Why The Characters In Hinton's The Outsiders

The entire book is about Ponyboy against other greasers and Socs. The terms greaser and Soc are used for the kids who live on the east and west side. “Ponyboy . . . I mean . . . if I see you in the hall at school or someplace and don’t say hi, well, it’s not personal or anything, but . .(Hilton 45).” Cherry didn’t want to say hi to Ponyboy if she saw him because she is a Soc and he is a greaser. In fact none of the greasers or Socs said hi to each other. Society played a large role in this book by separating the Socs and the greasers.

This quote is when Ponyboy begins to see things form other people’s pinot of view. He understands that Darry loves him, but has a hard time showing it. He understands that he is controlling because he wants Ponyboy to have a life he could never obtain. Dally understood that being a greaser, was never right for Ponyboy. Ponyboy deserves and needs better, and brighter future.

As Ponyboy states when he starts to understand this, “No, it wasn’t Cherry the Soc who was helping us, it was Cherry the dreamer who watched sunsets and couldn’t stand fights.” (Hinton 86). Ponyboy was previously under the impression that all Socs didn’t care about anything, and was surprised when he met Cherry, a Soc who watched the same sunset as he did. The stereotype of Socs being heartless and cruel was all he had seen and heard, so it was hard for him to understand how one could be so different. Ponyboy’s friends felt similarly, and most of them found it even harder to grasp this concept than Ponyboy had. The Greasers were used to judging the Socs as a group, and did not see them as individuals. These group stereotypes are what ultimately caused most of the biggest fights in the novel.

In this quote Cherry is telling Ponyboy that Socs aren’t all rich snobbish jerks that get whatever they want, ‘“All Socs aren’t like that,”she said.”You have to believe me, Ponyboy. Not all of us are like that.” “Sure,” I said. “That’s like saying all you greasers are like Dallas Winston. I’ll bet he’s jumped a few people.” I digested that. It was true.’ (Hinton 34). In this part of the book, Ponyboy learns that his stereotypes that he has been forming over the year are proving to only be half right. Cherry reveals that over on the Socs side, it’s rough over

“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”.

In the beginning of the novel, the Soc’s think they are better than the Greaser’s because of their social class. In chapter 3 of the text, Ponyboy states, “Soc’s had so much spare time and money they jumped us and each other for kicks, had beer blasts and river-bottom parties because they did not know what else to do”

Later, Johnny conveys his guilt to Ponyboy when he says: “‘There sure is a lot of blood in people.’”(Hinton 74), nearly quoting Shakespeare in Macbeth. In a later conversation with Johnny, Ponyboy gets thinking about this new world he has been thrust into. In the text he says: “I liked my books and clouds and sunsets. Dally was so real he scared me.”(Hinton 76) This shows how Ponyboy likes when the hero can beat the villain and get a pretty sunset at the end. But now Ponyboy has to deal with the real-world effects of violence, and he doesn’t like it. This marks one of Ponyboy’s first major changes of his mindset on violence.

Greasers are the main stereotype in the book but also there is a small part played by the Socs. Although the book is about the life and times of a Greaser there is also a ‘Socs Story’ in there, as throughout the book you learn more and more about the Socs and how they live. But this all changes. When Bob dies Cherry and Randy, the main Socs characters, begin to see that there is no difference between Socs and Greasers. Randy, when he talks to Ponyboy in private doesn’t call

The amount of money someone has, the neighborhood someone lives in, and the school someone goes to does not determine their opinions, ideas, or dreams. Pony lives in a somewhat run-down neighborhood, and he, Darry, and Sodapop don’t have much, but they and their friends still try to be happy, and enjoy life when they can. Unlike the Socs, the Greasers are a family. If one of them gets shot at, four more of them jump out to protect them. “ “It’s not just money. Part of it is, but not all. You Greasers have a different set of values. You’re more emotional. We’re sophisticated - cool to the point of not feeling anything. Nothing is real with us.” Cherry Valance is a Soc girl, but according to Pony, she isn’t exactly a Soc because she doesn’t chose to see sides like other Socs. She sees Socs as people who don’t feel. Life is good enough for them that things get repetitive and boring, which is probably part of why the Socs enjoy jumping Greasers. The Greasers, on the other hand, don’t have consistent lives. Only a few of them are in school, not all of them have jobs, and they’re always getting into just enough trouble to keep themselves alive, which is why they seem to have more emotions than the Socs. The two groups are so different, and, in retrospect, it’s all because of money. Money could solve almost all of the Greasers’ problems, like by earning them some respect, and it would mean they don’t have to work so hard to get by. When Cherry explains to Pony that Socs have troubles, just like the Greasers, he can’t imagine what kind of troubles they could possibly have, but he quickly learned. All Bob Sheldon wanted was for someone to tell him no, and when someone did it ended up costing him his life.

