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The impact of first impression
First impressions are important essay
Essay examples about the outsiders
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In the novel “The Outsiders”, the plot demonstrates the idea that first impressions can not be trusted. Society was split between two groups, the Greasers and the Socs. PonyBoy is the main character and he belongs to a gang called the Greasers, along with his brothers. They encounter the Socs a lot throughout the story and most of the time it is for negative reasons. The gangs were rivals and gave off an impression that made them seem violent and tough, but they had some good qualities too. This includes friendliness and caring for their fellow gang members. Bob, along with the rest of the Socs, kept physically hurting the Greasers. One time, he and his friends had beaten Johnny so badly that he almost died. On the contrary, Bob’s best friend and girlfriend, Randy and Cherry, felt he was a good guy. His parents spoiled him and he only wanted one thing, “‘to have somebody lay down the law, set the limits, give him something solid to stand on’” (Hinton dig 38). The Greasers would only see the side of Bob when he was drunk, the part that beats up Johnny. Cherry loved Bob because he was sweet, friendly, and because he had “...something that made …show more content…
He would get beat up a lot at home and on the streets, therefore the Socs thought he was an easy target. Johnny had a bad history with his parents. “His father was always beating him up, and his mother ignored him…” (Hinton dig 11). The Greasers then took him under their wings and he became the gang’s pet. Ponyboy describes him as “...a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers…” (Hinton 11). Both gangs were shocked when Johnny had killed Bob. He was protecting Ponyboy and himself from the Socs because Bob and the Socs were drowning Ponyboy. The Socs’ violent behavior eventually led to Bob’s death. The Socs’ first impression of Johnny being weak was inaccurate because he later showed that he could defend and protect
He is smart, and gets good grades in school. This is purposefully mentioned several times within the story, and people tend to be surprised to learn that he is a Greaser. In addition, some Greasers are nicer than people tend to think. When the church burned down, Ponyboy and Johnny run in to save the children without a second thought. They acted with selflessness, putting the safety of the children above their own. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, Ponyboy is asked if he and Johnny are "professional heroes". He responds by telling the entire story of how they're Greasers and Johnny is wanted for murder, shocking the man in the ambulance. It is difficult for him to believe that a group of Greasers would do something so heroic. Johnny dies as a direct result of their actions, but neither Ponyboy nor Johnny regretted what they
After he woke up, Darry and Sodapop went off to go to work, so Two-Bit agreed to take care of him. They went to buy Cokes “at the Tasty Freeze and rest up(114)”. As they were walking out of the store a blue Mustang pulled up. Randy and another Soc walked out of it. Randy wanted to talk to Ponyboy, so Ponyboy followed him to his car. He told Ponyboy that Bob didn’t just drunkenly jump Greasers when he was bored. Ponyboy learned that Randy didn’t like the conflict between the Socs and Greasers because “Greasers will still be Greasers and Socs will still be Socs(117)”.
The Greasers win, but when Dally and Pony go to tell Johnny that they won, he dies during their visit. Dally is destroyed by this and later he calls Pony to tell him that he robbed a store and is being chased by the cops. They hurry to meet him, and see him shot down after he pulls a gun on the police. Pony is scared by what has happened, and convinces himself that he, not Johnny, killed the Soc. He is also afraid that Social Services will take him and Soda away from Darry and into a foster home.
To save Ponyboy from the Socs, he kill the Socs Bob though he is really scared and terrified by them. He can take the consequence of killing a man because he needs to save his friend. Another example is that when the church is on fire Johnny not only saves school children but saves Ponyboy by pushing Ponyboy out of the church leaving himself in great danger of being crushed by the building’s falling timbers. He can die for his friend. So it is really sad that such a heroic character died after the church fire incident.
S.E Hinton’s realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1950’s. It’s hard for Ponyboy, the main character, to reserve his childhood innocence because he is in a gang, called the Greasers, and the Socs and the Greasers are always fighting. One lesson The Outsiders suggests is preserving childhood innocence. While some believe the strongest theme of The Outsiders is loyalty, I argue the strongest theme is preserving childhood innocence, as supported by S.E Hinton’s use of characterization, dialogue, and allegory.From the very beginning, the characterization shows how the Greasers have lost their innocence. S.E Hinton describes how Johnny looked like a “lost little dark puppy that’s been kicked around too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers,” (Hinton 11). This line shows how Johnny lost his innocence because of the way he looks
For one, we do not see much child-to-parent action in the book, but we know that the Curtis family is broken. Before the book takes place, both of Ponyboy's parents died in an auto wreck. After that, Darry took care of Ponyboy and Sodapop, but was always strict with Ponyboy. Darry did not show much love either, and was always cold-hearted and hurt people without realizing it. Johnny's parents would always fight; while his father was abusive and hit Johnny every single day he was home, his mother completely ignored Johnny unless she was yelling at him, which, according to Ponyboy, you could hear all the way to the Curtis house. Although the book does not specify, I infer that Two-Bit, Steve, and especially Dally have family problems additionally. According to another article, Two-Bit's father left his family without notice and left Two-bit to take care of his mother. Dally, I believe, particularly had past family issues. We do not hear about Dally's family at all in the book, and that might be for a specific purpose. Ponyboy says that Dally used to live in New York when he was jailed at only ten years old. Ponyboy also says that Dally is the toughest and the meanest. Before Dally was ten years old, he, most likely, was a juvenile delinquent. This might of been caused by peers, family troubles, or even past traumas. Ponyboy also says that Dally has seen much worse in New York than Johnny after he was beaten up by four Socials. Past trauma and family issues are great factors in why the Greasers are juvenile delinquents. Peer influence is unquestionably a key factor in the character's behavior. Greasers surround themselves with greasers, and socials surround themselves with socials. Almost everyone in these two groups remains juvenile delinquents, and will continue to
Greasers are expected to be bad people that are rude because of Greaser reputations. The Greasers are always being watched to see if they do anything wrong. Greasers are expected to do wrong by the the public. “On the front page of the second section was the headline: Juvenile Delinquents Turn Heroes.”(107). This shows that even though Ponyboy and Johnny saved those kids, they were expected to be Juvenile delinquents because they are Greasers, even though the only thing Johnny ever did to be a juvenile delinquent is kill Bob and that was in self defence.
