Civil Rights Movement In The Outsiders

S.E. Hinton did not accurately portray the culture of the 60’s in the novel “The Outsiders,” as well as she could have. She missed a lot of the significant events going on during the time. She showed the style of the Greasers and what they liked, but not as much on the political situation going on. During the 1960’s, there was a critical event going on in American history, the Civil Rights movement. The civil rights movement was a fight for equal rights between white and black americans, and was domineering over the attention of the people during the time. “The Outsiders” did not portray this and how it affected life in the 60’s. It was a nationwide movement, including Oklahoma where the book takes place. In the book, it doesn’t show any signs of the civil rights movements. It didn't depict the protests and the marches that occurred during the time in Oklahoma. The civil rights spurred outrage among african american citizens throughout the united states fighting for rights against segregation. Protests happened in every state, and segregation was

Hippies were a big impact on youth culture in the 60s. The hippies represented freedom and having fun. The style of the hippies is well known today, “many wore their hair long and dressed in casual, often unconventional, clothes, sometimes in “psychedelic” colors.” (Hippie 3). People such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were closely identified with the movement also. In “The Outsiders” though, there aren’t any hippies or public gatherings of hippies occurring in the book. The hippies were widespread and was very popular. It was a big generation of young people, and important in the culture of the 60s. Hippies were not talked about, a character in the story, or the gatherings such as music festivals were mentioned. The book cannot accurately portray the 60s without the movement of hippies and the new distinctive