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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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In S.E Hinton's book The Outsiders, If there wasn’t a difference moneywise between the greasers and the socs they might be friends. Money separated the socs are higher class and are treated differently. For example, if Bob and Johnny were friends then Bob might not be dead as well as Johnny and Dally. Because then there wouldn’t be a reason for Ponyboy and Johnny to run away. So that would save at least three lives just with a change in money.

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When people think of someone in their family who provides for them many think of their mom or dad. Although, that is not always the case. Darry is the older brother and provider to Sodapop Curtis and Ponyboy Curtis in the book The Outsiders written by S.E. Hinton. Darry’s parents died in a car accident so he was left raising his two younger brothers, which are sixteen and fourteen. Although Darry can be harsh, he still cares deeply about his brothers and their lives.

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As the book goes on, Ponyboy realizes that everyone has problems. Even the Socs, who most greasers view as arrogantly “perfect,” Cherry brings it obvious to Pony that this is not true. This is especially true when Pony tells Cherry that “you don't feel anything and we feel too

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Ponyboy is only 14 years old in, “The Outsiders,” but has gone through many hardships and struggles most teenagers will never go through. Throughout the story, he has lost others and even himself. The cause of this is the division between Socs and Greasers. Throughout the story, the author builds up the theme that, everyone is human, no matter what social class, race, sex, or age. As readers we see this when Cherry Valance is first introduced, the relationship of the Curtis brothers, and the truth about Bob.

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You can protect us.”, showing that the Greasers just went along with what they said, they didn’t even know if they had boyfriends or not. They learned that, ‘They 'd come with their boyfriends, but walked out on them when they found out the boys had brought some booze along. The boys had gotten angry and left.’. Cherry says, “I don 't care if they did.", annoyed. Just because Pony and Johnny were hanging out with the girls didn’t mean that they liked them or were trying to steal them, they were just keeping each other company.

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The message that the story of The Outsides is trying to convey is stereotypes don't define people. The first example is Sherri “Cherry” Valance. She shatters all the stereotypes of a Soc, by being kind to Ponyboy and Johnny. The stereotype of a Soc is a rich troublemaker t hat slaughters and brutally beat up Greasers for fun. But Cherry does not conform to this, as she talked and watched a movie with Ponyboy, without threatening him.

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The Greasers are always getting put down and getting hurt by the Socs. In The Outsiders,Ponyboy states

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It is natural for people to categorize and judge others. In terms of judgement, people often rely on different ideas and stereotypes that affect their opinions and may twist their perceptions of justice and how it should be dealt. In the books, Monster by Walter Dean Myers and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, justice is heavily influenced by prejudice demonstrated by people judging others based on race, wealth, and social group stereotypes. Initially, the idea of justice is affected by racial stereotypes and prejudice.

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The great philosopher Plato once said , “Any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, and the other of the rich; these are at the war with one another.” This quote perfectly summarizes the theme of S.E Hinton's novel, The Outsiders. The novel is about two gangs/groups that live in Rural, Oklahoma, the Greasers and the Socials. The Socs are the more affluent and often times referred to as the ‘West-side rich kids’, and the Greasers, are the less fortunate gang. Throughout the novel both gangs experience various types of conflict and at one point their differences ended up costing the life of a couple gang members.

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The Socs are more of a contempt to society because THEY ARE AGGRESSIVE, THEY GET DRUNK, and THEY GET AWAY WITH THINGS. These were just a few examples of Socs(Socials) life. Well, there are many reasons that Socs are more of a shame and threat to the community than the Greasers. First of all, Socs were more of an insult and danger to society than the Greasers because they knew that they were more fortune than the Greasers and they used that adjacent . The Rich gang could calmly make anything discontent and fault it on the Greasers because the police saw them as a cuss to society.

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I think these stories have some things in common Cherry thought all greasers were bad because of what happened at the movies but she was wrong because of how ponyboy was nice to her and he went up with her to get popcorn and when the movie was over the greasers seen they did not have a way home so they said they would walk them home and they live 20 miles from the movies so they are going to pony boys house to get there car and on the way they saw dally was on the ground and he got beat up by the socs and all the greasers said all the socs where bad people and cherry was like we are not all bad people and she said dally propeller jump a couple people and ponyboy was like yeah he has so he can't be saying socs are so so bad and they are just

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As they are walking to grab snacks, Cherry is telling Ponyboy that not all Socs are bad; Just like not all greasers are bad. “‘That’s like saying all you greasers are like Dallas Winston. I’ll Bet he’s jumped a few people.’ I digested that. It was true.

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Throughout the novel we see the Greasers and the Soc in constant conflict, fighting and rumbling for gang dominance. Ponyboy is greatly affected by this and is already questioning the point of violence. Close to the end of the text the Greasers and the Socs plan a rumble to occur one night. Before the fight, Ponyboy meets Randy Anderson (a Soc) at the Tasty Freeze Diner where they have a conversation. Ponyboy realises that Randy is, “not going to show at the rumble” and that he is, “sick of rumbles because they don't do any good.”

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The novel The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton illustrates a theme of stereotyping and its effect on the characters. The protagonist, Ponyboy Curtis is the most affected by stereotyping. Ponyboy is stereotyped as a greaser. He accepts this stereotype, but is negatively affected by it, because society views greasers as poor, bellicose, delinquents from the East Side.

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For a brief moment Ponyboy Curtis makes a human connection only to realize it can’t last. In The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton there are two gangs the soc’s, a rich upper class gang too preppy to care, and the greasers a gang that feels too much yet has too little. Ponyboy Curtis, a greaser, convinces himself he is alone except for his gang until he meets Cherry Valance. She is a soc, the group that Ponyboy had always been taught to hate. Like Slim, she is understanding and described as a god in the eyes of Ponyboy.

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