Violence In The Outsiders

The Outsiders is a novel created by S.E. Hinton in 1967, which follows the lives of Greasers and Socs, two different social classes. The Greasers were generally the economically disadvantaged youngsters of Tulsa, Oklahoma and were known for their long hair, leather jackets and rebellious attitudes, while the Socs were the wealthy teenagers, privileged with “money, cars and futures”. This thought-provoking novel specifically focuses on a teenager, Ponyboy Curtis and his experiences with his gang members. The book was written by Hinton in an attempt to showcase that Greasers deserved respect, despite their economic and social status. She also wanted to display that Socs face challenges quite frequently even though they have an easier life. There

During the drive-in movies, Dally attempted to speak to Marcia and Cherry, who were two Socs. He started harassing them to make an impression of a “bad boy”. This drove Johnny into defending the girls. Dally was surprised as “you just didn’t tell Dally Winston what to do”, but it caught Marcia and Cherry’s attention. Soon after, their boyfriends found out that the two Greasers, Johnny and Ponyboy “picked up their girls”, even though they were just friends. The group of Socs started to violently drown Ponyboy in the fountain and attack Johnny. In order to save Ponyboy, Johnny grabbed the knife he carried for self-defence and stabbed Bob, the most respected Soc. This violent scene shows that there are outcomes to violence and in this situation the consequence was Johnny and Ponyboy had to run away for some time and alter their identity. Another example of violence being portrayed in the novel is during the rumble. It was a brutal event with no specified rules that would prove which social class is more powerful through gang violence. In this situation, the Socs were fueled with anger due to Bob’s death and the Greasers were determined to “get even with the Socs. For Johnny” and we're later crowned victorious in the ramble. S.E. Hinton has effectively showcased multiple themes in The Outsiders with violence being a central

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. An example of this is Johnny. Both his parents are physically and verbally abusive, which is why Johnny refuses to see his mother when she comes and visits him in the hospital. Because of this, he considers his gang family. Even the Greasers that were not too close to each other would be found on their couch in the morning. Young protagonist, Ponyboy Curtis is supported by his gang of Greasers no matter what he is facing. Overall, S.E. Hinton has effectively portrayed violence and friendship in The