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The Outsiders Book Report

Decent Essays

Kids are the new innovative adults of the world, kids are so creative, gold age of peoples lives as Robert Frost would describe it. But imagine if your live as child was condemned or predetermined future because of the dangers in your community. The phrase “kids will be kids” seemingly offers an idea that kids can do as the please within that time period. The saying keeps parents and authorities holding their children by their hands until their teenage to adult years where the parents and authorities start to let go. In the novel The Outsiders, the author SE Hinton creates a society where low income teenagers fight high income teenagers. Having them dispute over petty reasons, having the story told from a perspective of a teen from the low …show more content…

The age 13 is so controversial, because it's the first year of being a teenager. This then relates to the protagonist and narrator of the outsiders Ponyboy Curtis, whose is age is 14 years old. The age where he starts to get involved in a gang and experiences conflicts and violence because of his decisions he made. The Outsiders is a novel based on two groups of teenagers formed on social/income class”. With these two group of teenagers, they had a conflict for petty reasons and wanted to have the upper hand on one another. One group was named the greasers the lower income kids and the Socs short for socials the kids who had it all and were privileged from the lower income kids.Mainly the novel goes over the conflicts and tragedies that the protagonist Ponyboy had gotten into over the course of two weeks. While experiencing these events over the two weeks, Ponyboy's actions were shaped by his friends habits. “You take up for you buddies, no matter what they do. When you‘re a gang, you stick up for the members. If you don‘t stick up for them, stick together, make like brothers, it isn't a gang any more”(“Hinton”, 45). These were words of Johnny used to talk to Ponyboy from backing out of the big brawl they were about to encounter. Ponyboys tries to get on get a grasp on reality and say “It ain‘t fair! . . . It …show more content…

These were words a Chicago teenager from a low income community in Chicago's south side this is why this idea is relevant and applicable to the novel the outsiders because this is an ongoing problem especially teenagers committing crimes in these communities and getting incarcerated. Though children from these communities experience this things does not imply all kids to teens are going to live a crime involved life. These kids just have more likely of chance to get involved with crime because unlike middle and upper class kids, they do not have certain tools and items given to like the other communities. Until racial steering stops and communities with low income and middle and upper class families are integrated the war on crime will continue in these low income communities. Once Ponyboy in the novel says “Sixteen years on the streets and you can learn a lot But all the wrong things, not the things you want to learn, Sixteen years on the streets and you see a lot,But all the wrong sights, not the things you want to see.”(“Hinton”, 56). This quote is significant because it describes the lifestyle of teenagers in this situation and what makes them different from their rival gang the Socs, who are different in every aspect compared to the greasers. Another way he would describe how people looked

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