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Labeling And Stereotypes In The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton

706 Words3 Pages

Bob Marley once said, “Who are you to judge the life I live? I am not perfect and I don’t have to be! Before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean.” He states that many people judge others but they don’t realize they’re not perfect themselves. This quote directly applies to one of the recurring themes in this story. In the novel “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, the author exhibits that you shouldn’t judge someone until you get to know them through characters learning that labeling and stereotypes are customs that you shouldn’t live by.
S.E. Hinton states that before you designate someone by stereotypes, you should learn who they truly are by Randy realizing that greasers are more than just poor people who live on the East Side. Right before the rumble with the socs, a blue mustang pulls up to a gas station where Two-Bit and Ponyboy are and they say they want to talk. Pony notices that it’s the same group of boys that tried to kill him and Johnny. In the car, Randy and Ponyboy talk about the incident at …show more content…

When Cherry says goodbye to Johnny and Ponyboy, she knows that she can’t even show a sign that she knows their names or she’ll lose popularity. Socs think that all greasers are the worst and that they’re only good for beating up. “‘If I see you in the hall at school or someplace and don’t say hi, well, it’s not personal or anything, but…’” (45). At that point in the story, she had just met Ponyboy and Johnny and thought that popularity was more important than the greasers. But, as the story progresses, she starts to help them with giving information about the rumble and even testifying in court. She even had a crush on Dally. As Cherry gets to know the greaser gang, she realizes that both she and Ponyboy can see the same

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