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The Outsiders Research Paper

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Olivia Kuhn 5/10/24 ELA 8 Fitzpatrick. The “The Outsiders” Theme Essay. Teens today are surprisingly indistinguishable from 60’s juveniles, even considering it’s very hard to believe, since both groups of teens are from completely different periods of time. “The Outsiders” conveys the likeness of the two groups and the book's themes also display them. “The Outsiders” is a novel with numerous notable themes that are relatable and narrates a despairing story about two divided groups of teens and how they need to put aside their contrasting ways of living before it's too late. Adolescents today can associate with “The Outsiders” topics of empathy, stereotypes and preserving childhood innocence the most. First of all, teens today can identify …show more content…

Many teens today don’t display empathy towards others, and this is also viewed in “the Outsiders” with the juveniles in the sixties. The Socs and Greasers are two rival gangs who despise each other and have zero empathy for each other. Both groups have seriously injured or killed one another, and that means they don’t grant empathy for one another’s feelings. As Ponyboy describes in the book, the socs "jump greasers and throw beer blasts for kicks” on page 3, displaying how the socs are able to hurt greasers with no empathy. Ponyboy also recounts what the socs can do to a greaser; “I had seen Jhonny after four socs got ahold of him, and it wasn’t pretty.” (Pg 4). The socs need to have empathy for the greaser's wellbeing, and the greasers need to convey empathy for what the socs go through as well. Teens nowadays can reconcile with this since they have people in their lives who don’t show empathy for them, and they need to learn to have empathy for one another's feelings, so people can return the favor and give empathy to them as well. Teens today can not only relate to this, but can also relate to the concept of stereotypes. Furthermore, the teens in both “the Outsiders” and teens today create stereotypes of each

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