Name: Quelissa Stephen Class: 8B Lexile level: _________ Title of Book: The Outsiders Author: S.E. Hinton
In the book “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, there are two rival gangs living in a small town in America. The main character, Ponyboy, struggles with survival and success while dealing with the conflict that the rivalry creates. Ponyboy is a member of the Greasers. The rival gang is called the socs. The rivalry and Ponyboy’s struggle demonstrates this theme: Social class should not determine someone’s potential. This theme is developed through characters, setting, and plot in the novel.
The theme is communicated through characters …show more content…
Us greasers get it worse than anyone else” on page 87. Which is a respond to Johnny after he decides to go back home after he killed a Soc, Bob. This shows that they are being defined by others by their social class because the expectation is that Johnny did this on purpose because the community he came from is rough and kids tend to stray from the right path and he’s in a gang rivaling the Socs. Plus the person he killed (Bob) came from the Socs and his parent are rich resulting into the possibility that he’ll get a higher charge. Also the jury is most likely to favor Bob’s family than Johnny because they are well known for being respectful and rich. This communicates the theme because Bob’s family has a higher social class while Johnny is in the lower class. Another piece of evidence to support the …show more content…
The tension that rises between the greasers and socs makes the rumble happen and the greasers dies, which is followed by the climax which is Johnny dying. Which led to the falling action which is Dally dying and Ponyboy passing out. But he still recovers from his emotional and physical trauma. These came from the conflict which is: against the background of the clash between the poor greasers and the rich Socs, the greaser Ponyboy struggles to mature. The social class problem caused problem between the two gangs. With one gang living on the rich side and the other living on the poor side but with the gap very short the gangs always rivaling it just seem like just to be safe you have to walk on the streets carrying a weapon or with a friend not to be jumped by the Socs. On page 3, it say, “Anyway, I went on walking home, thinking about the movie, and then suddenly wishing I had some company. Greasers can't walk alone too much or they'll get jumped, or someone will come by and scream "Greaser!" at them, which doesn't make you feel too hot, if you know what I mean. We get jumped by the Socs. Also the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next. Greasers are almost like hoods; we