The Outsiders In S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders

In “The Outsiders”, the speaker of the novel is a fourteen year-old fellow named Ponyboy who is the narrator and the youngest member of the greasers. S.E. Hinton wrote the novel in the 1960s in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the time of class struggle in society. The novel was intended to relate to young teens and adults who have experienced the troubles and unfortunate situations in the story. The author is referring to the poor and their daily struggles. The author explains the harshness of the greaser’s life and shows empathy for them. The author tells the truth as it is and doesn’t blur the reality. The author wants the audience to understand the predicaments and relate to it. “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton is a fiction novel that represents social

Everyone has their own unique traits and personalities which define who you are in life. Ponyboy Curtis, a 15 year old teenager and the main character in the novel “The Outsiders” written by S.E. Hinton shows his many traits throughout the story in which define him. He is the youngest Curtis and a Greaser who narrates the story. He lives with his brothers Darry and Sodapop because his parents died in a car accident. Throughout the novel Ponyboy shows his own unique traits such as his struggles with understanding social classes, his loyalty to others, and finally the importance of a strong family bond.

“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”.

The biggest influence in shaping ponyboy’s identity was his quest to find where he belonged, because throughout the book readers learn ,along with him, how he is different than the other greasers and how he doesn’t act or think like they do. The first example of this is in the first chapter when the readers meet Ponyboy and he tells them about the gang and his friends and family and then he says, “For a while there, I thought I was the only person in the world that did,” after explaining how he has different interests than the people around him (Hinton 2). This leads him to feel like an outsider and makes him feel like he doesn’t belong and that he is different from the socs and the greasers. In chapter 5, Johnny tells ponyboy how he couldn’t talk about things like sunsets around the rest of the gang, and he also tells Johnny, “You ain’t like any of the gang (78).” This shows how Ponyboy is not alone in feeling like an

Thesis: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, a novel which tells the story of conflict between the "greasers" and the "Socs," captures the voice of ponyboy and his friends in a realistic way that relates to boys and their gangs even today.

In some way, Ponyboy was the “Outsider” in his gang and he was fine with that he would go to movies read a book. But he can take a hit and he can fit in if he wants. He just has different interest. They live in a ghetto place and they defined themselves as” Greasers are almost hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once and awhile.” When you grow up in this environment and have a like a brother be like this it can reflect on you. Then When there parents die that can really affect the person you could be. Friends family and towns can really shape you like in the story Ponyboy calls a good time messing around doing illegal things with soda. One of the things they do is go to a place like”The Dingo is a pretty rough hangout; there's always a fight going on there and once a girl got shot.” This is there hangout if you go into a place like that you have to be a person that fits in. Then only one he really hung out with was a boy named johnny they were just friends having a good time with each other but for johnny it was harder because he was so beaten up at one point he wasn’t really the same. “And nobody in our gang digs movies and books the way I do.” Like ponyboy would never commit a really bad crime in this point of his life. In the text it stated” However, Ponyboy does concede that the two groups' emotional responses to life.” Ponyboy he is just in his own world and he likes things that nobody in his gang likes. But everyone has a little bit of a difference in the gang but Ponyboy is really different in this point in his life.

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

After Johnny’s death, Ponyboy finds a letter written by Johnny that reads, “When you’re a kid everything’s new, dawn. It’s just when you get used to everything that it’s day. Like the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That’s gold. Keep it that way, it’s a good way to be,” (178). Johnny urges Ponyboy to embrace his youth and innocence by not yielding to the greaser lifestyle. He insists on Ponyboy seeking his full potential. Ponyboy acknowledges that there are different stories beyond one’s appearance like himself because although the society previously consider him a nuisance to the community, they are proved wrong after he transforms into a hero after saving children from a church fire, which contributes to his dynamic change. Even the close-minded public are subject to their own change of mind. Johnny’s letter also leaves a lifelong impact on Ponyboy’s perspective on the importance of family because the absence of family in Johnny’s life makes Ponyboy treasure the atypical family he has, whether it may the greasers as a whole. In all, a number of people influence Pony to change his views on people and his

Have you ever wondered how the 1960’s was like? Would you have been fearful, jovial, or melancholy? In the book, The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton the main character Ponyboy Curtis lives with his two brothers, Sodapop and Darry, and is involved in a gang called the “greasers.” Ponyboy realizes what it is to be a kind person instead of being violent, he is always on top of his studies and is very observant of others.

