Theme Essay - The Outsiders “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. The difference in social class definitely took its toll on the two of these gangs. The Soc’s and Greaser’s opinion would change from with experiences, but for the most part it was a clash for who owned the town. The Socs were the “good guys” and the Greasers were the “troublemakers” of town, although this was definitely not the case but because of the unchanging prejudice opinions were placed on both of the groups it would not change. For example, Ponyboy explained that maybe the Greasers and Socs aren’t so different after all. On page 40, Ponyboy starts to wonder how different he is from any of the Socs, “It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the
You’re having a bad day, some kids are being mean to you, your parents aren’t home to help you, who do you go to? Friends. Having a small group of friends that you can go to whenever you need to is very important. Especially in teenage years when it’s easy to get in arguments with people you maybe thought were your friends. You should have a group of friends you know are your friends and are there for you. It is important to have people in your life you feel you can trust so if you don’t have a strong family support group at home you know you have people you can go to. Also, if you have a certain group of friends you will always have eachothers backs. Lastly, in life situations like in the Outsiders, no one really has a family, they have a strong relationship with, so their social group is their only support. It is important to have people in your life you feel you can trust so if you don’t have a strong family support group at home you know you have people you can go to. Also, if you have a certain group of
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”
While reading The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, I felt as if I took a time travel to the 1960’s. The book clearly gives an insight to the past. Unlike other book, The Outsiders has its own unique meaning. The author created something different than a modern clique book that I read in my day to day life. Hinton’s word choice creates an interesting book where it felt as if it was non-fiction than young-adult fiction. I like this book because the author made something extraordinary by stating the past rather than another author’s writing twenty-first century book.
S. E. Hinton focuses writing about teenage problems in society. While growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the concept of high school cliques was senseless to Hinton. She states, “I was mad about the social situation in my high school where everyone got in their little group and wouldn’t make friends outside of it.” (SEHinton.com) The Outsiders was published in 1967 when Hinton was only 17 years old. Hinton’s wrote the novel to fill a gap in the existing teenage literature available at the time. Hinton is credited with changing the way young adult fiction is written (Peck). She wanted to read realistic stories about teenagers and based The Outsiders on events in her own life. Hinton states, “One
“The silence grew heavier, and I could hear the harsh heavy breathing of the boys around me. Still Darry and the Soc walked slowly in a circle” (Hinton, 143). The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a realistic fiction novel taking place in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1966. The story informs the reader of a rivalry between two gangs, the Socials (Socs) who are the rich people that have nice cars, clothes, and have a bright future ahead of them. The Socs live on the West side. The Greasers are the other gang who weren’t rich, weren’t known to have bright futures and always had grease in their hair, hence the name Greasers. Throughout the story many themes have been applied to our society today. Two themes that I have chosen were that loyalty is a thread that holds people together and to not judge people based on how society labels them.
The Outsiders is a novel written by Susan Eloise Hinton, also known as S.E Hinton. The setting of the story takes place in the 1960s. The Outsiders is written in first person view, by Ponyboy Curtis. The story revolves around the greasers and Socs. The Socs are the west side rich kids, they wrecked houses and “threw beer blasts for kicks”. While the Greasers were the east side kids, they “drove old souped-up cars, held up gas stations and had gang fights once in a while.” One of the conflicts the characters face is man vs man, which is because the greasers and Socs don’t get along, this is because they feel superior to each other. They both had different ways of lives, they did different things for fun, and they did not understand each other. This conflict was later resolved towards the end of the story when Ponyboy speaks to Randy about no longer fighting after Bob’s death.
