The Dangers Of Stereotypes In The Outsiders By S. E Hinton

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Labels don't tell the truth to who people are. We have all heard gossip about someone and immediately jumped to conclusions about them. Because of this, we can miss out on friendships, connections, beneficial conversations and positive interactions. And yes, sometimes the hallway gossip can be true, but you shouldn't judge someone based on one mistake they made, you should get to know them first. Labels are created for everyone. They can be positive, but most of the time, the ones we hear and spread are negative. In the book "The Outsiders" by S.E Hinton, there are a few characters who are constantly misunderstood and labeled by other characters. The ones who stood out to me are Dally, Randy and Darry.

Jonny seems to be the one who sees …show more content…

Randy got a chance to expose his better side to Ponyboy after the fight that they got into and when Bob was murdered. The two were having a conversation because Randy was thinking about leaving town before the rumble. His argument was that him fighting would do no good but leaving would also be embarrassing. "'I'm marked chicken if I pull out of a rumble, and I'd hate myself if I didn't'"( Hinton pg. 117). Ponyboy then realized that when Cherry said "things are rough all over", she meant it. He wanted to help Randy, but he didn't know how to. As it turns out the comment of Ponyboy saying that Randy would have saved the kids inside of the burning building boosted his confidence in himself and helped him make the decision of leaving. After their conversation, Ponyboy walked back to Two Bit, he asked what the "Super Soc" wanted, and Ponyboy said "'He ain't a Soc,' I said, 'he's just a guy. He just wanted to talk'"(Hinton pg. 118). Ponyboy got to understand and see what Randy was really like and he realized that they weren't enemies, just two people with different backgrounds who grew up hearing that they couldn't get …show more content…

When you open the box, on the inside there are characteristics that describe the positive traits each of them give off once you get to know them. I was inspired to do this with myself as well to see what people think of me the first time they saw me, and compare those labels to what they described me as once we came to be friends. I think it was surprising some of the labels I originally got, but it was captivating to see what people thought of me when the negativity and assumptions were shattered. I definitely learned more about how I should see the world, and that it is wrong to assume something about someone because of their past and their appearance. I think that if everyone knew this, we would all have a lot more friends and less enemies. Another example of what I learned is that no matter how good it seems someone has it, that they have problems and conflict too. No one has it perfect, and no one ever will. I am very content about my choice in theme because as I dug into it more, i learned about the real world. Unlike other essays and projects that I have done, I can take away lessons and skills that I can apply to the world we live in

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