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Of Labeling People In S. E. Hinton's 'The Outsiders'

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Having opinions about other people is something almost everybody has because people want to compare themselves. It can be challenging to manage these beliefs, as they may not always be true or have a deeper meaning than thought. In The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, the danger of judging and labeling people is that there is a misunderstanding. First, Ponyboy thinks the Socs are all rich, spoiled kids. However, when he talks to Cherry, he realizes that might not always be true. Hinton writes,"’It's not just money. Part of it is, but not all. Your Greasers have a different set of values. You're more emotional than I am. We're sophisticated - cool to the point of not feeling anything.’" (Hinton 38) Ponyboy, like other Greasers, believes that the Socs are rich, spoiled kids. However, this belief is not true because when Ponyboy talks to Cherry, he realizes the Socs are normal kids, even though they are wealthier than the Greasers. Ponyboy labeling the Socs as rich and spoiled kids is a danger because that is false. The only difference …show more content…

Hinton writes, "'I'm sick of all this. Sick and tired of the snort. Bob is a good guy. He was the best buddy a guy ever had. I mean, he was a good fighter and tough and everything, but he was a real person too.'" (Hinton 116) When Ponyboy and Johnny go to the Park, 5 Socs encounter them, and Ponyboy and Johnny know they are drunk because of how they act. After Johnny kills Bob, one of the Socs, Ponyboy realizes Bob is a normal kid, just like he is. Ponyboy sees Bob as a bully and a mean kid, but that is false. The reason Johnny kills Bob is because Bob and the other Socs are drunk, and they don't know what they are doing. The belief that Ponyboy had on Bob is an example of how labeling people can cause misunderstanding. Greasers can label other Greasers and there is a danger of judging people and there can be

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None of the Greasers seemed to have had many or any positive influences in their lives. Although the Soc’s generally come from much better off backgrounds than many of the Greasers, they still lack positive role models. For example, the death of Bob, a Soc, was due to him trying to jump Johnny and Ponyboy and trying to drown Ponyboy in a fountain. Bob obviously didn’t have any real need to be in the Soc gang, and doing this behaviour, as he was well off and presumably had a much more comfortable life at home as compared to many of the Greasers, but his parents didn’t set many boundaries or have much interest in what he got up to, as told by Randy. This is an example of the lack of a positive role model regardless of the parental or financial situation of a character.

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"The Outsiders" is a seminal coming-of-age novel authored by S.E. Hinton and originally published in 1967. The novel tells the story of Ponyboy Curtis, a member of a gang called the Greasers, who perpetually finds himself at odds with the affluent and privileged Socs. The central premise of the novel involves the significance of learning from mistakes and overcoming challenges. Hinton employs the literary technique of characterisation to effectively communicate this message to the reader. Ponyboy Curtis is a young and impressionable protagonist who confronts various challenges throughout the narrative.

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As Ponyboy achieves high grades and does well in school, he will become more like a Soc. This adjustment would occur because Socs are known for being superior students. On the other hand, greasers were known for being simpleminded, or as Sodapop refers to himself, “dumb” (17). To sum it up, by following Darry’s high standards, Ponyboy will have a prosperous future like the

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Hinton shows many themes in her award-winning fiction novel, The Outsiders. Violence and friendship are only a few of the strong themes implemented in the book. It can be concluded that the rivalry between the Greasers and Socs is provoked by their socioeconomic differences. The message in the book conveyed by the author is that there are consequences to using violence, but at times violence is required. Another powerful message that is expressed in The Outsiders by Hinton is that friendship bonds can be more powerful than family.

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Ponyboy realizes that all Socs are not just rich kids that think they are better than everyone and likes there personality. ¨He started talking, loud enough for the two girls to hear. He started out bad and got worse ¨... ¨ You´d better leave us alone… or I will call the cops¨Cherry yelled. ¨Leave her alone, Dally¨ Johny said while he had a puzzled look as he got up and stalked off.

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I am a menace to society.’ ” Stereotypes often put a label on people and give others unrealistic and false ideas of groups or individuals based on many things such as their clothes, their money, and many other assets in which they can’t control. In my opinion, stereotypes are one of the biggest problems in today's world, and S.E. Hinton helps portray the theme, “Everyone is human despite their money and appearance and everyone deserves to be treated the same” in her novel, The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton helps share this message and express this theme through key symbols throughout the book and her characters. Hinton

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This passage advances the plot line because when Cherry and Ponyboy are talking, they get into a really deep conversation about how the socs and greasers are different, and why they 're different. In the passage Ponyboy explains how he can actually talk to her and it was probably the same reason she could really talk to him. This little sentence has so much meaning. It is saying that maybe the socs and the greasers aren 't that different from each other after all. They just were born thinking that way and don 't know what other way to think, which explains why the two groups hate each other.

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In the same way, during the same scene, Cherry and the Socials tried to ignore Dally when they first met. The way they instinctively responded to Ponyboy and Dally was also to consider them Greasers, which Ponyboy says he has heard numerous times with the same tone of disprovement. On the other hand, Ponyboy is generally confused and dislikes the Socials for the violence they commit against the Greasers as a way to escape their problems. Despite having the individuality to recognize problems such as expectations that the Socials must face, which he learns from Cherry, he still struggles with the Socials because of the differences in culture between the Greasers and the Socials and the conflict caused due to the two groups’ perception of the other group. The two groups see each other through stereotypes and don’t recognize the other’s problems.

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"I 'm sick of all this. Sick and tired. Bob was a good guy. He was the best buddy a guy ever had. I mean, he was a good fighter and tuff and everything, but he was a real person too.

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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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