In her novel, The Outsiders, the author S.E. Hinton wrote about how two rival gangs, the Socs and the greasers, were faced with stereotypes from society. Some characters were vulnerable to stereotype threats, because they allowed stereotypes to affect their decisions, which allowed the threats to become true. Other characters did not allow the assumptions to influence them and their judgement, and this allowed the choices they made to not be influenced by stereotypes.
First, the choices each greaser made affected their next choices and options. Although they all end up in the same place, with greasers typecasted as violent, dangerous hoodlums, they chose their own paths with different motives. A quote from Ponyboy supports this, when he says, “Maybe people look younger when they are asleep.”(Hinton 104) This displayed how the greasers’ separate choices affected them, and how it was so much easier to be sleeping instead of facing all the trouble they created through their decisions. These choices were all made under different circumstances, but under the same pressure from society. The short story “On the Sidewalk Bleeding” by Evan Hunter also supports the idea of choices, like the ones Ponyboy and his gang faced. Freddie made the choice to not help Andy, a member of the…show more content… However, some characters, such as Ponyboy, were immune to speculations by their community. Although he was hurt, he stayed true to himself and his character by never resorting to violence or succumbing to the stereotype of a hoodlum. Ponyboy followed Johnny’s request to “stay gold”, after Johnny learned his lesson by growing up too fast, prompted by society and their
