In “The Outsiders”, Cherry told Ponyboy, “Things are ruff all over.” Ponyboy is a part of the East side gang, The Greasers. Cherry belongs to the West side gang, The Socs. In the story, the two gangs clash and are not friends at all. The Socs have the money and never get in trouble with the law, even though they are not innocent. The Greasers are “hoodlums”. They have a bad reputation in their town and are more likely to get caught up in the law. Yes, I do agree with Cherry’s quote, everyone will have rough times. They just look like different problems. “The Outsiders” is a lot like reality. The characters all have problems, but they just are different than others. It is just like life; you do not know everyone’s struggles. Ponyboy asks Cherry, …show more content…
He is the older brother of Sodapop and Ponyboy. He struggles with providing for his brothers. Darry is a hard worker and will work long hours, do hard physical labor, and go without fun to keep his two brothers from going to foster care. I truly believe that Darry would not be consider a “Greaser” if it was not for his brothers and the bond he has with the other members. I think this because he is never in trouble with the law and has money, like the Greasers. Cherry struggles with fitting in, so does most Socs. They have to keep their high social status, even if what they do is wrong. When she is talking to Pony she tells him that she just talks about stuff to her “friends” just to be saying stuff. Ponyboy and Cherry have a lot in common but she would never acknowledge him at school because other Socs would see. Like most socs, they have a thing for the “bad boys” and she is afraid she will fall in love with a soc, Dally. As you can see both gangs have struggles. So yes, I agree with Cherry Valance’s quote about stuff being ruff all over. At the beginning of the story, the Greasers had the mindset that socs did not struggle with anything but money. As the story goes on, they figure out that they are wrong. The Socs are struggling just like the greasers. The reason they aren’t in the same gang is because of
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.
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 relationship between the gangs is unbreakable. On page 26 of The Outsiders, Ponyboy says “You take up for your buddies, no matter what they do.” Pony really did live up to this belief. No matter the circumstance Pony was in he still always was with the gang no matter what. For instance, when Johnny killed Bob Pony still stuck with Johnny
Greasers were the lowest among the society. The society had negative thoughts towards Greasers, because there were not many things people expected from the Greasers other than doing bad things such as stealing, having rumble, and other bad things that happened around the society. Not every Greaser does bad things, however, the Greasers took the blame for anything bad even if it was the Socs fault. It is because everyone expected the Greasers to do bad things instead of the Socs. Even though the Greasers had a bad reputation, they didn’t care, but instead they enjoyed their lives. Sometimes the Greasers do bad things but only for fun and because it was the society’s expectations. If the Greasers did something good, no one would expect or believe the Greasers did it. No one would ever expect the Greasers to be heroes, just like the man whose kids were saved by Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dallas. “’Mrs. O’Briant and I think you were sent straight from heaven. Or are you just professional heroes or something?’ Sent from heaven? Had he gotten look at Dallas? ‘No, we’re greasers.’” (Page...
In the outsiders we learn that the Greasers and the Socs aren't so different because they feel the same way about teenage issues. Both Greasers and Socs want the other one gone. They both wants what’s best for their gang.They both feel the same about issues. In the beginning of the story the Socs and the Greasers seemed like totally different people, and I thought the Socs were just rich snobs and the Greasers were just hoodlums. In the Middle of the Story Randy confronts Soda and tells him that he doesn’t want to fight and that he’s sick of all the fighting. At the end of the story the Greasers and the Socs kind of make peace because they both lost friends just because of all they’re fighting and they realized that all of this fighting is
For one, we do not see much child-to-parent action in the book, but we know that the Curtis family is broken. Before the book takes place, both of Ponyboy's parents died in an auto wreck. After that, Darry took care of Ponyboy and Sodapop, but was always strict with Ponyboy. Darry did not show much love either, and was always cold-hearted and hurt people without realizing it. Johnny's parents would always fight; while his father was abusive and hit Johnny every single day he was home, his mother completely ignored Johnny unless she was yelling at him, which, according to Ponyboy, you could hear all the way to the Curtis house. Although the book does not specify, I infer that Two-Bit, Steve, and especially Dally have family problems additionally. According to another article, Two-Bit's father left his family without notice and left Two-bit to take care of his mother. Dally, I believe, particularly had past family issues. We do not hear about Dally's family at all in the book, and that might be for a specific purpose. Ponyboy says that Dally used to live in New York when he was jailed at only ten years old. Ponyboy also says that Dally is the toughest and the meanest. Before Dally was ten years old, he, most likely, was a juvenile delinquent. This might of been caused by peers, family troubles, or even past traumas. Ponyboy also says that Dally has seen much worse in New York than Johnny after he was beaten up by four Socials. Past trauma and family issues are great factors in why the Greasers are juvenile delinquents. Peer influence is unquestionably a key factor in the character's behavior. Greasers surround themselves with greasers, and socials surround themselves with socials. Almost everyone in these two groups remains juvenile delinquents, and will continue to
"The Outsiders" is a story that deals with a conflict between two gangs, the "Greasers" from the East Side of town and the "Socs" from the east-side of town. This is a story that is told in the first person. Ponyboy Curtis is the one telling the story. Here is a summary of the story.
