Identity 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.

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

Johnny Cade had a really bad home life. Hie Father Mr.Cade, abusive and his Mother Mrs.Cade pretended that he never existed. Therefore, the gang was the closest thing to a family he had. Ponyboy,Dally,Two-Bit,Soda,Darry,and Steve, all the members of the gang, The Greasers,were the brothers that he never had and, the best friends that a boy could ask

“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”.

Have you ever seen a gang? If so, did you judge them on how they looked or how they acted? Did you think they were dangerous? Most importantly, were you scared of them? In The Outsiders Pony boy is the main character. He grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the mid-1960. In this novel, the author S.E. Hinton tells how Ponyboy Curtis grows up. Dally was a flat character because we only see one side of him. He is also dynamic as he changes from being tough in the beginning and caring in the end. Well, Dallas (Dally) Winston was tough, heroic, and caring.

The Outsiders, made in 1983, is based on the original book made in 1967, The Outsiders. The movie copied the same plot of the book heavily, as it still portrays the same main character, Ponyboy Curtis (played by Thomas C. Howell), a fourteen year old boy living with his two brothers. This one and a half hour film shows Ponyboy’s life as a greaser, as he experiences the positive and negative sides of his family life style, and questions the benefits of the greaser’s biggest enemy; the Socials.

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.

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.

“‘I killed him,’ he said slowly. ‘I killed that boy’” (Hinton 56). In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, they talk about a boy named Johnny that killed a boy, and the growth of a child named Ponyboy. Johhnny Cade has many names. To live on the rundown section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the 1960’s you are not expected to be wealthy or to have an emotional attachment to things. That is what the Greaser’s were; they jumped, stole, and went to jail. People would never expect them to be educated or that somebody loves them. The Greasers were all there for each other, they loved one another like family. This boy, his family is the gang. From the backgrounds that Johnny grows up in, you can see why the names given to him. These titles are not just words. They explain who he is. Suspicious, damaged, and a hero are all labels to describe Johnny Cade.

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.

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.

Labels can impact every one. Labels impact all of the characters in all kinds of negative ways;Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dallas especially. Like they believe that they can only be greasers nothing else. I mean in the end of the book two are dead and one is devastated. But In the book everyone has a label.

A lot of people see Johnny Cade as a quiet and insecure guy, but he is way more than that. In the novel, “The Outsiders” by “S.E. Hinton”, There are two teen rival groups, the Greasers and the Socs. Johnny belonged to in the Greaser group, the group is his family. Johnny Cade is firm, important and he was brave.

Honour among the lawless. Susan Eloise Hinton is an American author known for her novel’s set in the 1960’s. S.E Hinton is best known for her book The Outsiders. The outsiders is a novel that tells the story of social groups and how they are divided by their social status. The idea of honourable actions appear throughout the novel and it works as an important component of the greaser behavioural code.

When a person saves someone else what’s the first word that pops into your head? For instance, the first word that pops in my head is a hero because the definition of a hero is a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities: a war hero. This topic is important for people to realize how a person can show that a “superhero” that has powers isn’t the only person that can do it, but the strength of a regular human, even if it’s someone you would never guess would do such a heroic phenomenal. This intertwined with the book The Outsiders by S.E Hinton because in chapter six the main character, Ponyboy and Johnny the “greasers” mascot were framed for the murder of Bob, one of the “Socs”.