The Outsiders By. Hinton

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

In this book, everyone was part of a gang and everyone looked at each other as either a Soc ,or a Greaser. Johnny, who has been abusively beaten while getting jumped and from his own father at home, and Pony save children from a burning house. No one would expect the hoodlums to risk their lives to save children. They have a reputation for doing illegal things and getting arrested. However, newspapers have stories on the two and labelled them as “heroes”. Dally, who was the toughest and baddest of all the Greasers, kills himself. The true reason behind this was because after going to the hospital to visit Johnny, he witnessed watching him die right in front of his eyes. Johnny’s death makes him rob a store and having the police intentionally kill him. The only thing that he loved was Johnny and his beloved thing was gone. This shows that Dally, even though he’s a Greaser and does all these horrible things, has feelings. Even people who genuinely knew him, labelled him as having no feelings. Also, Randy, who is a soc, talks to Pony about Bob and how he was just a regular guy who had his own problems. The only reason that Bob would act out and drink a lot was because his parents would never set boundaries. He just wanted for someone to tell him “No”. Cherry Valance, who was Bob’s girlfriend, even said that he was actually sweet. This shows that people are individuals and that labels don’t say who you

Stereotyping plays a large role in the events of S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders. The two main opposing groups, the Socs and Greasers, constantly face problems because of the stereotypes associated with their social groups. As seen in the novel, stereotypes and prejudice cause extreme and unnecessary conflicts. Both groups have predetermined opinions of the other, but as the story progresses, many of the characters begin to realize how similar the groups can be. The stereotypes observed in the novel can easily be compared to those in real life. Both the Greasers and the Socs share many of their opinions with the other members of their groups, and this leads to many misunderstandings. In fact, most of the conflicts in the novel are caused

Furthermore the dangers of the inner- city are realistically depicted. The characters dealt with drug addiction, violence and child abuse. The greasers always smoked, and this was very normal to them because it helped relieve stress. They were not aware about the consequences of smoking and how it can hurt them. One of the main characters, Johnny was abused by his parents, which caused him not to have a strong relationship with his family and he was forced to sleep in the parks to calm down. The greasers also got jumped but the Socs, usually when they are alone. Ponyboy yells ¨Johnny! "What are we gonna do? They put you in the electric chair for killing people!" (Hinton Ch4//pg 57). Ponyboy and Johnny were attacked by the Socs and they put Pony's head in the fountain trying to make him drown. Johnny was so afraid and needed to help Pony, so he pulled out a switchblade and killed one of the Socs. This quote shows how

The Outsiders is a book about two gangs called the Socials and Greasers. The Socials is a rival group who dislike the Greasers, and are always willing to put up on a fight in the streets. The Socs, are upper-class, they’re always picking on the other group. Unlike the Greasers’ group, the Socs want to show they are stronger than any other person out there in the world by starting violence. The characters are fearless, and bold. However, the Greasers are lower-class but they are there for each other most of the time when they need a helping hand, like a family, they all treat each other with good companionship. They don’t like how violence wouldn’t solve anything. The character, Johnny is a Greaser and a quiet person. He doesn’t respond back when someone says something about him. By the end of the book, Johnny’s character changes dramatically, that had an impact on what the had done later on in the story. He stood up for himself and killed Bob for self-defense, and saved kids from a burning church.

The novel, The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hinton, should be put on the banned book list and remain in its spot for reasons such as uses of foul language, gang violence, rivalries, dysfunctional families, underage drinking, and drug abuse at a young age. This book should not be open to kids at a young age, such as middle schoolers, to read. At such a youthful age, teens are exposed to such violence they are taught about among this novel. Children should not be reading books that promote such terrible things and instead read a more age appropriate book.

“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.

