Stereotypes In The Outsiders

Stereotyping is an issue that affects all ages, genders, and races. Not all stereotypes are bad, but when you maliciously stereotype it becomes a problem. In S.E. Hinton’s young adult novel The Outsiders, stereotyping is a significant issue. There are two gangs in this novel, the “greasers”, and the “Socs”. The greasers live on the east side and are known as “hoods”. The Socs live on the west side and are known as the west side rich kids who have all the breaks. People judge their personality just based on where they live, and what they look like. Stereotyping is an unfair way to judge people because you never know their whole story. It is wrong to judge someone just by who they hang out with. In The Outsiders, Cherry, a Soc, and Ponyboy, a greaser, start talking at a Drive-in movie. As they are walking to grab snacks, Cherry is telling Ponyboy that not all Socs are bad; Just like not all greasers are bad. “‘That’s like saying all you greasers are like Dallas Winston. I’ll Bet he’s jumped a few people.’ I digested that. It was true. Dally had jumped a few people. [...] But not all of us are that bad” (34). While Cherry is a Soc, she knows that you can’t judge people by who they hang out with. In fact, Cherry took time to talk to Ponyboy rather than judging him by the way Dally acted. Once you talk to someone you can start to see who they are as an individual. If you judge people by who they hang out with, then you could never know what they are like on the inside.