Reoccurring Themes In Hinton's The Outsiders

A meaningful theme brings a sense of purpose to any novel, and ties all the events together in a coherent way. Many of the most appealing storylines have more than one central idea which the story revolves around. The Outsiders explores the two reoccurring themes of "bridging the gap" and "honor among the lawless" through an array of characters and emotions. The message of "bridging the gap" is relevant in this novel because, there is a seemly insuperable gap between the two social classes, the Greasers and the Socs. The Socs are the upper-class children of the West Side, the kids who were always jumping the destitute Greasers of the East Side. Consequently, these attacks led to retaliation, and before anyone could blink, one of the Socs, Bob, was killed by a young Greaser, Johnny (Hinton 56). Tragically, Johnny …show more content…
The gangs are entirely devoted to their members and are willing to put anything on the line to aid one another. This principal is proven most obviously when Johnny stood up to the Socs, who were drowning Ponyboy, and killed Bob to save his friend. Johnny knew that his act would have harsh repercussions, he could be jailed for life, but he defended his fellow Greaser nonetheless (Hinton 56). On the opposing side, Cherry Valance made the honorable decision to not go see Johnny when he was in the hospital, out of respect for Bob, her late boyfriend. She showed her devotion for him even after he was gone, showing her sense of pride for the Socs. The one character that truly embodied this theme was Dally. He was rebellious and spiteful and didn’t show much emotion except when it came to Johnny. He gave him food, supplies, and a place to stay and after he passed, Dally didn’t see any other reason to live (Hinton 154). His had been committed to a lawless life, but despite that, he still managed to remain