A major conflict in this novel is between the greasers and the Socs. These two gangs are made up of complete opposites. The two rivals fall into conflict because of how they view each other and their roles in society. Greasers are poor hoods from the East side that “wear our hair long and dress in t-shirts and blue jeans… and wear leather jackets

Last but not least, Ponyboy faces the society’s impression of the greasers. Everybody thinks that they are hoods and that nothing good can come out of them. The greasers are judged strongly because of their economic status and face judgment from everyone. Nobody cares to understand their life and what experience on a daily basis. He also finds out when he was in Windrixville, that people don’t judge them like they do in their city. The whole conflict of the story is the Greasers and the Socs. The characters in the story have gone about their own ways to at least try to fix the problem. Many chose fighting and violence in general, but Ponyboy choose to write a book for a writing assignment. He discovers that there is no difference between them

Imagine a young boy who has to watch behind his back in case a snotty rich kid was lurking in the streets wanting to beat up on little kids. “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton is full of differences so the reader can understand that people have different views than them. This book is a “call to action” because social class and violence issues are a big part of the world's problems 51 years ago and even today.

In the short novel The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hinton, many 1960s stereotypes are used which separate the characters by where they live, how they dress, and how they act, but Hinton quickly gave characters who did not abide or fit these stereotypes. This showed that no matter your hair, dress, home, hobbies, or financial situation, everyone will always be different, but that doesn’t mean no two people cannot become friends. The stereotypes that follow you do not determine your personality or actions, only you.

Survival instincts allow individuals to persevere during times of hardship and struggle. Unfortunately, many families in America are struggling lower-middle class or live in poverty. It’s nice to think a person can easily go from being dirt poor to filthy rich, but it doesn’t usually work that way. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton depicts the hardships and struggles experienced by two rival gangs, “The Greasers” from the lower middle class and “The Socs” from the upper class. Thesis: In The Outsiders, the Greasers experience disenfranchisement mostly due to socioeconomic class and appearance. However, other types of disenfranchisement such as drug, alcohol use and gang participation are also present in the novel.

In The Outsiders, we see the respect and honor among the lawless. The Greasers develop honor among one another due to the struggles they face not being treated equally to those like the Socs, that hold a place in the upper level in society treated equally in the law”(Adamson, 58). The Greasers don’t have many people there for them, the rest of society, but they now have to stick together (Hinton, 176). According to The Outsiders, some of the boys in the Greaser face different problems. Darry became responsible for his little brothers, Ponyboy and SodaPop since their parents died, they fight all the time, and throughout the story try to reconcile and come to an understanding of knowing they need one another. (Hinton, 176). Even though the Greasers are stereotyped, and face different problems, they all share a bond of honor that holds innocence and love. Johnny may seem to be a horrible person for killing Bob, but he saves the children in the burning church, which meant he still had

The two main divisions were between the Greasers and the Socs, and this rivalry led to many conflicts in the book. Hinton illustrates the divisions and fighting in this quote, “They caught him and one of them had a lot of rings on his hand that’s what had cut Johnny up so badly” (Hinton 33). Johnny was attacked by four Socs when he was playing with a football at the park. There are many times in the book where Socs attacked Greasers that were walking alone. Howard explains the divisions and violence of the gangs in this quote, “Tulsa was one of many American cities that had seen an increasing division between social classes since World War II, and the animosity between Greasers and Socs gangs illustrated the extent to which this division between social classes had permeated society” (Howard 28). The Greasers were seen as the poor outcast while the Socs were the popular one with all the money. The Socs provoke the Greasers by saying hurtful things and attacking them so both gangs feel the need to fight to prove that they are better. Hinton did a good job of portraying the violence and building up to these points and this keeps the reader interested in the book.

Ponyboy, Johnny, Sodapop, Darry are all a part of the unruly gang, the Greasers. S.E Hinton is writing these characters as rebellious young men, with a harsh background, who takes their anger and hardship out on gang fighting. These roles play an important part in this book because it shows that even though they nothing physically, they have a heart stronger than gold for each other and others mentally. Hinton use these characters to show prejudice leads to wrong conclusions, violence and oppression because these “poor” young men are getting beat up by the rich Socs who have never felt the feeling of being in poverty. “ You take up for your buddies, no matter what they do. When you’re in a gang, you stick up for the members. If you don’t stick up for them, stick together, make