Examples Of External Conflict In The Outsiders

‘The Outsiders’ is a novel set in America during 1965 written by S.E Hinton in the 1960s, about two rival gangs called the socs and the greasers. In the story, many examples of internal and external conflict can be seen. The main external conflict is between the socs and the greasers, and how there are constant fights between the two gangs. There are also examples of internal conflicts, such as the main character, Ponyboy, who feels as if he doesn’t fit in with the rest of his friends. A few other characters in the story struggle with both internal and external conflict, such as Ponyboy’s best friend, Johnny.

The major external conflict in the story is how the socs and the greasers are always physically fighting each other and how they don’t get along. An example of this can be seen at the start of the book when Ponyboy is being jumped on by the socs. He explains that; “They had me down in a second. They had my arms and legs pinned down and one of them was sitting on my chest with his knees on my elbows, and if you don’t think that hurts, you’re crazy.” This shows how violent the

Johnny doesn’t have a good relationship with his parents, since they don’t care for him and beat him. This is explained in the story when Ponyboy says; “His father was always beating him up, and his mother ignored him. . .you could hear her yelling at him clear down at our house. I think he hated that more than getting whipped.” This quote clearly states the external conflict Johnny goes through with his parents. Johnny also goes through internal conflict. This can be seen in the quote; “But after the night of the beating, Johnny was jumpier than ever. I didn’t think he’d ever get over it. Johnny never walked by himself after that.” This shows Johnny’s internal conflict of being constantly scared of getting jumped again. Both these examples show how Johnny goes through his own internal and external