Examples Of Stay Gold In The Outsiders

‘“Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold…” The novel, The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton, is about two groups that dislike each other, the Greasers and the Socs, they are always picking on one another. Ponyboy Curtis tries his best to fit in and stay out of trouble. Ponyboy lives with his two older brothers Sodapop Curtis and Darrel ‘Darry’ Curtis because their parents had gotten in an automobile accident. The main idea, or theme, of the novel, is to stay gold, don’t get into trouble. Being rude is not a solution to get through life. In literature, there are five main types of conflict, or problems, Man vs. Self, Man vs. Man, Man vs. Society, Man vs. Nature, and Man vs. Destiny. In this essay, I will prove that all these types of conflict can be found in

This textual evidence shows Ponyboy has to stay out of trouble in order to stay with his brothers, Soda and Darry. This is an example of a Man vs. Self conflict because Ponyboy wants to fit in with the other greasers, but he also wants to stay with his brothers; so, he cannot get into trouble. Another conflict in the novel, The Outsiders, happens when Johnny wants to turn himself in but he is scared. For example, in Chapter six, page 89, Dally then Johnny say, “‘Blast it, Johnny,’ Dally growled as we flew along the red road, ‘why didn’t you think of turning yourself in five days ago? It would have saved a lot of trouble.’ ‘I was scared,’ Johnny said with conviction. ‘I still am.’” This textual evidence shows how long Johnny was scared to turn himself into the police. He didn’t want to go into the shock chair that the murderers go into when they are found and/or willingly turned in. This is also an example of a Man vs. Self conflict because Johnny was fighting himself on whether he should turn himself in or not. Not only do characters in The Outsiders struggle with conflicts within themselves, but they also struggle with other people or

For example, in Chapter nine, the author wrote, “‘Hold up!’ a familiar voice yelled. ‘Hold it!’ Darry turned to see who it was, and Paul swung–a hard right to the jaw that would have felled anyone but Darry. The rumble was on” (Hinton 143). This textual evidence shows people about to start fighting, but when Dally runs in Darry looked over and the Soc threw a punch once he did, which led to the two rival groups starting the fight. The Greasers and Socs are enemies because the Socs dress up nicely and don’t have greasy hair and are rich, while, the Greasers are poor and they don’t have as fancy clothes and always have greasy hair, so the Socs make fun of them and jump them. This is an example of a Man vs. Society conflict because two rival groups are fighting physically and they are breaking the law. Another conflict in the novel, The Outsiders, happens when Dally robs a grocery store and pulled out a gun at the police. For example, in Chapter ten, Darry tells the others, “‘It was Dally. He phoned from a booth. He's just robbed a grocery store and the cops are after him. We gotta hide him. He'll be at the lot in a minute’” (Hinton 153). Also from chapter ten, “Dally raised the gun” (Hinton 154). Another example from page 154 is, “He was jerked half around by the impact of the bullets, then slowly crumpled with a look of grim triumph on his face.” This