Society assumes someone is poor if someone wears old, ripped clothing. If someone wears gold chains, lots of jewelry, and fancy brands, people believe they’re rich. These are just a few examples of how your outward identity decides how others perceive you. In the novel, The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton shares a story about 2 social groups who believe they’re opposite, but in reality, aren't so different. The Outsiders teaches readers about identity, and reveals that one shouldn’t assume how one is before getting to know one. An individual's outward identity does determine how society judges them because people often think the social group one belongs to correlates with the way one acts and is supported through the character Cherry.
Cherry’s outward identity does determine how society judges them because society often assumes the social group one associates with pairs with one's personality. Ponyboy watched Cherry stick up to Dally: “ I’d seen her before she was a cheerleader at our school. I’d always thought she was stuck up” (Hinton 21). This shows because Cherry associates with cheerleaders Ponyboy assumed she was stuck up like some other cheerleaders. Cherry’s identity impacts her by having people assume things she's not because other people in the social groups she is in act stuck up, so people think she is also stuck up. Cherry’s outward
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When Ponyboy was talking with Cherry, he realized, “ Maybe we weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset” (Hinton 41). Although they believe Ponyboy took the time to get to know Cherry, it is understood that though he got to know her, the two groups have been programmed to realize they are different and that not all of society will change. While there can be other ideas regarding Cherry’s outward identity, it appears it may determine how society judges