Social Status In Hinton's The Outsiders

When you first meet someone, what does their appearance tell you about their social status? Judging someone by their presentation may not be ideal, but it is the easiest form of judgement because one’s outside is much more apparent than their inside. The items of clothing that someone is dressed in can symbolize their social status. This notion is relevant in the novel, The Outsiders. In this novel, there are two social classes, the Socs and the Greasers. The Socs are the rich kids from the west side of town. The Greasers have lower incomes and reside on the east side of town. There are differences in their appearances that define their social status. The Greasers have long, greasy hair. They dress in blue jeans and T-shirts, or leave their …show more content…
He is the second youngest of the greasers and the gang’s pet. The gang are the only people who have ever shown him love and affection, but he is also the one who keeps the gang together. Johnny is described as a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers. He has always had thoughts of running away from home but his gang keeps him from doing that. Ponyboy arrived at home late one night and Darry was very upset with him. Ponyboy and Johnny wanted to run away together, but eventually decided to just cool off at the park before they went home. While they were at the park, a blue Mustang arrived. In it were five Socs, Randy, Bob and three others. These Socs had previously jumped Johnny. This time they made an attempt to drown Ponyboy because Johnny and him had previously talked to their girlfriends, Marcia and Cherry, the night of the drive in. Johnny, out of instinct stabbed and killed Bob. Afterwards, Johnny said in a scared voice “I had to. They were drowning you, Pony. They might have killed you.”(57) In a tough situation like this, the scarred and abused Johnny disappeared. He did whatever he had to in order to save the life of a member of his gang and because it was the right thing to do morally. His decision lead to a rumble between the Socs and the greasers, but it was a heroic move from the tough side of

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