The Outsiders: Your Social Class Should Not Make You Judge Others Criss Jami once stated, “When I look at a person, I see a person-not a rank, not a class, not a title.” In The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, Ponyboy Curtis and his gang are Greaser’s, meaning they have little to no money. As the text progresses, Ponyboy is getting judged because of his social class. Ponyboy is having a hard time fitting in with the people around him. One theme evident in The Outsiders is, you should never think you are better than anyone because of your social class. In the beginning of the novel, the Soc’s think they are better than the Greaser’s because of their social class. In chapter 3 of the text, Ponyboy states, “Soc’s had so much spare time and money they jumped us and each other for kicks, had beer blasts and river-bottom parties because they did not know what else to do” …show more content…
In chapter 8 of the text, Ponyboy states, “He mostly came to rub it in about the rumble” (105). When Johnny killed Bob everyone wanted to fight Johnny. Not to mention, the Greaser’s stick together so the Soc’s wanted to settle everything in a rumble. The rumble is the warfare between different social classes. Whether they fight or not the groups will still judge each other and be in different social classes. In the latter part of the novel, the Soc’s and the Greaser’s know they shouldn’t judge but they still do. In chapter 9, Ponyboy states, “They used to be buddies, I thought, they used to be friends, and now they hate each other because one has to work for a living and the other comes from the West Side” (122). Darry and the Soc, were not friends anymore because of their social class. In addition, Soc’s let the money choose whom they hang around as well who they respect. Equally important, the Soc’s never treat anyone equally besides the other Soc’s. All in all money can really change who you hang
Ponyboy has a thought which is that the Greasers and Socials are the same. Ponyboy thinks this thought because, Johnny said “There’s still good in the world.” (S.E. Hinton 179) After Ponyboy read this, it inspired Ponyboy to write about how no matter your differences, we are still the same. “How to start the theme, how to start writing something that was important to me.” (S.E. Hinton 180) The important thing to Ponyboy was trying to show the similarities between the Socials and Greaser and try to show that there are more similarities than differences. Ponyboy started to write about his story and started to show that later in his
As Ponyboy states when he starts to understand this, “No, it wasn’t Cherry the Soc who was helping us, it was Cherry the dreamer who watched sunsets and couldn’t stand fights.” (Hinton 86). Ponyboy was previously under the impression that all Socs didn’t care about anything, and was surprised when he met Cherry, a Soc who watched the same sunset as he did. The stereotype of Socs being heartless and cruel was all he had seen and heard, so it was hard for him to understand how one could be so different. Ponyboy’s friends felt similarly, and most of them found it even harder to grasp this concept than Ponyboy had. The Greasers were used to judging the Socs as a group, and did not see them as individuals. These group stereotypes are what ultimately caused most of the biggest fights in the novel.
In the beginning of the book Ponyboy thinks that all you can do to resist the Socs is to fight them. He even knows it’s a futile attempt to change their situation, but that’s all he thinks the greasers can do as he says: “And you can't win against them no matter how hard you try, because they've got all the breaks and even whipping them isn't going to
The Socs mostly came from houses with two parents, drive fine cars, wear fashionable clothing, and even given the freedom they wanted. Instead of focusing on all the goods that the Socs had, they decided to focus on their hatred towards the Greasers. They wanted to jump the Greasers and do whatever it took to cause conflict. “You Greasers have a different set of values. You're more emotional. We're sophisticated--- cool to the point of not feeling anything. Nothing is real with us” (Hinton 33). The Greasers feel emotions, but the Socs are too cool to feel anything. Instead of the Socs taking advantage of everything they had, the Socs got editorials in the newspaper for being a public disgrace one day and a benefit to society the next day. Randy and Cherry seem to be the only ones to realize the error of the Socs ways. Cherry feels sympathy for the Greasers even after her boyfriend, Bob, was killed.
One of the main vs man conflict in the Outsiders is the rival between the greasers and the socs. The greasers are the east side boys who " steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations". The greasers, due to their family background and physical appearance, are being stereotyped as individuals who are poor and are provided with fewer opportunities than others. On the other hand, the socs, are " the west-side rich kids" who come from affluent backgrounds and" likes to jump greasers and throw beer blasts for kicks". In the eyes of the public, the Socs are the social elites whereas the greasers are considered the less privileged, second-class citizens.
