The Socs V.S. The Greasers: Two Lives of Expectation A famous poet by the name of Horace once said, “Life is largely a matter of expectations.” Whether these expectations are produced within or those expressed by others, we go on living the standards of how we are supposed to; no more, no less. In the novel written by S.E. Hinton, “The Outsiders”, groups are often put in roles with specific limitations, some of which they put on themselves, while others were expectations from external sources. Moreover, in this novel conjectures played a major role in day to day situations displayed in the text. Both the Socs and the Greasers had roles with reputations to maintain; whether or not it was a good or bad reputation, they still felt the need to live up to the notions placed on them, both as individuals and as a group. In the novel, the Socs were a prominent group that had many perceived ideas from the outside world that followed them around. One external standard adopted by the Socs was that they lived perfect lives with no troubles. In the text, Ponyboy finds out that this idea wasn’t necessarily true when speaking to Cherry, a Soc. She states, “I'll bet you think the Socs have it made. The rich kids, the …show more content…
Hinton’s novel “The Outsiders”, demonstrates how having both internal and external expectations impact the way you live and how you act on a day-to-day basis. In the text, the Socs and Greasers are put into roles with specific limitations, which impacted their lives accordingly. These standards for each group come from ideas relating to maintaining reputations. This could range from being the poor kids with turbulent, misfortunate lives to the wealthy kids who got to live a life of opportunity. In summation, the Greasers and the Socs dealt with conflicts that were related to living up to the expectations placed on them by the society they lived in and what they anticipated from
Assumptions made based solely upon theses stereotypes are constant throughout The Outsiders. Ponyboy and the other Greasers assume that since the Socs are well-off financially, their problems are trivial. This helped to perpetuate stereotypes plastered onto the Socs. Since the Socs were thought of as model teens in
People should have a conversation with someone and get to know them before judging them. Ponyboy changed the way he thought of the Socs. At first he thought of the Socs as thugs who enjoy jumping Greasers. He later learned that Socs have problems that Greasers don’t know of and not all Socs hate Greasers.
In chapter one we are introduced to our narrator, Ponyboy. Ponyboy is raised by his two older brothers Darry and Soda. They’re all apart of a gang called the “greasers” which is joined by Dally, Johnny, Two-bit, and Steve. There is another group called “ socs” which stands for socials, and everyone in that group is very wealthy. One day Ponyboy got jumped by a socs group, but luckily Darry was there to help before anything too serious happened. The first element of literature is characterization. Ponyboy is a keen observer, trying to make sense of the complexities of those around him. At the beginning of the story, he stops and spends several pages giving us brief character description on Steve, Two-Bit, Dally, and Johnny. This is also known as direct characterization. He tells us that Steve is "cocky and smart" ( Hinton 9). Two-Bit can 't stop joking around and goes to school for "kicks" (Hinton 10) rather than to learn. Dallas, he says, is "tougher, colder, meaner" ( Hinton 10) than the rest of them.
After all, they are the “out” group— the clique that society condones. Ponyboy, the protagonist, also identifies himself as part of them. While reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, he felt Pip, the main character reminded him of the greasers–”the way he felt marked lousy because he wasn’t a gentleman or anything, and the way that girl kept looking down on him” (Doc B). Greasers are lookeed down opon in society becuase they aren’t rich, and the image associated with them is negative. They are believed to be a general menace to society; people think they all steal stuff for kicks, attack innocent bystanders for no reason, and are uneducated hoodlums. They are outsiders to society as a whole. Pony, no matter how smart or talented he may be, will always be treated as an outsider by the Socs just because he’s a
Have you ever thought that Greasers have a preconcieved perception of Socs. Well, if so you are basically saying that what you have heard or a certain action is true to every Greasers and every Socs. In the story, “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton a reader's perception can change. In “The Outsiders,” a group of boys that live on the same side of town are considered to be Greasers. They are called Greasers because they are connected together based on their socioeconomic life, where they live, and how they live. Greasers have such a strong brothership and connection as stated in “The Outsiders.” The Socs are a group of boys who are the rich kids that live on the West side. Socs are regarded with being spoiled by their parents. The reader's perception of these two groups may fluctuate from a negative perception to a positive perception.
