Social Class Rivalry In The Outsiders

The film The Outsiders takes place around 1960s Oklahoma in a small town separated by the Greases and Socs. The Greases gang being lower-class teens that include Ponyboy, Johnny Sodapop, and Dallas. Socs were the rival gang that are in a higher-class teens involve Bob,

In the book the Outsiders, Ponyboy faces many conflicts, some had carried more significance than others. The author of this novel is S.E. Hinton. The main characters of this novel are Ponyboy Curtis, Sodapop Curtis, and Darrel Curtis (Darry). The Outsiders is novel about the wars between the two social classes formally known as Socs (The higher class/richer people) and the Greasers (The lower class/poorer blue collar workers.) This novel however is told from the perspective of the Greasers, more specifically a young boy at the bottom of a small gang or family of greasers. In the novel The Outsiders the character Ponyboy experience multiple conflicts with his family, his friends, and the law.

In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, embarks on a story of a young boy Greaser, his gang, the rivalry with the Socs, and how it all ended. The main theme of The Outsider was social class. Socs have wealth that helps them through life and their parents have enough money to do anything for them Greasers do not have an education, and that’s true because they don’t have enough money and the privilege to get a good education. On the other hand, Socs don’t have to worry about not having a bad education because they can afford an education. Although greasers can the opportunity to stop and smell the roses, Socs have everything in life needed, they don’t have the cherishable life they wish for. Hinton notifies, through the text, the main reason for the gang’s separation is because of their social class and expectations.

Ponyboy Curtis - The novel's fourteen-year-old narrator and protagonist, and the youngest of the greasers. Ponyboy's literary interests and academic accomplishments set him apart from the rest of his gang. Because his parents have died in a car accident, Ponyboy lives with his brothers Darry and Sodapop. Darry repeatedly accuses Ponyboy of lacking common sense, but Ponyboy is a reliable and observant narrator. Throughout the novel, Ponyboy struggles with class division, violence, innocence, and familial love. He matures over the course of the novel, eventually realizing the importance of strength in the face of class bias.

The Outsiders is a novel written by Susan Eloise Hinton, also known as S.E Hinton. The setting of the story takes place in the 1960s. The Outsiders is written in first person view, by Ponyboy Curtis. The story revolves around the greasers and Socs. The Socs are the west side rich kids, they wrecked houses and “threw beer blasts for kicks”. While the Greasers were the east side kids, they “drove old souped-up cars, held up gas stations and had gang fights once in a while.” One of the conflicts the characters face is man vs man, which is because the greasers and Socs don’t get along, this is because they feel superior to each other. They both had different ways of lives, they did different things for fun, and they did not understand each other. This conflict was later resolved towards the end of the story when Ponyboy speaks to Randy about no longer fighting after Bob’s death.

This story is about a guy names Ponyboy who is a “greaser”, a member of a group of lower-class youths who wear their hair long and greasy, wear jeans and ripped-up T-shirt, and are at odds with the rich-kid bullies known as the “Socs”, shorter name for socials. One day, as Ponyboy is walking home from a movie, he is jumper and beaten by a gang of Socs. At the last minute, his gang of greasers (including his brothers Darry and Sodapop, who raised Ponyboy now that their parents are dead,) the hardened hood Dally

Criss Jami once stated, “When I look at a person, I see a person-not a rank, not a class, not a title.” In The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, Ponyboy Curtis and his gang are Greaser’s, meaning they have little to no money. As the text progresses, Ponyboy is getting judged because of his social class. Ponyboy is having a hard time fitting in with the people around him. One theme evident in The Outsiders is, you should never think you are better than anyone because of your social class.

Have you ever thought about how life would be like without your family and friends? Throughout this novel, The Outsiders, By S.E. Hinton, three brother share many common conflicts between each other. Every brother and sister have been in fights or arguments, but after everything, you still love them. Darry, Soda, and Pony have changed dramatically throughout the novel.

The research topic which I chose, was “racial segregation in the United States.” Racial segregation is the division of individuals into racial or other ethnic gatherings. It could be applied to various day-to-day activities, such as using the restroom, going to a restaurant, attending school, etc. In The Outsiders, the novel, which we are perusing, the greasers are isolated/separated from the socs, however, as opposed to being separated due to their races or ethnic backgrounds, they are separated exclusively due to their social classes. Due to the fact that the greasers originate from low-income families, and the socs originate from high-income families, they are frequently observed separated into their own particular gatherings. Both groups

“The Outsiders” identifies the 60’s, illustrating the violence between groups, often involving a group’s social class. For instance, the violent tensions between the Socs and Greasers lead to Bob’s death, Johnny’s death, as well as many injuries throughout both gangs. The book “The Outsiders” is written by S.E. Hinton and is portrayed through the eyes of a high school student in Tulsa, OK where S.E. Hinton grew up. Hinton began writing “The Outsiders” in 1965 at the age of 17 and the book was finally published in 1967 when she was 19. The difference in perspective upon the society and social class creates issues throughout “The Outsiders” and since the Socs and Greasers assume the problems will be solved with violence, they take action.

Both books, The Testing and The Outsiders are fictional books. However, both books give examples of realistic scenarios that involve social inequalities. In The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, she shows the upper social class group, titled the Soc’s, picking on the lower social group, the Greasers. The main character, Ponyboy, once got jumped by the socs and they were yelling, “Need a haircut greaser?” (Hinton 5) In The Testing , the main character Cia is from a small colony which means the other competitors equate them with simple mindedness and easy competition. (Charbonneau 119) By showing the realistic effects that these inequities have on characters, the reader can see that this is no way that anyone should be treated.

It is apparent throughout the movie that Ponyboy struggles with his identity. After his parents had passed away, his older brother, Darrel, became the parental figure for Ponyboy and his other brother, Sodapop. Ponyboy had felt that Darrel didn’t like him anymore and feels that Darrel blames

The story progresses rapidly. The genre in The Outsiders is overall a coming of age, class struggle, family drama. After the inceptive foundations of the characters and the fundamental disagreements, we find ourselves on an untamed trip full of brawls. All the characters experience drama in the novel. It is difficult for the characters in the greasers group for they are poor and experience more drama than the socials, who are rich and privileged. “I'm not sure how you spell it, but it's the abbreviation for the Socials, the jet set, the West-side rich kids” ( The Outsiders, page

Ponyboy lives with his two older brother Darry and Sodapop in Tulsa. Darry is described as bright, tall, handsome, muscular and popular. He works as a roofer, Darry had to give up a college scholarship in order support his family. Sodapop, is a kind and optimistic young man who dropped out of school in order to work.

"Dally didn't die a hero. He died violent and young and desperate, just like we all knew he'd die someday. But Johnny was right. He did die gallant"(154). Dallas Winston was not someone to be looked up to, he had many problems from being part of a gang to having been homeless. But, he was a gallant person. Dally was tough and cold. He was also fearless and daring. Although Dally may have lacked empathy towards most people, this was only due to him never getting the chance to experience beauty in the world, and without experiencing it, he forgot it existed. The Outsiders by SE Hinton is a novel based on the social unbalance between the Greasers and Socs. This novel is full of drama, action, and heartbreak. It takes you through the life of Ponyboy, a social misfit, after things take a turn for the worst. Dally may not have been the protagonist in this story, but his death carries a strong meaning in how society works and summarizes the quintessential outsider. Dallas Winston is the ideal outsider because society is quick to label him a misfit without looking into who he is as a person, his death is symbolic because it represent a loss of hope in society and good in the world, Dallas Winston portrays the theme of judging people by appearance and not who they are.