What Does “The Outsiders” Mean?

What does the term “outsider” mean? Does it describe someone who is different and goes above and beyond, or is it someone who watches from a distance, pushed aside by the population and forgotten. In the book, “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, this term is clearly visualized. An outsider is a person, who is not accepted by society or does not belong to a particular group. There are several examples that depict this in the book, “The Outsiders.”

The story is told by Ponyboy, the main character in the book, who is a Greaser. There are three classes of kids in the city, the wealthy “Socs,” the middle class, and the poor “Greasers.” Because of the discrimination and bullying from the “Socs,” Ponyboy writes a paper for his class assignment to help the “Socs” have an understanding of who the “Greasers” are. There has been a long rivalry of hatred, mistrust, violence and jealousy among the “Greasers” and the “Socs.”

In the beginning of the book, Ponyboy is” jumped” by a group “Socs,” when he was walking back from the movies. Jealousy towards the “Greasers” had been translated to physical violence by the “Socs.” The conflict is complicated when Ponyboy and his friend, Johnny, befriend some “Soc” girls. These girls, however, did not discriminate the “Greaser” boys. Jealousy is pronounced, when a car full of “Soc” boys witness Ponyboy and Johnny walking their “Soc” girlfriends home. They are enraged with jealousy and hatred. Both the “Greasers” and the “Socs” had fear of the unknown, which affirmed their negative perceptions of each other. This resulted from bad experiences with each other. The Greasers envied the money and the wealth of the “Socs.” Meanwhile, the Socs wished they could have the true emotional expressions and genuine friendships that the Greasers have. Because of these assets, the Greasers could fully enjoy life without having wealth.

There are examples of this even in our community. A setting in the book similar to “The Outsiders” is Milwaukee. There is the poorer section of town, known as the Central City. An example of a middle class area is the suburbs of Milwaukee. River Hills is one of the wealthier areas in the city of Milwaukee. These different groups of people have disparate lives, which can lead to jealousy and hatred. People in River Hills may be jealous of true friendships while the poor people in the inner city envy luxury.

When the common denominator is the unknown, we tend to discriminate and judge people, whether it is for better or for worse. In real life or fiction, discrimination and jealousy should be avoided...but they still occur.