The Cycle Of Violence In Hinton's The Outsiders

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The notion that retaliation is a factor in the cycle of violence is an interesting one and one I believe in. The New york Times article Bored, Broke and Armed: Clues to Chicago’s Gang Violence by John Eligon and SE Hinton's novel The Outsiders support this assertion. In the novel The Outsiders the Socs seek revenge on the Greasers, “ when the blue mustang pulled up to the park, “ Johnny shook his head.’I don’t know but, I bet they are looking for us. We picked up their girls.’” This shows that because the Greasers picked up the Socs girls they are looking for trouble. This just father proves that this cycle of violence will continue. The Soc beat up Johnny, Johnny talks to their girls, the Soc retaliate and come after him for talking to their girls. …show more content…

Johnny explains to Ponyboy, “ ‘I killed that boy’ Bob the handsome Soc was laying there in the moonlight, doubled up and still.” This supports the idea that constantly trying to seek revenge, leads to ongoing violence. When the Socs beat jhonny up in the past, he felt the need to retaliate. Because of this, johnny went back and killed Bob. Now, the Socs are going to be more mad and they will go back and get back at Johnny. Equally important in the article Bored, Broke and Armed: Clues to Chicago’s Gang Violence, research shows that gang members on the streets of Chicago, “the young men are falling into the dangerous logic of revenge. “ This shows that it is very blunt that the author is trying to say that revenge is a reason that violence is continuous. In conclusion retaliation is a factor in the cycle of

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