“You take up for your buddies, no matter what they do. When you're a gang, you stick up for the members. If you don't stick up for them, stick together, make like brothers, it isn't a gang any more.” In S.E Hinton’s “The Outsiders,” living life as a greaser is impossible without others there, watching your back and protecting you, like a family- a community. The Outsiders is about a boy named Ponyboy who lives in Oklahoma city in the mid 1960’s. He lives in a house with his two brothers, Darry and Sodapop since his parents died in a car crash at a young age. Ponyboy, along with his brothers, are part of a gang called the Greasers, and they’re known for being “bad” and breaking the rules. Another gang in Oklahoma is the Socs and they’re the Greasers rich rivals. The novel's main focal point is the idea of community. A community is a group of people sharing common characteristics and spending large amounts of …show more content…
time with each other. Being part of a community can be a great thing but also could sometimes be a hurting thing. The protagonist in the novel, Ponyboy, learns both throughout the story. In the story, Ponyboy needs his community, the Greasers, to keep him safe.
He needs them to have his back when the Socs show up and try to pick a fight. As part of a community, the greasers all fight for eachother. For example, on the night that the Socs tried to drown Ponyboy, he was saved by Johnny who stabbed Bob, the assailant. Without Johnny there for him, Ponyboy could have easily died with no one stopping Bob. Dallas Winston, known as Dally, and part of the Greasers, demonstrate that the greasers protect each other. When Johnny kills the soc, Dally helps them out by telling them where to stay, what to do to not get caught, and by giving them a gun and money to help them survive. Another example of how Greasers protect each other is when Ponyboy confides that he is feeling unwell to Two-Bit, another greaser member. Two-bit continually checks up on Ponyboy and strongly suggests he doesn’t fight in the rumble. Although Ponyboy ends up showing to the rumble anyways, Two-bit’s concern shows that he cares for the members in his gang and wants to protect
them. In the novel, the greasers are a community because they pick each other up and love one another like a family. They all have financial hardships, and deal with the same problems. They all support each other and accept each other because they don’t have love from their family to fulfill them. They use each other to be the family that they don’t have at home. For example, Johnny Cade, a Greaser who is close with Ponyboy lives in a household where he is completely ignored by his parents. They never wonder where he is, or worry about him, so he needs his community to give him the love he is supposed to get from his parents. The same goes for Dallas Winston, also known as Dally, another member of the Greasers. His family isn’t close with him hence he is known for having a criminal background. They stick together and encourage each other. Ponyboy always had the gang to go to when he was feeling down, specifically Sodapop and Johnny. Even though he is the youngest of the gang, they make him feel like he belongs. Although communities are great, they can also have their disadvantages. Peer pressure is a big part of communities and sometimes can make you do risky things, like when Ponyboy fought in fights with the Socs or rumbles. Ponyboy started fighting, and smoking because of the influence the greasers has on him. Ponyboy doesn’t want to live his whole life being a greaser but follows their customs because that’s all he knew ever since he was born. Also being in a community means that you need to get along with the other members. Being around the same people all the time can lead to some disagreements. For example, the fight that Darry had with Ponyboy- it caused him to run away and lead to a series of bad events. Overall, from the novel, you learn that being in a community is important. It can hurt at times, but is mostly beneficial to your character. Communities like the Greasers protect, and make each other feel welcomed and loved.
The Greasers win, but when Dally and Pony go to tell Johnny that they won, he dies during their visit. Dally is destroyed by this and later he calls Pony to tell him that he robbed a store and is being chased by the cops. They hurry to meet him, and see him shot down after he pulls a gun on the police. Pony is scared by what has happened, and convinces himself that he, not Johnny, killed the Soc. He is also afraid that Social Services will take him and Soda away from Darry and into a foster home.
The Outsiders is a book about Greasers And Socs. The Greasers are the poor east side kids they would wear their hair long and greasy and they will dress in blue jeans, T-shirts, or wear they shirttails out and wear a leather jacket and tennis shoes or boots. The Socs are the rich west side kids that worn nice clothes, drove nice cars, and had all the pretty lady’s. They both was gangs in Oklahoma. The Socs they would jump Greasers, wreck houses, and throw beer blasts for kicks.
..., even by Ponyboy, who is the youngest of the group and two years younger than Johnny. Dally, the toughest and the meanest guy in The Greasers, is Johnny’s idol and seeing how he acts in situations probably influenced Johnny’s choice of action. Watching these bigger guys close in on him and Ponyboy being drowned, he was probably thinking, ‘what would Dally do what would Dally do?’ So he did what he thought Dally would do he pulled out the knife and stabbed Bob Sheldon so he would have extra hands helping him to fight off the rest of the guys, but that did not happen because they ran off in fear of Johnny.
When living sometimes we are faced with difficult decisions that affect our friendships. If you knew you were in a jam, what would you do? Who would you run to? Despite the greasers’ reputation as heartless young criminals, they live by a specific code of friendship and honour. In the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, there are many instances in which the gang members make selfless choices by putting the needs of others ahead of their own. Three examples are, when the gang has each other’s back, Johnny and Ponyboy’s friendship, and Dally risking his life for Johnny.
Could a person live in a world without people who love and care for them? Could people survive in a world where they were judged by how they were presented on the outside? S.E. Hinton, the author of The Outsiders, discusses many universal themes, such as friendship, stereotyping, and change. In The Outsiders, two rival groups, the socs and the greasers, are separated by social class. The friendship between the greasers will be tested when an unexpected event changes everything. The greasers must learn that people experience many tragic events, no matter who the person is. Based on the universal themes, the readers will begin to understand how the characters in the novel grow and change, and how friendship and family help along the way.
