The book The Outsiders narrates a serious conflict between two rival groups. They are from different social-economic groups. Life seems unfair to the Greasers or the working class. The upper class, or the Socs, have all that they need in life.
Ponyboy Curtis, the protagonist, has accepted he is an outsider. What can help him to cross from the poor side of the city to the rich side is education. Although the Greasers and Socs are rivals, the school brings them together. Nevertheless, the Greasers have the disadvantage of limited money. Many of them cannot enroll in college due to a lack of money.
Why do we still teach The Outsiders?
The Outsiders is considered a timeless novel that applies to any generation. It brings out the idea that people are different, yet they experience similar problems. Teenagers struggle to find their identity in life. The novel was published in 1967, and over 50 years later, societies experienced similar problems. People are judged according to social class and their physical looks. One of the important quotes in the book is, “Things are rough all over.”
This indicates that it does not matter where you are or go. By the end of it all, people end in the same problems. Ponyboy lost his parents after a road accident. He was attacked and injured by the Socs and didn’t know what to do. Young people suffer deep grief after they lose their parents.
Bullying is common in schools today, the same way it was in the 1960s. Society today is divided between income classes. In one of his quotes, Ponyboy said: “I just want to be in some place alone without the Greasers or Socs.” “I just want to be with ordinary people. Just people.” This is another evidence of the timeliness of the novel. It is relevant in every generation that comes.
The novel The Outsiders is a timeless book relevant to every generation. Over 50 years since it was published, the book is still used today in teaching. Essays are part of a student’s life and offer several benefits to them. However, writing an essay or research paper requires a lot of commitment. If you are writing about The Outsiders, you can read the free essays on The Outsiders on StudyMoose. The samples have been published to help students gain inspiration and ideas for writing.
What lessons do The Outsiders teach us?
Several lessons come out in the book The Outsiders. Although Ponyboy identified himself with the Greasers, he was the first to identify himself. Differentiating between self-identity and group identity is one of the lessons in this book.
Another lesson from the book is for young people not to shy away from showing who they are. Ponyboy was the type of student who was always quiet. He loved reading and avoided trouble a lot. A time came when he realized there was more to life beyond these traits.
Conformity is another lesson vividly displayed in this book. At some point in life, people realize they need to change their way of life. They try to start but often find themselves going back to their old way of life. Ponyboy often found himself going back to his group of teen gangsters. Although he desired to be away from the Greasers and the Socs, the need for group identity often dragged him back.
The Outsiders book is set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is narrated in first-person perspective. There have been a lot of questions by scholars about why The Outsiders is a good book. Each of the characters in the book is unique. They are all real people going through complex relationships and life changes. Teaching The Outsiders is important because the issues facing society today are similar to the issues in the 1960s. The major conflicts in the outsiders are man and society, man and self, and man and man. These same conflicts resonate in society today.
Why is education important in The Outsiders?
Hinton shows the disadvantage the lower income people have in terms of education. Many of them want to enroll in higher education, but money cannot allow them. On the other hand, the elite class in society can afford to educate their children to the highest level. Hinton shows how education can be used to break social boundaries in society.
In the end, both Greasers and Socs meet in the same educational environment. She shows society that to be wealthier does not mean to be smarter. It is true students come from different social classes. However, teachers have the power to break that and combat the fears. Schooling the outsiders is as important as schooling the elite in society.
Conclusion
In the book The Outsiders, Hinton reveals how gangs thrive based on their social class. She classifies society into two groups – the working class (Greasers) and the high class (Socs). The greasers are poorly educated due to a lack of money, but the Socs are well educated. The importance of education is emphasized in this book. It can help bridge the gap between different social classes. Being a Soc does not mean being smarter. Through education, each society member can be granted an equal opportunity.
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