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. This story has a lot of issues that are going to be talked about in this paper such as the realism, the conflicts, the characters, Hintons style, the themes, etc. This book is pretty interesting and brings up a lot of good issues. There are a lot of reasons for reading this book, and also a lot to not read this book. Its just your own opinion, and there are a lot of opinions in this paper. There is so much realism in The Outsiders that is why this book is so appealing to the younger generation. Kids like to …show more content…
Words have different meanings in neighborhoods. Two compliments in their neighborhoods are tough and tuff. Tough meaning the same as rough and tuff meaning cool or sharp. In kids today they get labeled because of the way they dress or the music they listen to. There are the skaters, the nerds, the ghetto people, the preppys, etc." Our hair labeled us greasers, too-it was our trademark. The only thing we were proud of" (64). Some groups are considered worse than the others, some have other problems then the others." You sure you want to go back? Us greasers get it worse than anyone else" (78). In The Outsiders Greasers had this tough appeal. They were boys, but needed to be more manly. "...I wanted to cry, but greasers don't cry in front of strangers, some of us never cry at all..." (91). There were conflicts between the Socs that conflicted with the greasers. They were two opposite groups that didn't get along. The Socs, "the jet-set...West-side rich kids, wear madras shirts, smell of English leather, and drive new sports cars..." (6). Socs were rich, while greasers were low class. "Soc" is an abbreviation of the Socials, which are the West-side rich kids. Socs had a better reputation than the greasers. Besides the conflicts between the greasers and the conflicts between the Socs there were also conflicts between the two gangs. Because the two groups were so
The Greasers and Socials in the novel “The Outsiders” are very different in some ways. One example of why the Greasers and the Socials are different is, the Greasers don’t have nice things like the Socials. “ But those two girls weren’t our kind. They were tuff-looking girls - dressed sharp and really good-looking.” (S.E. Hinton 21) This is showing that the girls were Socials and not Greasers, since Greasers didn’t have
The actions the socs make aren’t very friendly. When they come by greasers they also threaten them and get in the way of whatever they are doing. If it’s at night and no one is around the socs find greasers and talk to them. Socs also like to brag about being rich because the greasers are very
In The Outsiders, both the Socs and the Greasers spent most of their time in gang fights and disobeying the law. The Socs were wealthier and had a higher social status. “We get jumped by the Socs. I'm not sure how you spell it, but it's the abbreviation for the Socials, the jet set, the West-side rich kids. It's like the term "greaser," which is used to class all us boys on the East Side.We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we're wilder, too” (Hinton 4). The Greasers were poor and usually came from
One of the main vs man conflict in the Outsiders is the rival between the greasers and the socs. The greasers are the east side boys who " steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations". The greasers, due to their family background and physical appearance, are being stereotyped as individuals who are poor and are provided with fewer opportunities than others. On the other hand, the socs, are " the west-side rich kids" who come from affluent backgrounds and" likes to jump greasers and throw beer blasts for kicks". In the eyes of the public, the Socs are the social elites whereas the greasers are considered the less privileged, second-class citizens.
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
A major conflict in this novel is between the greasers and the Socs. These two gangs are made up of complete opposites. The two rivals fall into conflict because of how they view each other and their roles in society. Greasers are poor hoods from the East side that “wear our hair long and dress in t-shirts and blue jeans… and wear leather jackets
The Outsiders is a young adult novel written by S.E. Hinton. The book was first published in 1967 by The Viking Press. Today, the book is published under Speak, an imprint of Penguin Group. The book has a total of a hundred and eighty pages. The Outsiders fits in the genre of young-adult fiction because it relates to teens on emotional levels. Like Ponyboy, the teen protagonist of the story, teens relate to his emotional growth as he tries to piece his life together. The story follows a rivalry in a socially divided community. The Greasers are a gang of teenage boys who live on the east side of town; the wrong side of town. Their rivals, the Socials, better known as the Socs; come from the wealthier side of town. The two groups are always head to head with one another, seeking a fight. Ponyboy belongs to the Greasers. He is the youngest out of the three brothers in his family. Apart from his brothers, Ponyboy hangs out with Johnny, Dallas, Two-Bit and others who are also Greasers. The rivalry between the two groups heightens when Johnny kills Bob, a Soc, in an attempt to save Ponyboy from drowning. In this book report, I will go through the meaning of this book and my opinion on the story itself.
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
Imagine a young boy who has to watch behind his back in case a snotty rich kid was lurking in the streets wanting to beat up on little kids. “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton is full of differences so the reader can understand that people have different views than them. This book is a “call to action” because social class and violence issues are a big part of the world's problems 51 years ago and even today.
The difference between the Greasers and Socs in the society is the Greasers treated unequally and criticized for being poor. The Socs are bullying, criticizing, and intimidating the Greasers based on the economic level. Greasers have unequal lifestyles, attitudes, and financial situations, but still live in the same world, beneath the same sun as the Socs (Hinton 18), but repeat the same actions toward the Socs in a way of fighting back and sticking together.
He describes it as "So it doesn't do any good, the fighting and the killing. It doesn't prove a thing. We'll forget it if you win, or if you don't. Greasers will still be greasers and Socs will still be Socs." However, the greasers and Socs are actually fighting to create peace in the world. The Socs beat up the greasers to have protection. Ponyboy describes the relationship between Darry and a Soc, "They used to be buddies, I thought, they used to be friends, and now they hate each other because one has to work for a living and the other comes from the West Side. They shouldn't hate each other...I don't hate the Socs anymore...they shouldn't hate..." (hinton pg #) this quote shows how forgive in the greasers are. the whole point of the rumble is to create freedom and
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.
Are things tough all over? The book The Outsiders written by S. E. Hinton, translates prejudice leads to wrong conclusions, violence, and oppression by using strong characters, symbolism, and compelling events. The Outsiders is a book about and narrated by a fourteen year old, greaser named Ponyboy Curtis, who lives with his two brothers Sodapop and Darry after their parents that died in a car accident. This book takes the reader through the world of a teenage “hoodlum” written by a woman, from a young boy’s point of view. During a small brawl at the park one of the Soc gets killed by one of Ponyboy’s friends, Johnny. Which sends Ponyboy and Johnny into hiding.
Groups usually get along with other groups that are similar to each other. If your group is nothing like someone else's group, chances are, you don’t get along very well. The Socs and the Greasers want to fight to see who is better. Fighting is only proving your physical strength. Like Randy from “The Outsiders” said, If the Greasers win the fight, they’ll still be at the bottom (Hinton 98). It’s like ISIS trying to prove they’re better than everyone else because they kill people. They don’t realize that they’re at the bottom. Different groups fight and fight until they prove they are better than one
In addition, Hinton’s allocation of Ponyboy as the narrator aids the novel in being well-read through several eras. Readers observe his bildungsroman, much like teenagers from any generation will have to do in their own lives. Near the end of the novel he expresses his feelings about the Socs, saying, “Socs were just guys after all. Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too” (Hinton 118). Because it does not matter whether the adolescent reader comes from the same time period of the novel or from today’s society, this fictional journey is especially significant. Without the point of view of Ponyboy, The Outsiders would be a novel that may not shape an adolescent’s reading experience as significantly as it does; furthermore, another relevant literary device in use is symbolism.