The difference in social class definitely took its toll on the two of these gangs. The Soc’s and Greaser’s opinion would change from with experiences, but for the most part it was a clash for who owned the town. The Socs were the “good guys” and the Greasers were the “troublemakers” of town, although this was definitely not the case but because of the unchanging prejudice opinions were placed on both of the groups it would not change. For example, Ponyboy explained that maybe the Greasers and Socs aren’t so different after all. On page 40, Ponyboy starts to wonder how different he is from any of the Socs, “It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the
In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, embarks on a story of a young boy Greaser, his gang, the rivalry with the Socs, and how it all ended. The main theme of The Outsider was social class. Socs have wealth that helps them through life and their parents have enough money to do anything for them Greasers do not have an education, and that’s true because they don’t have enough money and the privilege to get a good education. On the other hand, Socs don’t have to worry about not having a bad education because they can afford an education. Although greasers can the opportunity to stop and smell the roses, Socs have everything in life needed, they don’t have the cherishable life they wish for. Hinton notifies, through the text, the main reason for the gang’s separation is because of their social class and expectations.
No matter where you go in the world people are divided. They can be divided by their wealth or state of living these are social classes. In the novel “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton social classes a very apparent the rich and the poor. In The Outsiders, social classes create a divide in the community. The isolation of these two groups lead to the tension and violence that is seen in the book.
The amount of money someone has, the neighborhood someone lives in, and the school someone goes to does not determine their opinions, ideas, or dreams. Pony lives in a somewhat run-down neighborhood, and he, Darry, and Sodapop don’t have much, but they and their friends still try to be happy, and enjoy life when they can. Unlike the Socs, the Greasers are a family. If one of them gets shot at, four more of them jump out to protect them. “ “It’s not just money. Part of it is, but not all. You Greasers have a different set of values. You’re more emotional. We’re sophisticated - cool to the point of not feeling anything. Nothing is real with us.” Cherry Valance is a Soc girl, but according to Pony, she isn’t exactly a Soc because she doesn’t chose to see sides like other Socs. She sees Socs as people who don’t feel. Life is good enough for them that things get repetitive and boring, which is probably part of why the Socs enjoy jumping Greasers. The Greasers, on the other hand, don’t have consistent lives. Only a few of them are in school, not all of them have jobs, and they’re always getting into just enough trouble to keep themselves alive, which is why they seem to have more emotions than the Socs. The two groups are so different, and, in retrospect, it’s all because of money. Money could solve almost all of the Greasers’ problems, like by earning them some respect, and it would mean they don’t have to work so hard to get by. When Cherry explains to Pony that Socs have troubles, just like the Greasers, he can’t imagine what kind of troubles they could possibly have, but he quickly learned. All Bob Sheldon wanted was for someone to tell him no, and when someone did it ended up costing him his life.
No matter where you go in the world, people are divided. They can be divided by their wealth or state of living these are social class. In the novel “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton social classes a very apparent the rich and the poor. In The Outsiders, social classes create a divide in the community. The isolation of these two groups leads to the tension and violence that is seen in the book.
The difference between the Greasers and Socs in the society is the Greasers treated unequally and criticized for being poor. The Socs are bullying, criticizing, and intimidating the Greasers based on the economic level. Greasers have unequal lifestyles, attitudes, and financial situations, but still live in the same world, beneath the same sun as the Socs (Hinton 18), but repeat the same actions toward the Socs in a way of fighting back and sticking together.
There are many ways humans can recognize differences amongst themselves, some of the most notable are race, religion, gender, and politics. Many people view these issues as barriers in forming relationships. However, there is another main reason for these complications that is usually overlooked, that is socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic class can put many divisions between us, this is largely seen in iconic pieces of literature, which also express many ways to overcome the issue.
Social class describes the different "layers" that exist in society. These "layers," or classes in society, are a division that civilization has been running on ever since the beginning of mankind. In most modern societies, our system of social class division is one of opportunity. We experience a good deal of social mobility, where people through generations or in their own lifetime can move up or down the social scale. By examining the many different perceptions of social class along with S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, it is illustrated that social class has an impact on people while they are growing up, and will usually deny them from rising above adversity.
Those classes are called the Greasers and the Socs. Obviously, Ponyboy is in the Greasers class. Greasers are thought of as the poor kids; they always have it rough and can never catch a break. They’re usually the ones that get into the most trouble with the law. The Socs are presumed to be the rich kids; who always have it made and live on the high side of town. Ponyboy’s self-worth comes in where he doesn’t feel like he fits in. He likes to read, observe the sunrises and look at the colors of the sky. Those characteristics don’t fit in with the typical Greaser boy, so Ponyboy doesn’t see himself as valuable to the gang as he sees everybody else because he sees every member as playing a specific role to the group, but he doesn’t understand what role he plays and if he means anything to the
In the 1965 novel, The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton had portrayed the inequality and injustice between both gangs. The social class in Oklahoma, South America, was influenced based on your background and wealth. The imbalance between the rich and poor is what seperates these gangs. Hence why the greasers had a less successful life compared to the Socs. In The Outsiders, the socs are given more of an oppurtunity considering the fact that they were brought up in a wealthier family compared to the greasers.