Differences In The Novel 'The Outsiders' By S. E. Hinton

Nick Mastriano
J. Pizzo & L. Marianino
ILA - Per. 2
14 April 2023
Focus On Similarities Not Differences

Teenagers have many disagreements but when they get out of hand and can sometimes lead to death, the problem starts to happen. In the fictional novel “The Outsiders” by S.E Hinton, there are many similarities and differences between the two gangs, the Socs and Greasers who are presented in the book. They hate each other so much that they would kill one another but if they focused on their similarities rather than their differences, there could be a chance they could all live together in harmony. In this paper, I will be examining how they are similar and different and how it affects how they live together. The Socs and the Greasers

In the text, it says, “Dally hated to do things the legal way. He liked to show that he didn’t care whether there was a law or not.” (Hinton 20) This shows that the Greasers like to break the law. Similar to the Greasers the Socs also like to break the law. The Socs break the law for mischievous reasons because they know that they can get out of it with their high social status. In the text it says, “The Socs would often harass and assault the greasers, breaking laws and using their privilege to escape punishment.” (Hinton 25) This shows that the Socs also break laws but unlike the Greasers they can get out of it. Another example of a similarity between the Socs and Greasers is that they both hate one another. They would even kill

One example of a difference is that the Greasers and Socs dress very differently from each other. The Socs were the clothing of the upper class while the Greasers wear the clothing of the lower class. In the text, Ponyboy talks about this when he says, “They were Socs all right. One had on a white shirt and a Madras ski jacket, and the other had a light yellow shirt and a wine-colored sweater” (Hinton 44). Another example is to show that the Greasers and the Socs dress differently. In the text, Bob (who is a Soc) says, “Do you know what a Greaser is? White trash and long hair” (Hinton 55). When Bob says this he was pointing out the fact that the Greasers dress poor and dress a lot lower class than the Socs. Another example of a difference the Socs and the Greasers share is that the Greasers are a lot more emotional than the Socs, the Socs play everything cool and are sophisticated. Cherry (who is a Soc) points this fact out when she talks to Ponyboy, “You’re more emotional. We’re sophisticated, cool to the point of not feeling anything” (Hinton 38). Cherry was pointing out that the Socs just play everything cool and don’t get emotional. One last example of a difference is that the Greasers have a better brotherhood than the Socs. To prove this the text says, “Then there were shouts and pounding of feet, and the Socs jumped up and left me lying there” (Hinton 6). This happens when Ponyboy got jumped after