Color And Identity In Hinton's The Outsiders

“Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way, you could tell the other guy was human too”(Hinton 118). The novel, The Outsiders, portrays two sides in a community: the Greasers and the Socs. Through the realization of both sides in the novel, the author presents several themes that assist with the evolution of the story; these themes consist of color, identity, family, and that life is not fair.
To begin, the theme of color is far more extensive in the novel, than how it is perceived in reality. The Greasers use color to not only describe their physical features, they use to distinguish themselves from the Socs. If the difference in color was never established in the novel, than both sides of the community would question their position. Several

“...and silky, just like Soda’s, only a little redder. Our hair was tough- we didn’t have to use much grease on it. Our hair labeled us as Greasers, too- it was our trademark. The one thing we were proud of. Maybe we couldn’t have Corvairs or madras shirts, but we could have our hair”(Hinton 71). Certain, special attributes can be given to one, but not given to another. Not all people can be provided the same life as another. In the novel, the Outsiders, several happenings occur between the Greasers and the Socs that can be categorized with the theme “Life is not Fair”. Through Johnny’s perspective, it was unfair that his parents had treated him so poorly, regardless of his current situation . “His father was always beating him up, and his mother ignored him, except when she was hacked off at something, and then you could hear her yelling at him clear down at our house. I think he hated that worse than getting whipped”(Hinton 12). Through family, many look to their parents for support, but some instances of a family are not the same as the tradition Mother, Father, and children;