The Outsiders Research Paper

In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, there are negative effects that impact everyone in society. The three main negative effects in the story were violence, peer pressure, and stereotyping. These three effects still occur today and affect people all around the world. The novel helps us understand the consequences of these effects and how we can overcome these problems in society.

In this book violence plays a large role in this story. The greasers live their life in fear of the Socs. The story focuses on both the mental and physical violence from abusive parents to bullying. [“Greasers can't walk alone too much or they'll get jumped, or someone will come by and scream "Greaser!" at them, which doesn't make you feel too hot

if you know what I mean.”pg.2] Society looks down on Greasers making them seen unruly or uncivilized. Socs strive for power. They hurt Greasers to remind themselves that they have more power over them.They make it seem “acceptable” for Socs to jump greasers because of their social status. The Socs could jump Greasers and society would think it was "okay" but if it was the other way around, the greasers would be arrested.The agony and the pain the Socs put on the Greasers from getting jumped and When Johnny was jumped by Bob’s gang, he was beaten up badly. [pg32] [“I killed him,” he said slowly. “I killed that boy.”pg.56] Johnny kills Bob to save Ponyboy. Johnny's past impulses him to protect Ponyboy. Johnny has gone through so much violence in his life, he has an abusive father who beats him. His mother knows what is happening, but doesn't do anything to help Johnny. Many children in society today are abused by their own families, but they don't have anyone to tell. Johnny has his gang that helps him, they care a lot more about him than his parents do. His gang is his own family. We do things we don't think about because our memories drive us to do things we would never do. The novel shows us what happens to people when their lives are surrounded by violence and negativity. They lost hope in happiness and the good things in life. When Dally lost Johnny, he stormed off. Dally never had anyone to care for him or care about him. When he lost the only person he cared about, he couldn't keep his emotions inside any longer. ["Dallas is gone,”, I said. "He ran out like the devil was after him. He's gonna blow up. He couldn't take it." pg.52] The novel explains the negative consequences about violence. To rise above violence, we have to put aside our differences and become more accepting and kinder people. You can't start a fight if the person won't fight back.

There is peer pressure in both the lives of the Socs and the Greasers.

They are all expected to be something. ["You greasers have a different set of values. You're more emotional. We're sophisticated...cool to the point of not feeling anything"pg.38] Socs lives were destined for them. Ponyboy feels that he is pressured by Darry to do good in school. Darry wants Ponyboy to do good in school and have a good education so that he can seize the opportunities and go to college, opportunities that Darry missed out on. There is also negative peer pressure. In the novel, the Socs drank and the greasers smoked and drank. When Socs were drunk, they hurt Greasers.Ponyboy doesn't know that smoking is bad for him and his health, but he assumes it's not bad for him if everyone else smokes.Teenagers are pressured to do things they may not want to do, but they do it anyway. Society tells us that it's okay to do things because everyone around you does it so it's okay for you to do it, but is it really? People smoke, or drink because they think they’ll look “cool” or become more “popular”. To overcome peer pressure, people should stick up for themselves and set up boundaries. People should know what they want to do with their life, they don't need someone to make them do something they don't want to do. It's their own life, they should be able to know what they can or cannot do. People shouldn't be forcing others to do what they say because it's not their life their controlling, it's

someone else's life.

Stereotyping is something we do without even noticing.

we automatically assume things about people when we don't even know them. [“I really couldn’t see what Socs would have to sweat about—good grades, good cars, good girls, madras, and Mustangs and Corvairs—Man, I thought, if I had worries like that I’d consider myself lucky”pg.36] Ponyboy stereotypes the Socs as having an easy life, but he doesn’t know the other part of them. he doesn't know if they’re really like that, he just gets his information from what he is told and what he has seen. People in society today still stereotype. An example of a very common stereotype is that all blondes are unintelligent, which is not true. People use that stereotype to classify blondes. Movies and tv shows portray blondes as a ditzy blonde that doesn't know anything. It isn't fair to stereotype people into categories when you don't even know them because it ruins their self respect and dignity for them. It’s not fair to stereotype people or cultures or even genders. Stereotyping still happens today in society and we are all guilty of it. We base our assumptions on someone by the outer appearance of people. ["I am a greaser. I am a JD and a hood. I blacken the name of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society. Man, do I have fun!" pg.36] Not all Greasers fit those attributes, but they have an idea of what society thinks of them. They hear the stereotypes about them and know what people think

of them, but that doesn't change who they are and how they act. Some people purposely stereotype others to insult them, their religion, or their appearance. Stereotyping in such a hurtful way can lead to bullying. It makes people afraid of being judged or labelled as a certain stereotype. It is unjust to be labelled as something you're not or being judged for being you. No one deserves to have a label as something they're not. It isn't right to be labeled as a stereotype because it doesn't define who someone is as a person. Stereotypes are how we judge and label others.

S.E. Hinton's novel assists people to understand violence, peer pressure and stereotyping much deeper. In society today these things events still happen.