The word hero has a variety of meanings in the book, The Outsiders. Readers may view Johnny and Ponyboy as heroes for their bravery to save the children from the burning church, while others may view Dallas Winston as fearless for all of the dangerous stunts he pulled throughout his reckless life. Although being physically tough and courageous are heroic traits to most audiences, many people often overlook the importance of being tough and courageous within the mind, and through words spoken. Cherry Valance is looked up to by the students at her school, her friends, and even greasers, like Pony. Sherri, who is also known as Cherry, is not afraid to speak her mind to anyone, but she is still able to control her emotions during times of despair. There is something about Valance’s personality that is admired by versatile groups. In The Outsiders, Hinton portrays Cherry Valance as a teenage girl who is not intimidated by anyone. She displays this through her use of words and tone while talking to people. In Chapter Two, Sherri left her boyfriend because she did not want to put up with him, Hinton says, “They’d (Cherry and Marcia) come with their boyfriends, but walked out on them when they found out the boys had brought some booze along”. In this situation, Cherry spoke up to the inebriated boys who easily could have hurt them in a physical or emotional way. Likewise, when Dallas began to hit on her at the drive-in movie, she, knowing he was a treacherous greaser, said to him,
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
Johnny , Ponyboy and Dallas also possessed specific interpersonal skills like openness and empathy which can be clearly seen in the scenes where they rescue the kids from the burning church without thinking about the consequences. They valued others life more than theirs that they were ready to sacrifice their own lives for saving the children. Their selfless sacrifice is evident in the scene, where while turning the pages of Johnny's copy of ‘Gone with the Wind’, Ponyboy finds a letter from Johnny saying that saving the children was worth sacrificing his own life. To conclude, the story of ‘The Outsiders’ is inspiring and it contains violence and strong language. I think its themes and conflicts are highly valuable as they still address many of the issues in the modern world. This film’s realistic portrayal has created a new kind of filmmaking which portrays poor teenagers from the wrong side of the tracks .I feel it is an easier way to lead the new generation in the right track through this effective form of communication. The movie also uses various elements and principles of interpersonal communication in many scenes. It would be a good action movie for the young generation to watch as they are mainly related to the realities rather than fantasy that
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
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
Most people in the world are misunderstood at some point in their life. However, if other people’s perceptions of a person create a reputation, it can camouflage their real traits. Dallas (Dally) Winston is a victim of this. A character in the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Dally is commonly known for being a tough ruthless guy who doesn’t care about anybody but himself. He’s a great fighter and is very confident, but because of his past, it seems his real qualities have been masked. Even though Dallas Winston’s friends misunderstood him to be a cold-hearted and tough person, his experiences and how he treats his friends reveals his loving, self-reliant, and dependable nature.
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
The theme of The Outsiders is that everyone can rise above what others expect from them. This is relevant throughout the book when Johnny and Ponyboy save the kids from the burning church, when Randy doesn't want to fight or hate the Greasers anymore, and when Johnny stands up for Cherry and Marcia.
In the beginning of “The Outsiders”, Ponyboy only likes a few people but in the end, he realizes that he judged people unfairly. In the beginning, he only appreciated Johnny (the second youngest gang member), Soda (the middle child in his family) and Two-Bit (a wisecracking member of the gang). He dislikes Dallas (the most criminal of the gang) and Steve and thinks that his oldest brother, Darry, dislikes him. He also believes that all Socs are bad. His judgments are first brought into question when he meets Cherry Valence, a female Soc. Ponyboy, referring to her and her friend wrote, “It seemed funny to me that Socs -if these girls were any example - were just like us.” (37) Pony’s views on the Socs evolve again when he talks to Randy. After talking to Randy, Pony thinks, “Socs are just guys after all. Things are rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too." (118) By the end of the novel, Pony does not think all Socs are good because there are Socs like Bob, who jumped Johnny and Pony, but he realizes that people should be
First of all, Cherry can be defined as an outsider in the novel The Outsiders. “I never told anyone that.I think you’re the first person I’ve ever really gotten through to.” Cherry is an outsider in her group because she feels like she has never gotten through to someone except Ponyboy.
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.
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.
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.
Fracis Ford Coppola’s “The Outsiders” (1983) is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by E.Hinton published in 1967. There are many theories that can be found throughout the movie, victim precipitation theory, differential association theory, strain theory and labeling theory are the most prevalent. The story takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma and revolves around the story of a 14 year old Greaser named Ponyboy Curtis. The town is split into two conflicting adolescent groups, the Greasers and the Socs. The Greasers are of lower class standings with harsh upbringings, poor kids from the wrong side of town (north) and are considered delinquents. The Socs, are privileged kids living on the south side who have an easy life where everything
The Outsiders Essay The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton has many life lessons that still apply to kids today. One of these lessons is the lesson of group identity, and how it influences and overshadows the individual identity. This lesson is important in the story because it affects the characters’ actions and their relationships. It is important for kids to learn about because it teaches them how powerful a group can be that it influences their own decisions and how important is is for people to be accepted in their group of friends. One example in the story of how group identity overshadows the individual identity is how Cherry’s group of friends influences her decisions.