Social Issues In The Outsiders

"Smoking is the leading cause of statistics"—Fletcher Knebel In the novel "The Outsiders," smoking cigarettes is a social issue among greasers, still relevant to teens today. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is about the two contrasting social classes—the Greasers, who are poorer and less fortunate, and the Socs, who are rich and privileged. A wide range of social issues are covered in this book, including juvenile criminality, gang violence, and smoking, all of which are important issues in today's society. The greasers Ponyboy, Johnny, Sodapop, and Darry are the main characters in this book. Each year at a parking lot, the greasers and the socs fight in a brawl known as "the rumble" to show who is stronger and more competent in combat and

Ponyboy said, "I've had to stop smoking or I won't make track next year,". Ponyboy's future will be substantially impacted by this since it will keep him from competing in track. Since the greasers cannot afford to send Pony to college, track is Ponyboy's best chance of receiving a scholarship. Ponyboy needs to get a scholarship to go to college in order to make money. This is further supported by the passage from Ponyboy's book that reads, "Except for Darry, who was too proud of his athletic health to risk a cigarette." This demonstrates that some smokers are aware of the long-term problems smoking might cause to your lungs and

Researchers discovered that over 5.6 million people have passed away from smoking-related illnesses as a result of smoking an average of 100 cigarettes as teenagers (CDC, 2014). This has relevance to the modern world and the Outsiders book. This connects to the greasers as they all got their start at an early age, as Ponyboy says: "Johnny had been smoking since he was nine; Steve started at eleven." One third of greasers are likely to die from a smoking-related disease since they start smoking at least a pack a day at such a young age. Smoking plays a very big part in the novel as a status symbol; the poorer greasers all smoke and normalize it among themselves, but the wealthier Socs do not smoke at all.

As Ponyboy states in Chapter 1 of The Outsiders, "A smoke always lessens the tension," and smoking may be addictive in many ways. To relieve tension and worry, many individuals smoke cigarettes. This is seen several times throughout the storyline of the book: whenever Ponyboy and the greasers are in trouble, they constantly make sure to light up, especially in desperate situations. When Ponyboy is sick and Johnny is on the brink of death, it is claimed in the movie "The Outsiders" by Darry that Ponyboy is smoking upwards of two packs a day, all to try to cope with his