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.
After the church fire Ponyboy comes to the realization of many things. Two-Bit and Ponyboy are eating at a restaurant known as Tasty Freeze when Randy asks to speak with him. Ponyboy tells Randy, ¨Maybe you would have done the same thing, maybe a friend of yours wouldn’t have. It’s the individual¨(115). He finds out that you cannot define someone based on of they are part of the Socs or the greasers. Furthermore, he finds out that every one is a individual and that means that just because he is a part of a certain group it does not mean that they are all going to react or perceive a situation in the same exact way. In addition, he say this to Randy because when there was a fire in the church Dally was not willing to risk his life to save someone else's when Johnny and Ponyboy were more than willing to help the kids. This shows event shows how all Greasers and Socs are not the same. In the beginning of the novel Ponyboy believed Darry disliked him and thought he was a nuisance. However, later on at the hospital Ponyboy tells Darry, “I’m sorry” (98). Ponyboy’s words expose how he feels bad for thinking Darry disliked him all along when in truth he loved him more than words could describe. He realizes that Darry fears losing another family member that is why he is so overprotective of Ponyboy. Hence, proving Ponyboy is clearly a dynamic character.
The Outsiders is a book that changed the style of young adult writers because it went off from the genre that young adult writer were using during that time period. The reader sees the everyday problems that teenagers were going through, “I can’t take much more Johnny spoke my own feelings I’ll kill myself or something” (Hinton 47). Johnny felt unloved because his parents treat him bad and say hurtful things to him, but when Johnny is with the gang he feels loved because they embrace him, and let him stay at their house if he cannot bear to go home to his parents. So many writers were use to telling fairy tells and fables, the realism of the outsiders made it the first of its kind during the time period it was written. Todd Howard points this out in his book Understanding The Outsiders, “ Thus the overwhelming commercial success that The Outsiders enjoyed among teens shortly after its first publication, it sent astonished publishers scurrying to find writers who could duplicate the novel’s formula and gave a pause to literary critics” (Howard 8). Authors in the early sixty’s never thought about writing a book showing the gang and social class differences, and this is why The Outsiders was a successful book because it opened people’s eyes to the problems some...
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.
The Socs are almost always the ones that are starting the fights. For instance, jumping the Greasers all the time,just out of boredom! They usually also target weaker victims, just like when they beat up Johnny. Johnny is a Greaser, the “pet” of the group, and one of the youngest. The Socs affected him so badly that he had a scar emotionally and physically. “Johnny's face was cut up and bruised and swollen, and there was a wide gash from his temple to his cheekbone. He would carry that scar all his life. His white T-shirt was splattered with blood. I thought he might be dead; surely nobody could be beaten like that and live”(Hinton 29). Here, the author reveals that the Socs did some damage to Johnny that he would have as long as he lives, and it’s not only the physical hurt. Even though the Greasers are not fully innocent, overall the Socs have done more
Ponyboy talks about him as having ", an elfish face with high cheekbones and a pointed chin, small, sharp animal teeth, and ears like a lynx. His hair was so blond, and he didn't like haircuts, or hair oil either, so it fell over his forehead in wisps and kicked out in the back in tufts and curled behind his ears and along the nape of his neck. His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world. “He works as a jockey, and funnily doesn't rig his races; it's "the only thing Dally did honestly." Even though he is only seventeen years old, "the fight for self-preservation had hardened him beyond caring." He set the stereotype for the greasers its scary to the others how scary he is. In the events when Johnny killed Bob dally helped out the boys and gifted them one handgun and $100. Ponyboy realizes the truth after Johnny's death. When he tries to make sense of Dally's reaction to Johnny's death, it dawns on him, "Johnny was the only thing that Dally
Dally walks away with rage and then Johnny and Ponyboy sit with the girls. Two-Bit arrives with 3 other Greasers to walk home the Soc girls. On the way Randy and Bob the drunken boyfriends meet the Greasers. They girls leave the Greasers and get in the Socs’s car to prevent a fight. Ponyboy is late getting home, so his brother Darrel is furious with him, Ponyboy sick of Darrel’s constant criticism and enquiry, Ponyboy yells back at him.
Ponyboy Curtis - Ponyboy is a fourteen-year-old member of a gang called the Greasers. His parents died in a car accident, so he lives alone with his two older brothers, Darry and Soda. He is a good student and athlete, but most people at school consider him a vagrant like his Greaser friends.