Firstly, the social divide is not completely bad because it strengthens the relationship between the greasers. Some of the greasers do not have good relationship with their family. For example, Johnny’s father beats him and ignores him. He is a greaser beaten by Socs before. His experiences make him nervous, cynical and suspicious. He does not possess love, warm, affection until he is joined the gang. “If it had not been for the gang, Johnny would never have known what love and affection are.”(Hinton 12). Due to the social divide, Johnny joins the greasers and meet a lot of friends who help him get out of trouble. They encourage him, and concern him make him become strong, tough and brave. Social divide lets him start a new life with his greasers’ family. His greasers’ friends treat him fairly and care about him. Because of the social divide, Johnny’s life moves in
The Outsiders Essay The Outsiders is a dramatic, emotional, and devastating book written by S.E Hinton. The book was written on April 24th, 1967 after Hinton had witness’s teens who belonged to the Socs group jumping another one of their peers, because he was considered in the greasers group. The Greasers are known as the less fortunate and poor group while the Socs are known as the rich group who have the best homes, better girls, and generally a better life style. Hinton now the age of 69 wrote her first book (The Outsiders) when she was only 16 years of age. The outsiders is written in a first person perspective about a young 14 year old boy pony boy Curtis who lives with his brother Sodapop and Darry, the Curtis boys who lost both of their parents at a young age do not live in
In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, embarks on a story of a young boy Greaser, his gang, the rivalry with the Socs, and how it all ended. The main theme of The Outsider was social class. Socs have wealth that helps them through life,and their parents have enough money to do anything for them. Greasers do not have an education, and that is true because they do not have enough money and the privilege to get the guidance they need. On the other hand, Socs do not have to worry about not having a bad education because they can afford one. Although greasers have the opportunity to stop and smell the roses, but Socs do not have the cherishable life they wish for. Hinton notifies, through the text, the main reason for the gang’s separation is because of their social class and expectations.
This book showed the struggle between rich and poor. The two main groups of the story were the Socs and the greasers. The Socs are in the upper class while the greasers are the poor ones that dislike the Socs because they have more money, better cars, and act like they are better than the greasers. The Outsiders is a good story by S.E. Hinton that shows the struggles of growing up Hinton did a fine job with the character development, the plot, and the theme with a few flaws.
Imagine being in a group, or a gang, where you have to keep each other’s backs from anything bad that happens. Imagine having a rival that’ll bring harm to you and to your group, who you consider family. In the novel The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, two different gangs, the Socials, or Socs for short, is a group of wealthy teenagers, and the Greasers, a group of very poor teenagers, are rivals who always mess with each other. A lot has gone by in the novel, and all of this is told by one of the Greasers gang, Ponyboy Curtis. In the novel, The Outsiders, much of the turmoil and conflict in the community is caused by the Socials.
In the novel, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton the reader is introduced to two teenage groups; The Greasers and The Soc’s. Both groups fight each other for respect and control over their territory. The social group that has it worst off in this novel are The Greasers they are poor, they have to worry about always getting jumped, and they are looked down upon. The first reason why The Greasers have it worst off is because they are poor. “Darry didn't go to college because he didn't have the money and Sodapop dropped out of school because he didn't really like it and because he and Darry had to get a job to take care of Ponyboy because their parents died.
S.E Hinton’s realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There are different types of “gangs” in this part of Oklahoma. Such as the Socials (Socs) and the Greasers. The Socials are the preppy rich kids who think they can run anybody they want to. The Greasers are the boys that have slicked back hair and wear white tee-shirts, they aren’t rich. Ponyboy (a Greaser) walked out of the movie theater, wondering how he is going to get home. Some Socs pull up. Socs and Greasers seem to hate each other. The Socs jumped Ponyboy and hurt him. Ponyboys brothers Sodapop and Darry ran up making sure Ponyboy is okay! Some people may say the central theme of The Outsider is divided communities, I argue that the main theme is the
One of the many themes of The Outsiders is Society and Class. One example of the “society and Class” theme is Rich vs Poor. The narrator, Ponyboy, is from the East Side. The East Side is struggling financially, and The Socs, come from the West side. The West side is more wealthy. The Outsiders is based on internal conflict and the character’s inner lives. Most of the action and conflict, though, is placed within the rivals. An example of one of their conflicts is the rumble near the end of the book. In the rumble the Socs and the Greasers fought each other without weapons.
In S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, two different gangs, the Greasers and the Socs detested each other. The author uses Ponyboy Curtis to demonstrate a Greaser’s opinion of the Socs. Ponyboy had an evolving conception of the Socs. At the beginning, he disliked the Socs because they are rich and he thinks they have no problems, but he changes his opinion because of some discussions he had with a few of the Socs. His final opinion is that the Socs are just people after all, and they have problems too. Pony’s opening opinion of the Socs does not show them in good light.