Themes In The Outsiders

When writing The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton built her story around several key themes that readers could identify. After reading this book, I'm confident I have found a few of them. Stick with your people and uniqueness conquers wealth were probably lesser themes Hinton included for us to become conscious of. There is a bigger theme though. I believe stand in the shoes of people who are different is the most worthy overall theme for this book, and is supported with three examples from the text. First, when Ponyboy undergoes a revelation while talking to Cherry, also when (example 2 here), and finally when (example 3 here).

“Tall elm trees made the park shadowy and dark, and it would have been a good hangout, but we preferred our vacant lot” (Hinton, 47) What will happen next? In The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton uses profound description of the setting to establish mood in the text. In a novel such as The Outsiders, it is of major importance that the author establishes setting and mood for the novel’s plot to develop. This is where ambience marries mood in a story.

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.

The main theme of The Outsiders is violence does not solve social conflict. In the beginning of the book Ponyboy thinks that violence is the solution to the Socs, but later through Johnny stabbing Bob, and finally making amends with Darry, Ponyboy figures out that you can’t solve social conflict with violence. This theme was relevant to the real world in Hinton’s time and still is today.

Look around at your close friends. You stick together just like a family. Your friends support and know you. Like a family, friends know each other, like each other, and relate to each other. In The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, my theme, friends are family, is very present. S.E. Hinton shows that Friends are family like when the greasers stick together because they really know each other and don’t really have family. The theme at the beginning is friends are family.

The main theme of 'The Outsiders' is that friends are your chosen family. In other words, the people in your inner circle along with your family, are the friends you choose to have there. This is present with many characters in the book, in fact, the only three 'Greasers' that did not seem to have their friends closer than their family were Ponyboy, Sodapop, and Darry. However, these three boys had many people in their lives who loved their friends more than their family, such as Johnny, who's dad beat him, and mom neglected him, and Dally who had no relation with his parents, then there is Darry, who loves his friends like family, and he is one of the only ones that knows what true family love feels like.

“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.

Most people strive to belong, to be someone or part of something important. People all around you experience different ways of belonging, such as cliques or social class. Others who are excluded, are simply left as outsiders, forced to make up their own groups, maybe just because of where they live, how much money they have, and the items they have and do not have. This is the case in author S.E. Hinton’s prominent novel The Outsiders. Within this well known book is a 2 week story of 14 year old Ponyboy, as he learns to mature in his rough, poor, East side neighborhood while also dealing with most of the rich, stuck up, West side kids known as the Socs. To rival the Socs are the Greasers, a tight-knit gang that includes many East side teens that have become almost like brothers to each other. Throughout this novel, Ponyboy learns many life lessons, while facing multiple obstacles and overcoming his own inner problems to finally realize a bigger picture in the end. S.E. Hinton focused deeply on symbolism to display these multiple themes.

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.

The Outsiders is about the Greasers and the Socs seeing their differences in a new way and learning that they aren’t as different as they think. The theme of “The Outsiders” is ‘crossing over the gap between the rich and the poor’. The author conveys this through character, symbols and events. S.E. Hinton shows the theme by everyone having their own personal suffering.

Sammy Davis Jr. once said “You always have two choices: your commitment versus your fears”. This means you can chose to be scared and back off, or commit to face your fears without worrying about what the consequences or the result will be when you make this choice. This relates to the choices made in The Outsiders, because Johnny faces his fears face on, not backing off and instead, committing. He does this to save the ones who he most cares about the most. Correspondingly, the theme of The Outsiders is that committing and making choices that you may not like, may have a beneficial, long-term effect on the people around you.

If you had a chance to go to college with an scholarship would you go even if it means leaving your only family behind? Darry is the oldest of the Curtis brothers. At twenty, Darry is the “old man” in The Outsiders a novel written by S.E. Hinton. He has two little brothers named Sodapop and Ponyboy. The brothers are greasers, a class term that refers to the people on the East Side, the poor side of town. They are known for their long, greased hair. Darry is devoted to try and be a parent figure for his brothers. He sacrifices everything and does everything he can for his little brothers, the only family he has left.

What does loyalty mean to you? Does it mean sticking by someone and defending them. Does it mean doing your best to help some else do theirs. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a young adult fiction. Told in the first person by the main character, Ponyboy Curtis. A main theme of the book is loyalty. Pony portrays loyalty by sticking up for Dallas Winston to the Soc girl, going with Johnny after he murdered Bob Sheldon, and fighting in the rumble when he was very ill.

Sarah Retter Bullock Period 3 Honors English Symbolism Essay #2 While there are many symbols in The Outsiders, like cars or the Greaser hair, the most memorable would have to be Two-Bit’s switchblade. The blade doesn’t just have one symbol but is woven throughout the story in many ways. The first time we see the switchblade, it is presented as Two-Bit’s prized possession and a symbol of defiance, as it has been stolen.

A young adult novel’s audience often desires relatable characters and a meaningful plot that helps them to find resolutions to their own uncertainties concerning life. Many authors employ the literary technique realism to satiate these cravings. Today, there are some popular novels that attempt to imitate this, such as the coveted The Fault in Our Stars or Divergent. These selections, while widespread in the hands of young adult readers today, will not stand the test of time in the way that The Outsiders has, written by S. E. Hinton in 1967, has. This novel, both produced by and intended for teenagers, instead is a better candidate of realistic young adult fiction. Other selections, from Hinton’s era and from today, do not radiate the same