Positive Role Models In The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton

In “The Outsiders” by S.E Hinton, we are introduced to a wide range of characters whose actions and personalities are widely affected by the environment in which they grew up in. This is a very pervasive theme in the book, as the main element of the story is the rivalry between the street gangs “The Socs” (short for Socials), and “The Greasers' ' In Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Socs are depicted as a gang of well-off rich kids who aren’t afraid to show it off, and the Greasers are the polar opposite of this, most of the Greaers grew up impoverished, without one or both of their parents, or grew up in abusive households. This dynamic and disparancy between the individuals of the gangs leads to some interesting interactions between the characters.

The story is narrated by Ponyboy Curtis, a 14 year old Greaser, who grew up without parents as they were killed in a car accident when he was very young. This incident has widely shaped his personality in the story, as he is

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. Had he been hanging around better people, his death very likely wouldn’t have