The Outsiders In S. E. Hilton's The Outsiders

Who are the outsiders? What do you think about when you hear the word “outsider”? Well “outsider” can really mean different things for different people, but usually the way someone feels in an area or with a group of people. S.E. Hilton published the novel “The Outsiders” in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of 17. In the novel, there are two gangs, the Greasers and the Socs. At one point both the Greasers and the Socs feel like outsiders, however the real outsider are the ones who saw past the Socs and greaser division.
In the novel the Greasers feel more like outsiders. For example, in one part of the story Ponyboy took out a switch blade in the middle of class, and the girl next to him said “They are right. You are a hood”. That maid Ponyboy feel bad because she stereotyped him as a hood, because that’s what he and the rest of the Greasers are called.
The Greasers are not the only ones that feel like outsiders however. So do some of the Socs, like the Socs girls. At one point of the story Ponyboy is talking with Cheery, one of the Socs girls. She told him “Nothing is real with us. You know, sometimes I’ll catch myself talking… and realize that I don’t mean half of what I’m saying”. That made Ponyboy realize that the Socs “Were always behind a wall of aloofness” which means they’re …show more content…
Like Ponyboy and Johnny. When Johnny and Ponyboy are talking, Ponyboy remembers what Cheery said to him before. She told him “Things are rough all over”. To him it means that no matter what they’re in a situation. Also before Randy dies, he tells Ponyboy “Stay gold” which meant stay positive and be yourself, he tells him this because Randy notices that Ponyboy sees the similarities between the gangs. Randy, Johnny, and Ponyboy all realize that fighting isn’t good and it won’t solve anything. They are the only ones who realize that the Socs and the greasers are actually pretty