Essay On The Outsiders Identity

Where do you belong

Once you find your own identity, you can choose to either help create or destroy the identities of others. The identities that come with being in a group are a frequent theme in the novel “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton. The novel is about a gang of friends and how they have to stick up for each other against the opposing gangs. Being part of a group can affect many parts of yourself. Your identity in how you act, your appearance, and your influence on others. Identity is very important to the book, because everyone in the gang might have their own identity and personalities, however they are all united under one group identity.

Identities are a big theme in The Outsiders because the entire book is about fitting into
different groups. There are the gang of Soc's who are rich kids with nice cars and nice clothes, and there are the Greaser's who are a gang of lower class teenagers

that look out for each other no matter what. When Ponyboy met Cherry (who is a Soc) she was friendly however she told Ponyboy not to take offence when she does not talk to him in school. It is not that she does not want to, but it is because she can not. In order to keep her identity as a Soc she can not communicate with a Greaser like Pony. Identity is how you act or must act in the group, while appearance is how you show that you are affiliated with a certain group.

Appearance also plays a big role in the novel, as it is the major difference between the
Soc's and the Greaser's besides their social status.

The Greaser's are in the lower class, and like to grease up the hair (hence the name), and usually wear denim. The Soc's on the other hand are richer and ride around town in Mustangs, and wear nice sweaters and shirts. In the book, Ponyboy is attacked right at the beginning by a group of Soc’s. Pony had never seen these Soc’s before so they could not of seen him before either. This means that they purly recognized him by his Greaser look since they dress the same. However, they do not just dress similar because they are in the same social class, it is probably because they are all in the same gang. For example in my old public school, my family was one of more better off ones. So I could wear nice shoes everyday, however I did not because I did not want to be different from the rest. I wore normal tennis shoes everyday to fit in and be a part of the group. These groups all have different opinions on how the they should dress or act, however both of these factors are determined by how the members influence each

other.

The influences in the Outsiders between the group members, and others are very
important to the book. Many of the Greaser's smoke, and drink however probably less of them would have if it had not been for the other members of the group that convinced them. Being part of a group might pressure you to change the way you act or dress in some cases also. Another example of influence is the hatred between the Soc's and the Greaser's. When a new member joins a group, they are influenced by the other members and their stories of the opposing gang. When Ponyboy and his brother’s joined the gang, they were probably told stories about the Soc’s, and therefor they were shaped and influenced to hate the Soc’s. This would then change their personal identities, since they would now treat a Soc differently because of what they have heard about them. Influence is very large point throughout the book that appears often.