Everyday, someone or a group of people is stereotyped because of their differences, appearance, personality, salary, and much more. The theme of stereotyping is shown unceasingly throughout the book, the Outsiders, by describing the Greasers’ and Socs’ different appearances and reputations. By depicting this topic, the message “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is represented and learned. This is an important lesson in life because it lets people know that we are all equals in life problems, like the Outsiders. So, stereotypes are used continuously throughout the Outsiders to describe certain life lessons like, “Don't judge a book by its cover” and in this case stereotypes. Since the isolation between the Greasers and Socs are based upon stereotypes from their appearances and reputations. For example, on page 3 it describes, “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 asset to society the next. Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while.” The separation between the Greasers and Socs is clearly from the differences in living …show more content…
Likewise, on page 40-41 it states, “It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.” This part also connects the two realms of the Socs and the Greasers by showing similarities between Cherry, a Soc, and Ponyboy, a Greaser. Based on the stereotypes of Greasers and Socs, the connection between the two is unfathomable to the rest of society in this book. Nevertheless, the idea that Greasers and Socs could be similar left both groups aghast and thought they would never get along because of their differences but that changed once Cherry and Ponyboy made a
). This implies that the Socs have nothing to do, so they resort to tormenting the unprivileged instead of doing anything worthwhile. The Greasers constantly receive the blame when the Socs start a fight, and the Socs use society's prejudice against children like the Greasers when the police arrive. For example, the Socs "get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next" (Hinton 3). This means everyone excuses their mistakes and blames it on the Greasers, and the Socs use mindsets like those to their advantage. When compared to living life in hardship and trying to survive, misusing privilege instead of using it to improve society is far worse, and, similarly, the way they fight is immoral.
Both the Socs and the Greasers believe their opinions of their rivals to be true, even though “…most reviews of stereotyping conclude that there is very little evidence regarding the validity of beliefs about groups” (Lee, Jussim, and McCauley 5). The opinions the characters have of their opposing gangs tend to take the focus off of individual personalities and instead lumps everyone who is different from them into large groups. For example, right before Cherry leaves Ponyboy after the movies, she tells him that she might not say “hi” to him at school. He knows this is
To start, stereotypes are deceptive because people place others into cliques based on their appearances. People assume everyone in a clique are the same, even though their true personality may differ from that clique. The first example from The Outsiders in which somebody doesn’t fit in with the stereotype they are given is Ponyboy. Ponyboy doesn’t quite fit in with his clique, the greasers. After Ponyboy is jumped, Darry has a fight with Pony. Darry yells at Ponyboy to think on the streets and to stay alert. Darry is concerned about Ponyboy’s safety: ‘“You must think at school with all those good grades you bring home, and you’ve always got your nose in a book, but do you ever use your head for common sense?”’ (13). Meaning, Ponyboy isn’t like the greaser stereotype. Compared to all the other greasers, Pony is book smart and not street smart. The greasers are smart where it really matters like on the streets. They carry blades to defend themselves, travel as gangs, and know how to get themselves out of a dangerous situation, if they get stuck in one. Ponyboy, however, is book smart. He succeeds at an outstanding level at school and in his academics. Once he is on the street his intelligence doesn’t follow him. He doesn’t use his common sense and he can’t find his way out of dangerous situations. As a result of this Pony gets jumped by the Socs which
Both Socs and greasers all have a bad reputation with stereotypes when are looked at. Ponyboy shouted, "Greasers cant walk alone too much or they'll get jumped, or someone will come by and scream "Greaser!" and that doesn’t make you too hot if you know what I mean." (Hinton Pg #) This paragraph shows us that people who have never met a greaser, are looking at them in a bad way. Before stereotypes have a chance to know them, they don’t realize how hard a greasers' life is. Randy stated, "They give us a little money and the world hates us." (Hinton pg #) This shows that Socs have it rough.
