The Outsiders Theme

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Have you ever met someone who changed their character almost completely from an event in their life? Ever witnessed someone change in the blink of an eye, to a personality you didn’t even know existed? The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton does a great job of explaining how that feels. The main character, Ponyboy, is a greaser, a gang of guys with a bad reputation. Throughout his story, a theme is that you should get to know a person’s other side before judging them. First of all, this theme of getting to know a person’s other side is portrayed when Ponyboy asks Cherry to go see Johnny in the hospital. An example of this is in chapter 8,“ It was the least she could do. It was her boyfriend who had caused it all... and then I stopped. Her boyfriend... ‘I couldn't,’ she said in a quiet, desperate voice. "He killed Bob. Oh, maybe Bob asked for it. I know he did. But I couldn't ever look at the person who killed him. You only knew his bad side. He could be …show more content…
In chapter 12, “‘Darry yells too much and tries too hard and takes everything too serious, and Ponyboy, you don't think enough, you don't realize all Darry's giving up just to give you a chance he missed out on’”(Hinton 175-176). This quote relates to the theme because before this conversation, Ponyboy thought that Darry didn’t like him because he was always yelling at him. He now realizes that Darry wants to make sure he grows up differently from the rest of the gang. He doesn’t want Ponyboy to be stuck working two jobs like he did. He just wants Ponyboy to go to college and make something of his life.
All in all, a theme in The Outsiders is you should get to know a person’s other side or personality. Otherwise, you will judge them for things you are not entirely certain about, which would make you the bad person. Bob, Dally and Darry all had other sides. Ponyboy just had to understand them and find

The Outsiders Themes

The Outsiders is a classic book written by S. E. Hinton. Within this book are strong themes of friendship, social disparity, and identity. Nearing the end of the book, three of the main characters, the Curtis brother, end up fighting, and one, Sodapop, runs out of the house. As they are making up, some important ideas were exchanged, One of these important ideas would be the quote “We're all we've got left. We ought to be able to stick together against everything. If we don't have each other, we…

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The Outsiders Theme Analysis

The central theme of The Outsiders by S.E Hinton is despite our differences we still have things in common. The first reason I believe this is the theme is because in the text, Ponyboy, who is a greaser, and Cherry, who is a Soc, both relate to watching sunsets. “‘Just don’t forget that some of us watch the sunset too”’ (Hinton 46). This text evidence proves the theme to be even though we are different, we have some things in common because Cherry points out that some of the Socs watch sunsets too…

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The Outsiders Theme Essay

The theme for the story of The Outsiders is that friendship is temporary, brotherhood is forever. The Greasers show this because they stick with one another, protect each other, and open their homes to each other. The first way that this theme is shown is by the Greasers helping each other out. For example, when johnny was jumped, the gang saw his jacket covered in blood and rushed to help him. “He looked up and across the field with a stricken expression on his face. I think we all heard the low…

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Outsiders Theme Essay

Outsiders theme If you were to read the Outsiders, for face value it just seems like an interesting book about a young boy and a gang of “Greasers”. However, if you dug deep to try to find an central theme, you could find many and be stuck The top 3 are: society and class, loyalty, and how appearances can affect how people are treated. These are all valid themes, but only one is right. The first one I'll talk about is society and class. The main argument for this one is the gangs. The poorer people…

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Theme Of Loyalty In The Outsiders

The theme of Loyalty and Rivalry and its impact has a pivotal role throughout in The outsiders. During the novel, there are major impacts on characters from acts of Loyalty, or Rivalry. On page 106, on eText Johnny says to Pony, “I killed him.” Bob, tried to drown Ponyboy and Johnny would not let a Soc drown his best friend, so he killed him. This brought about a huge controversy between the two rival gangs. Another example in the novel when the church was burning down, Pony narrates and Johnny…

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The Reoccurring Themes Of Outsiders

all over” she is trying to reinforce the fact that not all Socs are the same and neither are all Greasers. As well as the fact that everyone is equally troubled. This statement is important because it supports the reoccurring themes that life is unfair and being an outsider is a matter of perspective. Question 2 Johnny’s last words to Ponyboy are “Stay gold Ponyboy, stay gold.” In this instance I believe “stay gold” symbolized goodness. Johnny saw…

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The Outsiders Theme Analysis

S.E.Hinton’s The Outsiders takes place in a somewhat usual town where everything seems normal, except for the kids and their issues. There are two types of social roles. There’s the Socs, who are the smart, always getting what they want kids, and the Greasers, the beat-down kids who live with each other and have sacrificed a lot just to barely get through life. Ponyboy, the main Greaser, is caught up in a lot of trouble throughout the story. He is and lives with Greasers, most of which are his brothers…

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The Theme Of Innocence In 'The Outsiders'

The innocence of a person is something they should keep for their whole life and try not to lose. A person's experience can ruin their innocence for good, but when times come, they can get it. The characters in The Outsiders show that innocence is difficult to grasp. In The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, the author uses Johnny, Dally, and Bob to show that innocence is very hard to hold on to. Jonny shows that innocence is a precious gift that a person should keep. Johnny was the youngest and most favored…

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Common Themes In S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders

city.The outsiders set in the late sixties in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The story follows the life of Ponyboy and his brothers. They belong to a gang known as the “Greasers,” who have a constant rivalry with another gang known as, “Socs.” The conflict begins when the Greasers are caught talking to the Socs’ girlfriends, a fight breaks out and trouble erupts. After the incident Ponyboy and his brother have a constant fight for survival, and a push to make things right. This novel contains themes about the…

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Violence In The Outsiders Essay

The Theme of Violence in the Outsiders The Outsiders had a visible theme of violence in it. This book was quite violent, for example, when Johnny murdered Bob the Soc. I know that Johnny murdered Bob to save Ponyboy, but it was still violent. One more example is when the greasers and Socs fought. This part was not as violent as other scenes, but I thought that this contributed to the theme of violence. Dally being killed after robbing the store was violent as well. That was a sad part in the book…

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