Greaser In The Outsiders

As stated in the text, Hinton writes “Things were rough all over”(Hinton 35). This explains that everyone has problems no matter who you are or where you came from, everyone has issues no matter how big or small. Therefore, Greasers and Socs are very much alike. In addition, the article “The Allure of Gangs” clarifies that “Being in a gang may also satisfy their need for attention and provide someone who will listen to and care about them”(“The Allure of Gangs” on page 40). Given that, majority of the kids that are in the gangs, come from difficult homes, so they tend to be closer to their gang members than their family

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

His family. His gang. But in chapter seven, when Randy sits down with him in his tuff car, Ponyboy realizes that life isn’t about who has it easier and that complaining about his problems doesn’t make them worse than other people’s. Ponyboy says to Randy, “‘Running away won’t help.’ ‘Oh, hell, I know it.’

As Ponyboy states when he starts to understand this, “No, it wasn’t Cherry the Soc who was helping us, it was Cherry the dreamer who watched sunsets and couldn’t stand fights.” (Hinton 86). Ponyboy was previously under the impression that all Socs didn’t care about anything, and was surprised when he met Cherry, a Soc who watched the same sunset as he did. The stereotype of Socs being heartless and cruel was all he had seen and heard, so it was hard for him to understand how one could be so different. Ponyboy’s friends felt similarly, and most of them found it even harder to grasp this concept than Ponyboy had. The Greasers were used to judging the Socs as a group, and did not see them as individuals. These group stereotypes are what ultimately caused most of the biggest fights in the novel.

In the beginning, he thinks all the Socs are without heart and the only thing they have is money. For instance, when Ponyboy was walking home alone, he said: “Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks…” (page 4 paragraph 2). Clearly, this shows he stereotypes the Socs and his view on them are the same as everyone in his gang. He was taught that all the Socs does things that the Greasers would never think of. He doesn’t understand that same group can have different people and he shouldn’t judge people by their group. Although, after meeting Cherry Valance he understands that different groups can have similarities. For instance, when Ponyboy and Cherry were walking to the car and Cherry said to Ponyboy, “Things are rough all over.” (pg. 31 paragraph 5). In short, after meeting Cherry he understood that even if a person is rich, they could have problems too. He understood that money doesn’t solve all the problems. Ponyboy understood even though they thought they lived in two different worlds but it wasn’t that different. Ponyboy realized there are many similarities more than differences between the Greasers and Socs and everyone in life has

The entire book is about Ponyboy against other greasers and Socs. The terms greaser and Soc are used for the kids who live on the east and west side. “Ponyboy . . . I mean . . . if I see you in the hall at school or someplace and don’t say hi, well, it’s not personal or anything, but . .(Hilton 45).” Cherry didn’t want to say hi to Ponyboy if she saw him because she is a Soc and he is a greaser. In fact none of the greasers or Socs said hi to each other. Society played a large role in this book by separating the Socs and the greasers.

He brings Ponyboy to his car to talk about the rumble and other things. Randy, who appears to be a tough Soc, explains to Ponyboy that a rumble isn’t necessary and that he wouldn’t be going to it. After they were done talking, he realizes that not all Socs were mean to greasers. They could have appeared to look cold and cruel, but on the inside some of them were nice. Ponyboy thinks later, “Socs were just guys after all. Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too.” (Hinton 118). After this event, Ponyboy learns that everyone may seem to stick to his or her own group of people, like Socs or greasers, but it doesn’t mean that person has the traits of his or her group only. No two people have the exact same personalities, so people in the same group aren’t exactly like each other.

In this quote Cherry is telling Ponyboy that Socs aren’t all rich snobbish jerks that get whatever they want, ‘“All Socs aren’t like that,”she said.”You have to believe me, Ponyboy. Not all of us are like that.” “Sure,” I said. “That’s like saying all you greasers are like Dallas Winston. I’ll bet he’s jumped a few people.” I digested that. It was true.’ (Hinton 34). In this part of the book, Ponyboy learns that his stereotypes that he has been forming over the year are proving to only be half right. Cherry reveals that over on the Socs side, it’s rough over

Ponyboy is trying to convince the rest of the greasers that all of the socs are not bad and are just normal people like them. Randy still sees all of the greasers as hoods who are poor and have too many emotions, but he starts to understand how they both have it “rough all over”(Hinton 118). After Randy comes to Ponyboy’s house he realizes that. Randy and Ponyboy are the only socs and greasers that see each other as they truly are. The other greasers are starting to realize that the socs are not all that bad after all.

In the book The Outsiders, Ponyboy talks about how the rich Socs girls acted, and how the poor Greaser girls acted. When Ponyboy first met Cherry, and Marcia he said it was nice to hangout, and talk to the soc girls. He said they were nothing like the greaser girls, and he didn’t like greaser girls. Ponyboy said “I quit worrying about everything, and thought about how nice it was to sit with a girl without having to listen to her swear or to beat her off with a club.” (Hinton 35). Ponyboy was talking about Cherry a rich Soc girl being different then the poor Greaser girls. He feels like they are easier to talk to and easier to have a conversation with. He likes that they don’t swear, and are smart. He talks about how the poor Greaser girls swear, are disrespectful, are always fighting, and are always troublemakers by flirting with other guys. Another example of the rich (Socs) vs poor (Greasers) is there education. In the book The Outsiders, it talks about how the Greasers (the poor) don’t speak right. It also talks about how the Greasers, and Socs went to the same school.

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.

The Greasers are "poorer than the Socs and the middle class... almost like hoods; we steal things and rive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while. " In contrast, the Socs are "the jet set, the West-side rich kids," 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 society the next. "In Chapter 3, a conversation between Ponyboy and Cherry shows the difference between the two groups that goes beyond money. Cherry says, "You greasers have a different set of values. You're more emotional.

The Socs mostly came from houses with two parents, drive fine cars, wear fashionable clothing, and even given the freedom they wanted. Instead of focusing on all the goods that the Socs had, they decided to focus on their hatred towards the Greasers. They wanted to jump the Greasers and do whatever it took to cause conflict. “You Greasers have a different set of values. You're more emotional. We're sophisticated--- cool to the point of not feeling anything. Nothing is real with us” (Hinton 33). The Greasers feel emotions, but the Socs are too cool to feel anything. Instead of the Socs taking advantage of everything they had, the Socs got editorials in the newspaper for being a public disgrace one day and a benefit to society the next day. Randy and Cherry seem to be the only ones to realize the error of the Socs ways. Cherry feels sympathy for the Greasers even after her boyfriend, Bob, was killed.

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

Besides the conflicts between the greasers and the conflicts between the Socs there were also conflicts between the two gangs. Because the two groups were so