Finding Our Voice In The Outsiders

Understanding identity is not as easy as some people think. In the average lifespan of 71 years, numerous events can impact the outcome of of an individual’s life. Choices, religion, and many external factors can greatly influence a human and his or her identity. Some people believe that feelings can and do determine your identity, so they do whatever they feel is correct. However, this is false. Identity is very strongly influenced by the events, objects, and people around. It is mostly influenced by external factors. In The Outsiders, Ponyboy is, without a doubt, incredibly influenced by the external factors around him, such as Sherry Valance, the rumble between the Socs and the Greasers, and when his best friend passes away.

Stereotype Essay Society is cruel, everyone is judged, some people are accepted and some aren’t. Lots of people try to break stereotype barriers, but it just won’t happen. Everyone is different whether it is religion, skin color, physical appearance, or the way people think. The characters of The Outsiders written by S.E Hinton experience stereotype threat or external expectations of others that makes a negative impact to their life. Cherry is an outsider in her group because she expresses herself differently than other Socs.

Serious events can cause change in a person's life. S.E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders tells a story about a teenage boy, Ponyboy, that lives with his brothers, Darry and Sodapop. Pony and his gang are all poor Greasers so they are constantly mugged by the privileged Socs. Since the Socs and Greasers do not get along and are constantly fighting each other, the kids are almost always injured. In The Outsiders, Ponyboy learns a lot of important lessons because of the events that take place. Pony learns that all Socs are not mean, that Darry does love him, and that there is lots of good in the world. He learns many different things that help his life; however, the most valuable lesson is that all Socs are not rude.

The title of the story is The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton wrote it. Dell Publishing published the book. The main characters include Ponyboy, Darry, Soadapop, Dally Winston, Johnny, Cherry, Two-Bit, and Marcia.

“The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.” The Outsiders is a novel by S.E. Hinton about a group of boys who face many challenges and hardships together. The novel is based off adversity and how although it could have negative impacts it could still bring some positivity like finding the real image of actions, overcoming fears, and bringing a family together.

With the title “The Outsiders,” S.E. Hinton is trying to say that everyone feels like an outsider in their own way, no matter what you see on the outsider. In using this title, Hinton is referring to many different characters, but for the most part she is talking about Ponyboy and how he feels. When the readers read this book, she wants them to remember that you’re not alone, and that everyone feels like an outsider in their own way at some point. Many characters in this book feel as though they are alone, when all of them are self conscious and afraid of

“The Outsiders”, by S.E. Hinton, is centered around Ponyboy’s path to maturity and the life lessons he learns along the way. The novel follows Ponyboy, a greaser, and his gang’s conflict with the Socials, a rival gang. In it, he learns to not judge people hastily and reject gang mentality. Ponyboy also loses his innocence. The following paragraphs will explore his growth throughout “The Outsiders”.

In light of the comparative study between Growing Up Asian in Australia and a novel of choice, I have chosen The Outsiders by S.E.Hinton as my novel. The Outsiders is a classic dramatic novel that was first published in 1967 and was set in Oklahoma, USA. The novel is a coming-of-age story that focus around a gang of young boys called the greasers, and is narrated by Ponyboy Curtis, the main protagonist. The major conflicts that appeared in the novel were man vs man, man vs society and man vs self( internal conflict).

The Novel The Outsiders reveals that it is the “real” and “raw” moments the define an individual as human. In these moments of authentic and selfless love the attributes of individual become more definitive then social class, or reputation. Through examining Dallas Winston and his love for Johnny and Randy’s emotional encounter with Pony boy Hinton’s most haunting and enduring argument become evident, that self discovery imposed by love and loss has no sides but the outside.

Despite today’s societal beliefs of reaching maturity at the age of eighteen, coming-of-age generally describes various religions that signifies an individual’s transition from childhood to adulthood. S.E. Hinton’s young adult fiction, The Outsiders, describes the life of fourteen-year-old Ponyboy Curtis, the main protagonist, in his internal struggle towards an identity other than one marked by his gang, the greasers. He lives with Darrel “Darry”, his oldest brother who holds all of the responsibility ever since their parents died and Sodapop, his older, easygoing brother in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In the midst of a gang rivalry between the greasers, an East Side gang known to be poor trouble makers, and the Socials “Socs”, who are known to be the rich and commendable of the West-side of town,

The Outsiders, a novel by S.E. Hinton, shares moralities that encourage themes of brotherhood and heroism with literary elements - which includes setting, point of view, characterization, conflict, plot, and theme. Each element influences the big idea of flawed heroes and friendships to readers. With her powerful novel, Hinton is able to express the necessity of unity and brotherhood within a community, despite differences in classes, ages, or ideals.

In our society today there are still groups in which people are divided just as it was in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960s. The only dissimilarity now is the names and uniforms, according to the author of ‘the outsiders’, S.E. Hinton. However, the remained question is ‘who are the real outsiders’. The real outsiders are those who seek beyond the society and their social aggregation.

The character that I had chosen to analyze was Ponyboy Curtis in the movie, The Outsiders (Coppola, 1983). I chose this character because the movie revealed how Ponyboy got to where he is mentally and everything that had occurred to get him to that point. I will analyze the adolescent phase of Ponyboy’s life. The theme of The Outsiders is how love can affect the relationships of close friends. The theories and theorists that support my analysis are Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial theory, Albert Bandura’s Observational Learning, Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspective and Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Systems theory: Microsystem (Sigelman, 2015). From those theories and theorists the following points will be analyzed: identity, peer pressure, self-worth, and dependence.

There are three main things that influence a character. They are the environment the character is in, the people the character interacts with, and the experiences that the character goes through. The identity of a person or a character is never complete. The identity will just continue to grow as you grow as a person. The experiences, people, and environment will continue to change your identity as you go through life. Even if a character in a book is deceased their identity can still be growing because the other characters may find things that change their perspective on a person. Someone will always grow as a person which will change their identity. Authors can reveal identity in many different ways. An author can tell you all about that person in the beginning of the book. A person can go from a happy person to a depressed person because of experience, or the environment they're exposed to. Another way that an author can reveal a character's identity is through objects that they have or things that they wrote on. An author can also reveal a character in a book =through the actions that they make or even the people that they are friends with or interact with on a daily basis. My own identity is quite similar and different to Johnny Cade in the book The Outsiders.

A young adult novel’s audience often desires relatable characters and a meaningful plot that helps them to find resolutions to their own uncertainties concerning life. Many authors employ the literary technique realism to satiate these cravings. Today, there are some popular novels that attempt to imitate this, such as the coveted The Fault in Our Stars or Divergent. These selections, while widespread in the hands of young adult readers today, will not stand the test of time in the way that The Outsiders has, written by S. E. Hinton in 1967, has. This novel, both produced by and intended for teenagers, instead is a better candidate of realistic young adult fiction. Other selections, from Hinton’s era and from today, do not radiate the same