The Outsiders, an enthralling novel by S.E Hinton, is an excellent story about the hardships and triumphs experienced by the Greasers and the Socs two rival gangs. S.E Hinton tells a thrilling tale about the Socs and the Greasers that are two gangs and she characterize how they live. Ponyboy, his brother and his friends have to deal with the challenges relating to their environment. The three most important topics of The Outsiders are survival, social class and family support.
I feel as though the novel The outsiders has many themes, but the most important one is belonging. The greasers are a group of poor, low class youth that don’t have much and live on the wrong side of town. They are always held accountable for their actions. On the other hand, the Socs are a bunch of high class youth that are very privileged and aren’t held accountable for their immature actions.
In the book The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hinton, Ponyboy, along with his brothers and friends, has to face the daily struggles of being a greaser among the Socs. This fiction book focused on Ponyboy’s life and the problems he ran into with the Socs. He and his gang of friends had fights with the Socs that happened often, and had to deal with a Soc being killed by one of the Greasers, though it was an act of self defense. The three topics addressed in this intriguing novel are the fight between rich and poor, the power of friendship, and what it means to be a hero.
Through the development of the story impression of belonging seems to lack however despite these challenges through perseverance and support from other members of the gang they expand their grasp on belonging. At the start of the outsiders Ponyboy mentions “I lie to myself all the time but i never believe me” In this extract it is clearly displayed through the tone of disbelief that ponyboy being the youngest of the gang and his family he often feels removed and does not realize that later the people closest and the friendships you make are where you belong the highest. Subsequent to this event a metaphor used to describe Johnny “a little dark puppy kicked too many times” exposes that after his parents abused him he did not feel as though he had a family, nevertheless through friendship Johnny promptly discovered that he belonged and that was with the Greasers as they made him feel needed. Remarkably at the introduction of the story most gang members didn't feel as though they belonged but since The Outsiders coveys a bildungsroman it demonstrates that the characters are continually developing and maturing throughout the story.
In S.E. Hinton’s book, The Outsiders, children born on the wrong side of town grow up to be juvenile, teenage hoods. In this book, these teenage delinquents are the Greasers, whose only "rival" is the Socials, or "Socs," as an abbreviation. The characters within The Outsiders unmistakably choose a remote. lifestyle of juvenile delinquency and crime. Ilanna Sharon Mandel wrote an article called, "What Causes Juvenile Delinquency?" This editorial presents many circumstances that can be applied to the main character, or protagonist, Ponyboy Michael Curtis and his brothers, friends, and neighbors. Their behavior may not always lead them to the right side of the law, but it is the cause of juvenile delinquency that gets them in. trouble.
The Outsiders is a novel by S.E Hinton, that follows a young boy named Ponyboy who grows up in a gang. Johnny, Sodapop and Darry help him find how he fits into the world and without them he would have a hard time finding his own identity. Without having a close group of friends he would have a tough way of life, especially with the Socs. Being in a group that you associate with, that have different values to yourself can lead you to disregard your own ethics and do things you wouldn’t normally do, but at the same time this can assist and reinforce your own values…
For instance, “It had taken more than nerve for him to say what he'd said to Dally—Johnny worshiped the ground Dallas walked on, and I had never heard Johnny talk back to anyone, much less his hero.” (pg. 24) This means that even though Johnny respected Dally because he was there for him when his parents weren’t, he took a risky step and stopped him from doing something wrong. By doing this, it shows that Johnny isn’t afraid to protect others like Cherry when the situation involved his friend Dally. More importantly, “I swear, you three are the bravest kids I’ve seen in a long time. First you and the blacked-haired kid climbing in that window, and then the tough-looking kid going back in to save him. Mrs. O'Briant and I think you were sent straight from heaven. Or are you just professional heroes or something?” (pg. 95) As shown, it is important to realize that Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dally wouldn’t only defend their gang members, but they would also endanger their own lives in order to save others. It proves that their act of heroism can be used in all situations. No matter what situation they are in, the Greasers use their heroic actions towards not only their gang members but other people
The Outsiders is about the life of a 14-year-old boy. The book tells the story of Ponyboy “Curtis” and his struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes that he is an outsider. Ponyboy and his two brothers, Darrel (Darry), who is 20, and Sodapop, who is 16, have recently lost their parents in an automobile accident. Pony and Soda are allowed to stay under Darry's guardianship as long as they all behave themselves. The boys are greasers, a class term that refers to the young men on the East Side, the poor side of town. The greasers' rivals are the Socs, short for Socials, who are the "West-side rich kids."
Greasers are expected to be bad people that are rude because of Greaser reputations. The Greasers are always being watched to see if they do anything wrong. Greasers are expected to do wrong by the the public. “On the front page of the second section was the headline: Juvenile Delinquents Turn Heroes.”(107). This shows that even though Ponyboy and Johnny saved those kids, they were expected to be Juvenile delinquents because they are Greasers, even though the only thing Johnny ever did to be a juvenile delinquent is kill Bob and that was in self defence.
In S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders Socs and Greasers are enemies. Society put them against each other and labeled them. Greasers are the poor, dirty, no-good kids that nobody wants around. Socs are stuck-up, perfect, rich kids who looks down on everybody. In the book, two boys- Johnny and Ponyboy- start some trouble with a couple of Socs, and Bob is killed. They have to run from the police, all while the tension between Greasers and Socs is thicker than ever. Throughout the novel, it explains how “things are rough all over”. The Greasers have it the worse because they feel emotions so harshly, they are constantly getting jumped by the Socs, and they only have each other because their families are broken.