Ponyboy realizes that Socs are just like greasers with more money and a higher public opinion. This is supported by, "Cherry had said her friends were too cool to feel anything, and yet she could remember watching sunsets. Randy was supposed to be too cool to feel anything, and yet there was pain in his eyes" (Hinton 116). This quotes shows that although the Socs on the surface were these tough and hardened guys that could take anything without flinching, but underneath, they were just like their greasers and could feel pain and needed comfort. Ponyboy's view also changes after the part in their conversation where Randy told Ponyboy that Bob had just wanted his parents to set some boundaries for him. For example, Bob had thought that if he came home drunk he parents would surely punish him, but they just blamed themselves for Bob being drunk and thought that it was something that they had done. This is seen when, "one time he came home drunker than anything. He thought sure they were gonna raise the roof. You know what they did? They though it was something they'd done" (Hinton 116). This shows that Bob's parents possibly loved him too much and let him do whatever he wanted, even if that was breaking the

He meets Cherry, a Soc, whom he gets along with quite well because, they understood each other when it came to the different social classes. Cherry told Ponyboy that the greasers “think the Socs have it made. The rich kids, the West-side Socs.” She informs Ponyboy that “it may come as a surprise” that Socs “have troubles” greasers have “never even heard of.” She looks at Ponyboy straight in the eye and tells him “things are rough all over.”(Page 31). Cherry is a broad-minded character, for she saw both sides of the social levels, moreover, understood the troubles Ponyboy and his gang had faced because of the Socs. She wants the rivalry to end, and wants to do whatever is required to balance the power between the Socs and greasers. Although the obstacles were different, because of her, Ponyboy, consequently, starts realizing that Socs face difficulties as well. At this point of the novel, Ponyboy had second thoughts on how he felt about the Socs. Sure, they were malicious, but that wasn’t the only part of them-they crossed hurdles just like everyone

Furthermore, Ponyboy thinks of Socs as rich kids who have a marvelous life full of money. The Socs have problems too, as Cherry explains to him and since we judge the outside we can’t vividly see what's on the inside. Numerous people do this (including in the

And later that night when Pony and a few other of his gang are walking home we get to learn more about the nicer side of the socs. Cherry mentions there's more to both group then meets the eye while Pony puts it as “the socs don't feel enough while the greaser feel to vilantly.” and after this we all remember how Pony runs away and he and Johnny get jumped by the socs. And how Johnny kills the soc known as Bob. now we assume that and his gang are just brutes and there's nothing more to it.

When he was talking to cherry he knew that she was a Soc and that could mean trouble but later on Ponyboy started talking to her. She said that she loved sunsets and the Beatles and ponyboy loved those things too. He thought to himself and realized greasers and Socs are not to different after all. This did change the way he thought about the Socs too.

When Cherry says that “things are rough all over,” she is trying to tell Ponyboy that he and the greasers are not the only ones that have problems in the world, Socs are just as much of a human as the greasers are. When Ponyboy mentions that, “Maybe it was the money that separated us,” (Hinton 38”) Ponyboy believes that since the money is what divides the two gangs up. Since socs had money and are on the west side of town, and the greasers are more poor, that is the reason that separates the two gangs. The Socs all have problems of their own, and they also have it rough. Randy, Bob’s friend, mentions that he is “Sick and tired of this (116)” and how “Bob was a good guy (116),” this is showing how not just the greasers are suffering. Ponyboy