The Outsiders Research Paper

The book ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E. Hinton, is a novel about Ponyboy Curtis and his struggles between right and wrong where there is Socs and Greasers and which he believes that he is an outsider. In ‘The Outsiders’ the author portrays the theme through characters, actions, and symbols.
‘Crossing over the gap between the rich and poor’ is the message that is being put through to the readers. In this book there are certain characters that help support this idea of the theme. Cherry Valance, a Soc, or privileged person of the West Side shows that her and Ponyboy have a connection that makes neither class better, “It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset.” -Ponyboy. This quote helps show the connection between Ponyboy and Cherry.
S.E. Hinton had the readers feel the relationships that were

linked from each character and feel the pain if someone dies. The quote ¨Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.¨ is referring to the poem nothing gold can stay, it means that all good things must come to an end and Johnny wants Ponyboy to stay gold or innocent.
In ´The Outsiders´, S.E.

Hinton did not make all the greasers ¨good” but made special characteristics of them to show they are not just hoodlums but also some heroes. Johnny did kill Bob, but only out of self defence that showed a tougher side to him, but he risked his life to save kids in a burning church. He showed an act of heroism, along with Dally Winston. Dally saved Johnny and Ponyboy from dying in the burning church and risked his own life in the act of doing so. ¨He died violent and young and desperate just as well as we all knew he'd die someday.¨ Dally may have seemed tough but on the inside he had taken a lot of hardship and Johnny dying most likely pushed him over the edge. Dally knew what he wanted once Johnny died, he wanted to die and nothing was going to change his mind. Jail made Dally ¨hard” as he put it and not having emotions madie him stronger. If Johnny were hard he might not have jumped into the church and died, and maybe Dally felt that it was his fault that Johnny died because he didn't stop

him.
Even the Socs have problems, and by showing that no one is perfect it makes the Socs and Greasers the same. ‘Crossing over the gap between the rich and poor’ is the theme that I would use to describe the outsiders because S.E. Hinton gets deep into everyone's own pain and suffering, it helps show why they act the way they act and that no one is truly better. Johnny with parents that don't care, Ponyboy feeling like an outsider, Dally who is tough and hides his emotions, Randy who doesn't want to fight anymore, or Bob who only wants someone to tell him no. They all have pains and the author portrays to the readers through how they act and the theme.