In the beginning of the novel, Ponyboy is walking home alone thinking about the past, and the relationship between Greasers and Socs, or the upperclassmen. Ponyboy later is jumped due to being alone by himself at night. “ Anyway I went home thinking about the movie, and then suddenly wishing I had some company. Greasers can’t walk alone too much or they’ll get jumped…” (Hinton 2). Ponyboy feels isolated knowing there was a chance he could be jumped by a Soc. He was feeling alone which resembled that he wanted some company and wanted to feel safe. Later on, after Johnny saves Ponyboy, and has to kill Bob, a Soc, they have to run away to an abandoned church located in Windrixville. The next day Ponyboy wakes up and Johnny is not sleeping next to him on the ground. This makes Ponyboy feel lonely, and he begins to think about home and wishes he was with his brothers eating dinner. “ I woke up late in the afternoon. For a second I did not know where I was… I convinced myself that I had dreamed the night before.” (Hinton 68)

The two different social groups fight, but they only end up with the death of their friends. In the beginning of the book, Pony is just another greaser who is thoughtless and oblivious; however he learns that life should be cherished to the very best when he experiences the death of his friends and soon becomes knowledgeable. As the story begins, Ponyboy Michael Curtis is a

He also starts off as The Innocent, hopeful for a better future and seeing the good in everyone. On page 26 he says, “I didn’t get why we talk about girls in that way,’ which is showing how even though he’s tough he is still young and innocent and doesn’t get why his gang talks dirty about women’ Also like Dara, Ponyboy’s archetype changes to The Loner or Outcast and he loses his hope. After Johnny kills a Soc to protect him, they go on the run from the police. They hide out in an abandoned church away from their families and society. On page 63 it says “he must have been as homesick as I was” showing how Ponyboy wants to go back to his family. Again, this also shows the theme of The Outsiders. Even though he’s a greaser and on the bad side of society’s view, Ponyboy is really only an outsider when he is without his family and gang. Following Dara, after Johnny’s death, Ponyboy becomes The Hero. On page 145 the text states “ ‘Yessir,’ I said, ‘I'll try. What's the theme supposed to be on?’ ‘Anything you think is important enough to write about. And it isn't a reference theme; I want your own ideas and your own experiences’.” Ponyboy then writes a theme paper based on Johnny’s life, letting everyone know what they’ve gone through. He has an honorable purpose, allowing him to be The Hero. Ponyboy also faces a great deal of problems, although his are not the same as Dara’s. Like her, he is also driven from his home and placed in an intense war. Unlike her, his war is of the social classes and not countries. While Dara must overcome her fears, Ponyboy must discover who he is as a person and who he wants to

Have you ever noticed anyone in your life who is so special that they sparkle. Well, Ponyboy is that kind of person. Ponyboy is not only just tough and broad person, but he is also a very caring and sensitive person. Ponyboy is the definition of kind-hearted. I know this because for one, Ponyboy and Johnny saved all of the children in the burning church. Johnny and Pony also stuck up for Cherry when Dally was being disrespectful. Ponyboy stuck up for the Greasers when the SOC’s came by. The Outsiders is a novel placed in the 1960s created by S.E Hinton. This book is about the Greasers, a low-income teenage gang, fighting against the SOC’s, an upper class gang, both physically and mentally. During this book, multiple people die, including Ponyboy’s close friends, Johnny and Dally. Here are a few reasons why I believe Ponyboy is a caring person.

Ponyboy was always the odd one out, he’s not like the other Greasers. In the novel, after losing several of his dearest friends, Ponyboy’s whole life turned upside down. In the story, many events of violence of loss happened, everything around Ponyboy is just so violent, even he started to be affected by it. “You're the guy that killed Bob Sheldon. […] And he was a friend of ours. We don't like nobody killing our friends, especially greasers."(Hinton 171) Ponyboy’s response to such violent behavior was to face it with more violence. Indignantly, busting off a bottle, Ponyboy threatened the Soc to beat him up, which was not like what he used to do, when he still retained his sanity. Now, Ponyboy is starting to accept violence and is slowly becoming conformity as the others, a cruel and delirious “Greaser”. The transformation is deadly and can ruin his whole life because of this chaotic behavior. Besides Ponyboy’s chaotic behavior, he is starting to fail at daily

Johnny and Ponyboy are in The Greaser gang and they love their life just the way it is. They wouldn’t change it for the world. Before the church fire started, Johnny and Ponyboy were hiding out there so they wouldn’t get caught by the police because Johnny killed Bob, a Soc. When they were in the church, all they would do was read, play cards, smoke, sleep, and eat. Dally helped the boys out by bringing them groceries so they would not go hungry.