nice cars, clothes, and have a bright future ahead of them. The Socs live on the West side. The Greasers are the other gang who weren’t rich, weren’t known to have bright futures and always had grease in their hair, hence the name Greasers. Throughout the story many themes have been applied to our society today. Two themes that I have chosen were that loyalty is a thread that holds people together and to not judge people based on how society labels them.

S.E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders may have taken place in the 1960s, but its themes of identity, violence, and social status are still very much relevant in today's society. The narrative follows Ponyboy Curtis, a teenage Greaser from an underprivileged neighborhood, as he struggles to overcome the obstacles of growing up in a violent gang environment and a divided society based on financial circumstances. Given the ongoing struggles with injustice, criminality, and the need to fit in, these topics are still relevant in today's society. One of the most striking similarities between The Outsiders and today's world is the continued presence of social class divisions. Just like the Greasers and the Socs in the novel, there are still stark differences in wealth and opportunity between different groups of people.

In S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, there are two rival gangs. One group, the Socials, reap the benefits of wealthy living and a good reputation. The other bunch, the Greasers, are looked down upon as bad, unruly, and unlawful. Even though the Greasers and Socials live on opposite sides of town, they have a variety of likenesses and differences.

When S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders, conflicts between cultures were happening all over the world. The Outsiders is a book about the interactions between the Greasers and Socs, Greasers being the poor kids and Socs being the rich kids. The story is mainly based around a group of greasers that are unlike the others. They are less like a gang, and more like a family. Throughout the book, Ponyboy, the protagonist, goes through a change where he suddenly realizes that the Greasers and Socs are just people, that they aren’t so different.

In "The Outsiders" there is an ongoing struggle between the gangs in Oklahoma. The novel mainly features the conflict between the greasers and the Socs.

The Outsiders book is about two different social groups, the Greasers and the Socs. The main greaser characters are Darry, Two-bit, Pony boy, Johnny, Steve, and Dally. Darry, Two-bit and Pony boy are brothers and lost their parents due to a car accident a while ago, since then Darry, the oldest has had to look after and take care of Two-bit and Pony Boy. The greasers have it rough, they don’t have much money, while the Socs are wealthy. Throughout this story Greasers and Socs do not get along, resolving to deaths on both sides. The theme The Outsiders is if friends and family have each other they can get through anything.

Isn’t it obvious that the Soc’s are the biggest disgrace and menace to the society. Just because they’re rich doesn’t make them better then greasers, all Socs do is cause problems for the greasers. Almost all the bad things that happened to the greasers all started by the Socs somehow. Of course the Socs are rich and have nice cars, everyone is supposed to love them and they get away with almost anything. The greasers are tortured, jumped by the Socs all the time. Society viewed the Socs as great, sweet little children, but then when society would look at the greasers they would just look at them in disgust, thinking they’re terrible naughty kids. The cops hated them, Socs would blame stuff on greasers and greasers get in trouble for the mess. But according to cherry “Things were rough all over.” (pg.118).

In The Outsiders, a book written by S.E. Hinton, there are two polar opposite gangs, the socs and the greasers. The socs, who are high class, have mustangs and “tuff” cars and wear plaid clothing called madras. The Greasers, who are lower class, are known for their long and greasy hair, wearing leather jackets and being hoods. They only have each other and always have everyone’s back. No matter the situation like leaving a door open in case they need to run away from home because of an abusive dad , they can count on one another. Ponyboy, a 14 year old Greaser, who is also the protagonist, along with other characters lose themselves while trying to be someone else they’re not. Hinton teaches us that it is important to remember that individual

S.E Hinton uses theme to show the readers the dominant ideas of the story in The Outsiders. On example of where the author uses theme of society and class is the idea that the narrator uses to show that in the story exist two different groups “The Socs” which are the rich and dress well with madras T-shirt, a difference of “ The Greasers” which are the poor people, the working class. This clearly conveys that society and class is one of the main theme in the story because base on this in the story exists a conflict between this two social classes. Another example where the author uses theme of violence is when Johnny and Pony were in the park relax and 3 member of the socs gang that were drunk were out of their territory and wanted to fight

“The Outsiders” identifies the 60’s, illustrating the violence between groups, often involving a group’s social class. For instance, the violent tensions between the Socs and Greasers lead to Bob’s death, Johnny’s death, as well as many injuries throughout both gangs. The book “The Outsiders” is written by S.E. Hinton and is portrayed through the eyes of a high school student in Tulsa, OK where S.E. Hinton grew up. Hinton began writing “The Outsiders” in 1965 at the age of 17 and the book was finally published in 1967 when she was 19. The difference in perspective upon the society and social class creates issues throughout “The Outsiders” and since the Socs and Greasers assume the problems will be solved with violence, they take action.