Stereotypes In Society In The Book 'The Outsiders' By S. E. Hinton

780 Words2 Pages

It is impossible not to judge someone without meeting them in society. This is well shown in the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, a novel about a group of boys with their own problems not including their social class being Greasers. The other class, the Socs oppose Greasers. Socs jump Greasers in their free time which then causes the Greasers to retaliate. Some personal origins are dead family members, starvation, no education, and poor households. In conclusion one theme is proven through the statement keep judgement to a minimal because you do not know the problems of others. This creates two sub themes, never succumb to stereotypes and society will wrongly, consistently generalize a group. Sometimes looks can be deceiving and everyone …show more content…

Concluding, when someone has this burden of judgment on their back it generally makes their problems have increased difficulty. One example takes effect during the preparation of the rumble when Ponyboy says that Greasers have only their rep and greasy hair. “What kind of world is it that all I have to be proud of is a reputation for being a hood and greasy hair? I don’t want to be a hood, but even if I don’t steal things and mug people and get boozed up, I’m marked lousy. Why should I be proud of it? Why should I even pretend to be proud of it?” (Hinton, 132) This proves how the stereotypes have forced Ponyboy to think that all he has to be proud of is a rep and hair. He’s not even proud of those things as well as identifying another problem Pony has. Moreover Ponyboy discusses rules with Cherry prior the rumble. During this time Ponyboy wishes Cherry would see Johnny before he dies. She wouldn’t go see Johnny. “Do you think spying for us makes up for the fact that you’re sitting there in a Corvette while my brother drops out of school to get a job? Don’t you ever try to give us handouts…” (Hinton, 129). This proves everyone has their own problems to deal with throughout life, similar to Ponyboy’s parents dying. In the end stereotypes just create a burden on people as they have their own matters to attend to. A quick debriefing though, is that everyone has their own problems and stereotypes just add to the pile. In conclusion, stereotypes created by the public lead to the incorrect judgment on people and just add to the difficulties they have when etched by society. Everyone has matters and they should not be interrupted by society’s pessimistic opinion. So tomorrow, brighten up someone’s day by minimizing

Open Document