“The Outsiders” follows a two week period in the life of Ponyboy Curtis, who belongs to a lower class of Oklahoma teenagers known as Greasers because to their oily long hair, and leather dressed appearance. As he walks home from a movie, Ponyboy gets attacked by a bunch of Socs, which is short for Socials. The Socs are the Greasers’ adversaries, and upper-class teens from the West Side of town. Ponyboy is surrounded by the Socs, who threaten to slice his neck and beat him. Ponyboy is saved when a bunch of Greasers arrive and scare the bullies away. Sodapop, a high-school dropout, and Darry, Ponyboy’s older sibling, are among Ponyboy’s rescuers. Johnny Cade, a sixteen-year-old; Dally, a street crook with a long criminal record; Steve, Sodapop’s best friend; and Two-Bit, the group’s oldest member, are the other Greasers that come to Ponyboy’s rescue. Throughout the story, the Greasers and Socs battle, sometimes very violently. In the end, the Greasers ultimately “defeat” the Socs, but not to the satisfaction of Ponyboy at all. He feels immense regret and guilt for a death that took place, but eventually is able to come to terms with what happened. He writes his story as a paper for his english class, which happens to be the actual story of “The Outsiders.”
There is a lot of deeper meaning in this story. Although at the most simplistic level, this story is about the ongoing feud between the Greasers and Socs, this is not exactly the message this story is trying to portray. The main point of contention between the greasers and the Socs is how they reject or adapt to the social and economic factors that keep their groups apart. The members of the groupings are stereotyped as a result of societal and economic forces, robbing them of their uniqueness and, perhaps, their humanity. Finally, the narrative looks at how greasers and Socs choose to break free from stereotypes and regain their identity. Ponyboy changes his appearance to that of a boy rather than a greaser. When Ponyboy decides to tell his narrative, he is opting to show the Socs and greasers’ uniqueness and humanity. Although there are many course themes that come to mind when I consider this story, one stick outs to me. It is Simone De Beauvoir’s theory of “othering.” This theory states that in society one group of people will always be looked at as the “other” due to a plethora of factors including but not limited to economical and societal standings. As a result of this, that group will be looked at as “less than,” which is exactly what happened in this story to the Greasers, as the Socs looked down on them since they were poorer. Identity and power can be clearly identified in this story as the story depicts an ongoing power struggle between two groups. This work also inspires a conversation about injustice, as several acts of injustice were performed in the story because one side thought they were better than and more entitled than another.
Works cited-
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/outsiders/plot-analysis/
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/14/the-outsiders-review-coppolas-brat-pack-melodrama-carries-you-away