The Greasers As A Menace To Society

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The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton tells the story of two rival gangs. The Socs, who have a high socio-economic status, live in the more affluent part of town, and come from indulgent parents or families, and the Greasers, who live in the more undesirable parts of town, have absentee parents, and would be almost penniless if it weren't for their jobs as auto mechanics. Society views the two gangs quite differently, the Socs as these innocent children because of their higher standard, and the Greasers as juvenile delinquents because of their reputation. Ultimately, the gang who is more of a menace to society are the Socs, because they are almost never reprimanded for their actions, they are the typical bullies, and they are eventually going to …show more content…

Unfortunately, most of the Socs do not have this, and to make matters worse, they are never chastised or given a consequence by society when they do wrong, just because they are the upper class. Consequently, they continue to do more and more wrong, knowing that at the end of the day, they will not be scolded or given a punishment. Bob Sheldon is the perfect example of this. Bob was the leader of the Soc gang, a rich child who had parents that never told him “No,” and ones that never got him in trouble. He continued to push his limits and his actions were progressively negative towards the Greasers and the rest of society, and one day, it cost him his life. This is a great menace to society for two reasons: One being that the society is being tricked into judging the Socs by their appearance, and they are being blinded by the status of the families they come from. They think the Socs are innocent, nice and proper, just because they have more money than most people. Secondly, they are a literal threat because the wrong things they do affect the people and the town, for instance, they have emotionally and physically affected the Greasers, and they constantly trash houses in the area with their parties and when they are drunk, which is quite …show more content…

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

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