Both the Socs and the Greasers deal with the struggle of being Judged by others.In the text from Outsiders it says “I am a greaser.I am a JD and a hood.I blacken the name of our fair city.I beat up people.I rob gas stations.I am a menace to society man do I have fun. This shows that Steve thinks they are getting judged for these reasons.As a result he is getting Judged because he is a hood and is a menace to society and has fun while doing those things.In the text from cool at 13, adrift at 23 it says “They are doing more extreme things to act cool, like bragging about drinking 3 six pack of beer on a Saturday nigh.”This shows that they are to extreme stuff to act cool in front of their peers. As a result they are bragging about drinking 3 six packs of beer on a Saturday night.In conclusion they are getting judged on how they act, what they are known to do and how the speak to their peers.
In 1999, Disc Jockey Doug “Greaseman” Tracht made a racist comment on air during his morning radio show. He was suspended indefinitely from WARW radio station. WARW General Manager, Sarah Taylor, released an apology for his comment. Greaseman didn’t release an apology until months later. But while looking through his past and analyzing his one and only apology, it appears it may not have been a sincere apology. It doesn’t seem he is a man who learns from his mistakes but more so a man who is trying to receive forgiveness for his job back.
Is it better to be an individual or conform to expectations just to fit in like others? This choice is faced by Ponyboy Curtis, the narrator, throughout S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. He belongs to the Greasers, a group of delinquent friends, who are viewed by many as poor and dangerous, while the rival Socs are viewed as rich, smart, and powerful causing the Greasers to envy them. Ponyboy learns from Randy Adderson, a Soc who is trapped by stereotype threat, that their lives are not as perfect as he expected it to be and they too face problems. In addition, Ponyboy tries to act tough and fit in with the rest of gang, but his Greaser companions, such as Two-Bit Matthews, teach him to embrace his own characteristics which sets him apart from
The Outsiders is a novel by S.E Hinton, that follows a young boy named Ponyboy who grows up in a gang. Johnny, Sodapop and Darry help him find how he fits into the world and without them he would have a hard time finding his own identity. Without having a close group of friends he would have a tough way of life, especially with the Socs. Being in a group that you associate with, that have different values to yourself can lead you to disregard your own ethics and do things you wouldn’t normally do, but at the same time this can assist and reinforce your own values…
According to Charon, culture is one of the social patterns in society. It arises in social interaction. It is taught in social interaction. Culture is made up of three smaller sets of patterns: (1) rules, (2) beliefs, and (3) values (Charon p. 56). For these two peer croups, the contrast in their lifestyles and culture can be attributed to the influence, involvement, and expectations of their parents. The parents of the Brothers expect that their children will do well in school, they expect them to stay out trouble, and to refrain from the use of drugs and alcohol. Thus, from their families, the Brothers take away a contradictory outlook. On the one hand, they see that hard work on the part of their parents has not gotten them very far, an implicit indictment of the openness of the opportunity structure. On the other hand, they are encouraged by these same people to have high hopes for the future (Macleod p. 167). In contrast, the Hallway Hangers’ families do not hold high aspirations, they do not expect that their children do well in school, stay out of trouble, or refrain from the use of drugs. In fact they have very little influence in their children’s lives. It is not that the parents don’t want the best for their children, they are just afraid to set them up for failure. The Hallway Hangers have seen their older siblings and other friends fail in school. As a result, they hold a firm belief that children from higher econo...
Injustice is something people struggle with in today’s society. We are living in a world where we are harshly judged for every move we make, for our opinions, for who we are, for our identity. So many individuals constantly feel lonely, insecure, and outcasted. They feel the need to hide, and struggle to embrace their differences because they’re ashamed society would place a blanket statement of judgement over their head. In the coming of age novel, The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton illustrates these scenarios and claims against injustice. The protagonist Ponyboy, a greaser, lives in a unfair neighborhood where everyone is born with a societal hierarchy of three classes: greaser, middle-class, and Socs. With his parents so longer alive, Ponyboy,
“Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten” (David Ogden Siters). The greasers struggle more than the socs. This is clear that the greasers struggle more because of the sacrifices and violence. Some people say the greasers struggle more because they don't have money to help them in life, so they don't have many opportunities. While others say that the socs struggle more because their parents expect more from them and they don’t get the re-strength they need from their parents. Because the greasers don’t have the money they can rely on when they have a problem they don’t have many opportunities because they struggle economically; the socs see them as a low class and treat them with violence.
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
In this paper I am going to write about the movie “Grease.” Specifically, on the two main characters Sandy and Danny. I will be describing and analyzing their interpersonal communication, but mainly on the conflict of their communication.
A central theme to the book is the class consciousness that is regarded so highly by many of the characters. People of an inferior class were expected to realize their inferiority and act upon it accordingly. Furthermore, upper-class occupants are privileged to hold their inferiors in disdain and even contempt. The middle-class women are especially vulnerab...