Literary Analysis Of The Outsiders

In the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Ponyboy Curtis, the narrator of the story, meets a girl named Cherry Valance. Through Ponyboy’s observations of her the reader learns that Cherry is a confident young woman. During chapter two, the way in which Cherry reacts to Dally showcases her personality. “She gives him an incredulous look; and then she threw her Coke in his face” (24). This bold move made by Cherry shows that she will not stand for harassment or mistreatment of her from anybody. She will talk back and protect herself and her friend. This line, said by Cherry, displays how she thinks of herself. “’It’s not my idea of a good time to sit in a drive-in and watch people get drunk’” (27). Cherry holds herself at a high standard, and

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.

Sherry Valance, a 16 year-old Soc, who goes by the name Cherry, influenced Ponyboy not just a little, but caused him to ponder about the meaning behind all the rivalry between the Socs and the Greasers. Hate between the Socs, the rich kids of the west side, and the Greasers, the poor kids from the east side, has always existed. Beforehand, Ponyboy greatly disliked the Socs, for they continually jumped and attacked Greasers. He always regarded them as an enemy. However, that one night when Ponyboy Curtis clashed with Sherry Valance, she demonstrated that not all Socs were malevolent and self-centered. While conversing with Cherry, Ponyboy felt her empathy and understanding and softened towards her. She talked about her boyfriend, Bob, and how he

The Outsiders, a novel by S.E. Hilton is set in Oklahoma in the 1960s, tells the story of a group of greasers that will always back each other up no matter what the situation. On the other hand, the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder, is set a small town in New Hampshire in the early 1900s that focuses on the lifestyles of common people that share common interests and live together as a whole community. Both stories emphasize the theme of cherishing life.

The Outsiders, a coming-of-age novel, written by S.E. Hinton who was a teenager at the time of writing is firmly based upon groups of teenagers divided amongst their social classes. The novel takes on the rival battles of the Socials and the Greasers.

Bob Sheldon - Cherry's boyfriend. Bob is the dark-haired Soc who beats up Johnny before the novel begins. Bob has a set of three heavy rings, which he wears when he fights greasers. Bob's indulgent parents have never disciplined him.

In the beginning of the novel, Ponyboy develops feeling for Cherry who he met at a movie. But due to the fact that Ponyboy is a Greaser and Cherry is a Soc, society states that “you don’t see a grease and a Socy cheerleader together that often.” (Hinton 30) Ponyboy being greaser is set apart from the rest of society because of his cloths, hair and financial status.”Our hair labeled us greasers, too- it was our trademark. The one thing we were proud of.”(Hinton 71) This barrier was created because society labels people based on their appearance. Though they both have feelings for eachother, society thinks that they can’t be together because of their different social party. This obstacle was not resolved, though Ponyboy and Cherry may see more in each other then Socs and greasers, society as a whole still separates them. Ponyboy and Cherry learn from each other that everyone has problems, “Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.” (Hinton

In the beginning of the book Cherry and Ponyboy are saying their goodbyes after a movie and Cherry informes Ponyboy that she will not acknowledge him the following day in school. This illustrates that Cherry is loyal to the socs and her group of friends. Also that Cherry really cares about her appearance on herself and how people look at her. Cherry also demonstrates acts of being disloyal. Towards the end of the book she becomes a spy for the Greasers and is extremely disloyal to the soc. This exemplifies Cherry's difficulty of being loyal because she chooses to go against her social class when she sees all the harm they have made. Ultimately, the decisions she made led her to lose some friends but along the way makes some new

As a young adult, it is difficult to grow up without parents and still be tough and brave. In addition, teens can be emotional and overreact at times. In the novel The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, a fourteen-year-old kid named Ponyboy Curtis feels different emotions that make him stand out from other Greasers, or “hoodlums”. Ponyboy, the youngest of all the Greasers, is a great example of a teen who feels isolated, brave, and emotional throughout the novel.

He was only 20, but he never really got to know what that was like. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the mid 1960’s. In addition, conflicts between two gangs were on the rise and the Curtis family was stuck in the middle of it. The main character Ponyboy Curtis had had two older brothers Sodapop and Darrel “Darry” Curtis. Darry happened to stand out because of his father figure presence in this novel. He had to grow up when he was only 20 years old. Both of Darry’s parents had died in a car wreck, forcing him to take on the responsibilities of his two younger brothers. Darry is a responsible, caring, and a prideful young man.

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.

Till I met Cherry Valance” (Hinton 39). This is the connection between Ponyboy and Cherry Valance. Despite their differences, they still have much to talk about since they have many mutual interests. For example, they both watch sunsets. The only difference is that they watch the same sun but from different parts of town.

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.

Ponyboy resides on the East Side of Oklahoma, where Greasers weren’t considered ‘smart’ unlike Ponyboy. Ponyboy is an outcast and is somehow marginalised from his friends due to his love and respect for learning as Ponyboy states, “It drives my brother Darry nuts when I do stuff like that, cause I'm supposed to be smart; I make good grades and have a high IQ and everything, but I don't use my head.” This quote highlights Ponyboy’s similarities with Cher, despite the fact that Cher belongs to the same social class as other students. In the same way, Cher is an intelligent student, but sometimes fails to successfully apply that considering that she does not use her intelligence for the right thing. Ponyboy and Cher’s cleverness often disconnect them from their neighbourhood and isolates them from their friends. Heckerling reveals that Cher is often a misfit in her society in multiple ways; “… She is adorably clueless. We have got to adopt her.” Cher has a cloud of ignorance surrounding her thinking that she could manipulate Tai’s life with a makeover. Within considered groups of outsiders, separation between friends can occur among individuals considering that both characters are similar in terms of knowledge and attitude but sometimes not used appropriately as portrayed by

Pony also believed that Bob was horrible and a bad person. Bob literally beat Johnny, a greaser, almost to death. Ponyboy tells this to the readers but in chapter 8 Cherry tells the reader and Pony who Bob was. “He could be sweet sometimes, and friendly. But when he got drunk… it was that part of him that beat up Johnny.” Many readers would realize something then about Socs. They’re not all bad. It’s that same thing with Dallas who was a gang member in New York and moved to Tulsa Oklahoma. Dallas was very bad and did bad things but greasers still think that He’s part of who they are. Bob was sometimes nice and the greasers only saw the bad part of him. At the beginning of the book, Cherry talks about how “things are rough all over.” Throughout the story, Pony starts to realize why Socs are mean and hurt others. They are just trying to find the limits. Pony realizes how Greasers and Socs aren’t all that different under their layers. Cherry sees this before Pony and tries to make him realize: “Rat Race is the perfect name for it,” She said, “We’re always going and going