Greasers are the main stereotype in the book but also there is a small part played by the Socs. Although the book is about the life and times of a Greaser there is also a ‘Socs Story’ in there, as throughout the book you learn more and more about the Socs and how they live. But this all changes. When Bob dies Cherry and Randy, the main Socs characters, begin to see that there is no difference between Socs and Greasers. Randy, when he talks to Ponyboy in private doesn’t call
One of the main vs man conflict in the Outsiders is the rival between the greasers and the socs. The greasers are the east side boys who " steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations". The greasers, due to their family background and physical appearance, are being stereotyped as individuals who are poor and are provided with fewer opportunities than others. On the other hand, the socs, are " the west-side rich kids" who come from affluent backgrounds and" likes to jump greasers and throw beer blasts for kicks". In the eyes of the public, the Socs are the social elites whereas the greasers are considered the less privileged, second-class citizens.
In The Outsiders, both the Socs and the Greasers spent most of their time in gang fights and disobeying the law. The Socs were wealthier and had a higher social status. “We get jumped by 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. It's like the term "greaser," which is used to class all us boys on the East Side.We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we're wilder, too” (Hinton 4). The Greasers were poor and usually came from
Have you ever noticed in “The Outsiders” the differences and the similarities between the Greasers and the Socials? Well I will be explaining and showing why the Socials and Greasers are different and why they are the same. I will also be giving evidence supporting Ponyboys thought that Greasers and Socials are the same.
The actions the socs make aren’t very friendly. When they come by greasers they also threaten them and get in the way of whatever they are doing. If it’s at night and no one is around the socs find greasers and talk to them. Socs also like to brag about being rich because the greasers are very
Stereotype; a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. In the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, and in the short story, “Geeks Bearing Gifts”, written by Ron Koertge, stereotypes are defied by ordinary people. In The Outsiders, Johnny Cade and Darry Curtis face many struggles throughout their lives. Their town in separated into two: the rich and dangerous Socs, and the quiet, tough Greasers. For them, living dangerously is a reality. As a result of their lifestyle, Johnny has become fearful and Darry is considered the toughest man in the gang. In “Geeks Bearing Gifts” aspiring journalist, Renee, interviews her fellow classmates who are classified as “outcasts.” After meeting several students, she realizes her assumptions were incorrect about them. After reading both of these stories, the reader learns that our thoughts about others often revolve around stereotypes and assumptions, but most of these ideas that we have about other people are proven wrong.
In S.E Hinton's novel, The Outsiders, there are many themes represented in the book, but one of the main themes is social ostracism, or the conflict between the economic classes. There are two rival gangs within The Outsiders: the Socs and the Greasers. The Socs represent the upper class while the Greasers represent the lower class. The Socs, "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 society the next." The Greasers, who are on the low social economic side, "steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in
The difference between the Greasers and Socs in the society is the Greasers treated unequally and criticized for being poor. The Socs are bullying, criticizing, and intimidating the Greasers based on the economic level. Greasers have unequal lifestyles, attitudes, and financial situations, but still live in the same world, beneath the same sun as the Socs (Hinton 18), but repeat the same actions toward the Socs in a way of fighting back and sticking together.
A major conflict in this novel is between the greasers and the Socs. These two gangs are made up of complete opposites. The two rivals fall into conflict because of how they view each other and their roles in society. Greasers are poor hoods from the East side that “wear our hair long and dress in t-shirts and blue jeans… and wear leather jackets
The difference in social class definitely took its toll on the two of these gangs. The Soc’s and Greaser’s opinion would change from with experiences, but for the most part it was a clash for who owned the town. The Socs were the “good guys” and the Greasers were the “troublemakers” of town, although this was definitely not the case but because of the unchanging prejudice opinions were placed on both of the groups it would not change. For example, Ponyboy explained that maybe the Greasers and Socs aren’t so different after all. On page 40, Ponyboy starts to wonder how different he is from any of the Socs, “It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the
There were conflicts between the Socs that conflicted with the greasers. They were two opposite groups that didn't get along. The Socs, "the jet-set...West-side rich kids, wear madras shirts, smell of English leather, and drive new sports cars..." (6). Socs were rich, while greasers were low class. "Soc" is an abbreviation of the Socials, which are the West-side rich kids. Socs had a better reputation than the greasers.