Perseverance In The Outsiders And A New Horizon

“Why do we listen to the critics and the cynics? Who says identity is something you can buy? There's no serenity in living without feeling. Without courage, we'll always live a lie,”. This line from Matt Dahan and Kelly D’Angelo’s “A New Horizon” conveys the message that a person’s identity can’t be something one just gets, but rather have to find for themselves. It also asks why people listen to others whose only purpose is to put them down or tell a person to change or conform. Additionally, the lyrics explain that without bravery or taking risks you won’t be truly living, and you won’t get anywhere if you don’t try and persevere. These two themes, identity and perseverance, can be seen in the main character, Ponyboy Curtis, from the outsiders,

Thus proves that identity and perseverance are the two most important themes in S.E. Hinton’s work “The Outsiders”.

To commence, one of the most important themes in “The Outsiders” is identity or exploring identity. For example, in the book, we read all about the main character Ponyboy and his view of the world and the world’s view of him. This is shown on page one,” I had light brown, almost red hair and greenish-gray eyes. I wish they were more gray because I hated guys with green eyes…” (Hinton 1). After this thought, however, Ponyboy changes his mind about those green eyes saying that he liked them because Sherri (Cherry) Valance had green eyes and she watched the sunsets with those eyes, just like him. To add on, this shows that throughout the book Ponyboy explores his identity and the identity of a Socy girl and finds he’s not the only one that doesn’t live up to what their social status entails. Socs enjoy fighting other people and greasers, Cherry likes to watch sunsets and talk to Ponyboy. Ponyboy likes movies, reading, and drawing and

Some may say that brotherhood or friendship is more important than identity or self-exploration. Or others may say that loyalty is the most important. These are all valiant arguments, but not strong enough to turn heads. Despite friendship and loyalty being a large part of the book, those who think it is the most important theme of the book simply didn’t read deeply enough. When someone reads the book “The Outsiders” there are various themes and topics one can come up with. Most will say friendship or something along those lines. But that just shows that the reader wasn’t digging for a deeper meaning to the book, but rather to just read it and be done. Whereas a person who reads deep between the lines and reads the book thoroughly, that person would see Ponyboy's retelling of his life as the narrator expresses a story about finding himself and going through a tough time. Also all throughout the book Ponyboy discovers what makes a greaser and or a Soc, and figures out for himself who he was as a person. To conclude, though friendship and loyalty may be an obvious theme for those who simply read “The Outsiders”, but identity and perseverance are more important and present in the