‘The Outsiders’ is a book by S. E. Hinton which was made published on April 24, 1967, and the setting in the book is in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This book is about a 14-year-old boy named Ponyboy Curtis and his two brothers, Soda and Darry. They are orphans who are struggling at the low class of the community. There are also two rivals who always want to fight each other due to their differences. One gang is called the ‘Greasers’, while the other gang is called ‘Socs’. The Greasers rule the poorer East side of the town, while the Socs rules the West side of the town. Due to these longstanding beliefs, people say that you have to be on one side or the other. There is no middle ground in that area to stay to be safe. The main event that happens in the book is when a greaser named Johnny kills a member of the Socs. After he kills the kid, Ponyboy and Johnny run to an abandoned church in a place called Windrixville. They were staying there for a whole week until the atmosphere cooled down in their community. There are some themes in the book which will be mentioned in this essay. The three themes that I would be speaking about are violence, isolation, and society and class.
The first theme topic I will speak about is violence. The is physical and emotional violence. Not much emotional violence was shown in the book but a lot of physical violence was shown. In my opinion, I think that violence was pretty predictable in the book. The main reason violence was predictable was because the book was about two rivals with different backgrounds. The teens and the young men used violence to show who is better. Rumbles happen between the two gangs and were only allowed to use their fists. Gang violence, child abuse, and stabbing are what cause this. “Big deal. I busted the end of my bottle and held on to the neck and tossed away my cigarette. ‘You get back into your car or you’ll get split’” (Pg. 148). In this case, Ponyboy was threatening them with a weapon to make them leave and he was serious. The main reason he was able to do what he did with the bottle and threaten them was because of what happened to Johnny. He was very mad at the Socs because they were the ones who caused all of this to happen. Another example of violence is when Darry slaps Ponyboy on his face while they were having an argument. The lack of love and affection from the Socs’ families was the main reason why they would want to take violence to the greasers.
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Isolation was also demonstrated in the book. Isolation was used in the book to show what would happen if something goes wrong and how they deal with it. They would isolate themselves from society so that they cannot be found. An example of isolation was when Ponyboy was slapped in the face by Darry and told Johnny that they were running away. “Darry wheeled around and slapped me so hard that it knocked me against the door…I turned and ran out the door and down the street as fast as I could. ‘Johnny?’, - I called and started when he rolled over and jumped almost under my feet. ‘Come on, we’re running away’” (Pg. 46).
Another example of isolation is when Johnny killed a Soc member with a switchblade because he was drowning Ponyboy. After that all happened, they went to Dally for some money and a gun and ran to Windrixville where they stayed for a whole week. They were completely isolated from society and they did that until the atmosphere of the scene cools down. There was also isolation when Dally heard that Johnny had died. He fled from the hospital and headed somewhere which wasn’t mentioned in the book. A while later, he robbed a gas station and ran back to his gang, during the process, he turned around and held a gun which wasn’t loaded and the cops opened fire at him. Johnny was also isolated but from his parents. They think that he is useless to them and they always beat him. When this usually happens, he isolates himself from them and either goes one of his gang member’s house or just goes to the park and sleep there instead.
The last theme that I will be speaking of is society and class. This is theme topic is the main one for the book. This is the reason why everything in the book happens. Unlike the Socs who came from the Westside and are rich, the greasers came from the Eastside and is a poor family. Both the Greasers and the Socs are separated by wealth, and opportunities to succeed in life. “’You know what Greasers are? White trash with long greasy hair’” (Pg. 48). The Socs thinks that they are better than the greasers because they have a higher chance of succeeding more than the Greasers. Greasers are seen as trouble-causing teenagers. Although they are not like what they seem, the greasers have good intentions. “‘Greaser…greaser…greaser…Steve singsonged. ‘Oh, victim of environment, underprivileged, rotten no-count hoods’” (Pg. 116). Because of theme, fights or ‘rumbles’ occurs once in a while because of their class in the world. The Greasers fight them back because they cannot be pushed around by the Socs and wants to show them what they can really do.
There are more themes in the book but in my opinion, I think that these three are the most important. In conclusion, violence is a major part of the book because of all the ‘rumbles’ they have from time to time. Isolation is also an important theme in the book. Isolation was used to show what they would do when they are in trouble. An example of this was with Johnny killing a Soc member. Lastly, class and society played a vital role in the book. It shows where both gangs fall under in the world. The Socs are on the Westside and are rich, while the Greasers are on the Eastside and the poor side of the world. This book is a good book to read and the author did a great job of catching the reader and making the reader continue reading.
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