Would you ever consider seeing someone in the hospital, who killed your friend? Well in this book Cherry Valance didn’t want to visit Johnny in the hospital. She thought she would agree with Johnny that Bob should’ve died. So she stayed away from the hospital. Cherry was loyal to Bob’s death because they were good friends and he had been mean, but he was disloyal to the greasers. Johnny was loyal to ponyboy because the Socs were going to drown ponyboy so Johnny killed Bob who was trying to drown him.
...t like the rest of the Greasers he wouldn’t kill or nothing no matter what. They could of said Johnny not no killer but don’t push him because he will go off but instead they made it seem like he was a kid that lived in a household that didn’t care about him and that he was a punk and never stood up for himself.
he looks out for his young peers through it all and he doesn’t care if he goes down. “Get that sweat shirt off...Dry off and wait here...Take care kid.” (Hinton 60)All the way to the end of the story, the events that happen show how there’s an ongoing love and dependence between all the Greasers in the gang. The Socs act the way they act towards the Greasers because they view them as disgusting low-life civilians. Though through it all the gang was there for each other and that is sign of brotherly love. “Don’t you know a rumble
..., even by Ponyboy, who is the youngest of the group and two years younger than Johnny. Dally, the toughest and the meanest guy in The Greasers, is Johnny’s idol and seeing how he acts in situations probably influenced Johnny’s choice of action. Watching these bigger guys close in on him and Ponyboy being drowned, he was probably thinking, ‘what would Dally do what would Dally do?’ So he did what he thought Dally would do he pulled out the knife and stabbed Bob Sheldon so he would have extra hands helping him to fight off the rest of the guys, but that did not happen because they ran off in fear of Johnny.
In The Outsiders it is given that through faith and devotion to one another Ponyboy and the gang use their close friendship in troublesome situations for instance when Johnny tells Ponyboy “i had to” he does this as an act of loyalty to Ponyboy to show him that he can trust him no matter what situation they are in. Most of the story is told from first person or Ponies perspective which shows us without exception every aspect of the story. When Johnny dies at the end of the book Ponyboy only then realizes the importance of him, and the gangs need for someone like Johnny to give them a sense of purpose after mentioning “we couldn't get along without him . We needed Johnny as much as he needed the gang.” Throughout all of Ponyboys hardships Johnny was always there to support him even when Ponyboy wanted to run away after darry slapped him, he never asked any questions.
...nny passed away a piece of each Greasers heart passed away as well. Ponyboy who usually aced his classes was lucky to get a C on assignments after Johnny deceased. He dazed off during classes and thought about the gang, mainly Johnny. While Dallas completely lost his mind when Johnny died. Dallas robbed a store to make sure the police followed him. He had made the bold decision to pull out his unloaded gun when he was surrounded by police officers. Dally new that once he pulled out his gun, his life was going to end. Dally had no reasons to stay alive since the only person he actually cared about passed away. Johnny spiritually gave Dally the courage and determination he needed to get through everyday when he was still alive. In other words, the loss and grief their group of Greasers underwent was what made all the boys make illogical decisions.
Identity is a substantial component of a person, it’s something that determines who they are and help establish themselves with people who you find enjoyable and shares similar interests. It could bring people together, and provide a sense of belonging and unity. However, there are times where these people who are within certain cliques are perceived more negatively or believe that all people within that group perpetually have a certain set of traits. In most cases, these negative perceptions lead to discrimination and conflict, and obscures the positive and more genuine traits of an individual. In S.E. Hinton’s book, The Outsiders, there is a group of poor and lower-middle class teens who are labeled as greasers. This group of wild teenagers
The Outsiders is about the life of a 14-year-old boy. The book tells the story of Ponyboy “Curtis” and his struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes that he is an outsider. Ponyboy and his two brothers, Darrel (Darry), who is 20, and Sodapop, who is 16, have recently lost their parents in an automobile accident. Pony and Soda are allowed to stay under Darry's guardianship as long as they all behave themselves. The boys are greasers, a class term that refers to the young men on the East Side, the poor side of town. The greasers' rivals are the Socs, short for Socials, who are the "West-side rich kids."