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Many of you could probably see by now that the Outsiders widely revolves around a main theme, Stereotypes. Stereotypes is a main issue and theme in the book The Outsiders. It’s mainly between two groups of people, The Socs and The Greasers. The Socs are known as rich, clean, petty, never getting into trouble, and problem free. For the Greasers however they are known to be rude, poor, always fighting, always getting into trouble, and dirty/unclean. If you look more deeply into the lives of the Greasers and Socs and their personalities and life issues you can see that they do not fit these strict stereotypes placed upon them.

Most of the Greasers and Socs are way different from the stereotypes that define who they are to outsiders. In the book there are many situations where both sides join in with the stereotype idea. In one situation Ponyboy says “It ain’t fair that we have all the rough breaks!” To Cherry, Macica, Two-Bit, and Johnny. Pony is talking about how he believes that the Greasers are the only one who gets the “rough breaks” or bad times. He doesn't see that the Socs have bad days and bad times too. Throughout chapter 2 you can see Cherry lightly explaining to PonyBoy about the Socs but it isn’t gone too deeply into until later in the book with Randy. This shows that stereotypes deeply effect both the stereotyped and the stereotypers for the stereotypers are made to believe that they are having a worse time or better time than they should comparing themselves to the stereotyped.

Stereotypes are everywhere and we subconsciously think about them and generalize a large group of people by say their gender or race. In a video explaining stereotypes (The link will be at the bottom of the page) they talk about stereotypes about 2 main groups, racial groups and gender groups. It talks about how we stereotypes all blacks to be fast and dance well and all Asians to be super smart. It takes those stereotypes and uses them against the other race like with people saying blacks can dance they say whites can’t dance. There is also another part to stereotyping and it comes after the main stereotype is down and it is called being biased. Being biased is when you chose or “like” a certain group because of what they are stereotyped to be. An example of being biased is if you hire an Asian American over a White American because you believe that Asians are smarter, that is being biased towards Asian. It happens in every day life too between multiple groups, including men and woman. In the outsiders stereotypes is a big theme between the Socs and the Greasers. Like I said before the Socs were known to be rich, petty, and have carefree lives while the Greasers were known to be poor and rude. The book shows you that is not how it is at all.

Stereotypes are problems in the Outsiders and in daily life, you can see them every day and not just in a book or a movie. Stereotyping is a serious problem since is leads to biases and generalization. Do you think that being stereotypical and biased is bad, or do you think it is good/easier to generalize a group of people without thinking much?

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1-aSIUP4wM

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Reading​ The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, I was still thinking about the theme. That’s when I realized that one of the biggest themes is loss and​ abandonment. The connection between the book ​The Outsiders​ By, S.E Hinton, and modern life today, is how many people lose and feel abandoned in ​their teens.
How child abandonment affects young children and teens throughout the outsiders and modern day life
.The thesis in the Book The outsiders and modern life society
have a lot in common. ​For example,​ Dall​y​ is very afraid to lose Johnny. “Dally swallowed and reached over to push Johnny’s hair back” Ponyboy says to himself​ “Oh dammit Johnny don't die, please, don't die” -Dally 149
This quote​ connects to the theme because Dallas is afraid of losing Johnny, ​leaving him abandoned.
Another way that to modern life today is Another loss ​that happens in the book​, i​ s ​Ponyboy losing his parents. “abandonment affects everyone, specially kids and teens.” HHS Public Access says, ​in an​ article by Erin N. Schoenfelder, Irwin N. Sandler, Sharelene Wolchik, and David ManKinnon. The name of the ​article​ is Quality of Social Relationships and the Development of Depression in Parentally-Bereaved Youth
The link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PM C2941702/
This text shows that loss at a young age is not good from you and can lead to multiple mental illnesses. ​For example, when​ ponyboy was trying to convince himself that Johnny wasn’t dead. This connects to the theme because one of the themes of the outsiders is Loss, and this article is about ​how loss can affect a person​. That is another example of why I think that the outsiders relates to the modern life society.
In the end, that is how I think that The Outsiders relates to modern life. At the beginning of the story Ponyboy was a sweet, innocent kid. But by the end of the story, he became “tuff” . I think that was a big mistake becoming tuff

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Characters in the Outsiders struggle with financial
inequality in Many of the same ways that people across America do today. In The Outsiders, the Greasers have a strong rivalry with the Socs for many reasons. One of those reasons is that each group comes from a different economic background. The Greasers come from lower class homes, and the Socs come from a higher social class (this is why they were called Socs). In a lot of ways the Greasers acted like a family to each other.
The Outsiders
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The Greaser’s clothing and hairstyles make them stand out. They get into fights and get bullied by the socs because of their social status. Both sides looked down on the others. The Greasers believed that the Socs were greedy and selfish, which made it difficult for the two sides to socialise. Even today, coming from a different social status or background can make it hard to make new friends.
A Second connection between the Outsiders and life today are the health care resources available to certain people throughout the world. In the Outsiders, Johnny couldn’t get the health care he needed when he was caught in the church fire because his family did not have the money to pay
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for it. His friends, who were mostly responsible for taking care of him, did not have the money either. Today, even with Covid-19, healthcare is extremely expensive, so many people can’t afford the care they need. It seems like in both The Outsiders and in the current time period, affordable health care is only available to people of a certain status.
Financial inequality sets up the relationships between characters in the same way that it does for many people across America today. Even all of these years later reading novels like The Outsiders can help us develop a better understanding of the world we live in today.

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In the book the Outsiders by S.E Hinton there are many different stereotypes and many connections that can be made with other books or movies. You can also make a connection with something that is happening now, or something that happened in history. I made a connection with the movie The Blind Side directed by John Lee Hancock. This movie also has many stereotypes throughout the movie. between the outsiders and the blind side there are many connections about money differences and what they change and the opportunities they make. The point I will be making is that in the book the outsiders the socs have life easier because they were born with money. But the greasers were born with a hard life because they were born with nothing, some without family. And in the Blind Side the rich side and poor side of towns were a lot different but were separated by a few minutes of driving. Without the stereotypes and the conflict in the Outsiders there would not be as many conflicts and connections. But with all of these examples there are many things we can write about. For example, When ponyboy and Cherry were at the movies they were talking about their differences and what matters to them. Ponyboy than said, “Maybe the two worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.” (Pg 40-41 Hinton) It connects to my thesis statement because it is saying that even though our lives are totally different and we live in two different societies, it doesn’t change who you are and how you are and it shouldn’t change anyone else’s perspective of you. That quote proves my first sentence and thesis statement. But the second source proves my point even more. My second source was The Blind Side and it has many connections and stereotypes just like the Outsiders. In the movie the Blind Side directed by John Lee Hancock there is a young boy who was growing up in a poor town. He was living with his mom and brother. When he was 13 he was split up from his mom and brother. He was living in high school gym closets until he was in high school. He then got picked up by a rich family living in a rich part of town. The town they were living in was the same town he grew up in but yet a lot different. He was given a lot more opportunities like going to school and playing sports. He later on made it into Ole Miss for Football. Following college he made it into the NFL. The evidence from the second source is that there are two parts of town and one is poor and one is rich. The people from the rich town never go into the poor place because it was considered “dangerous”. Just like in the Outsiders there is a poor and rich side of town that are divided by their money. The socs have tons of privileges like the people in the rich town and the greasers don’t have opportunities and privileges like the poor side of town in the Blind Side. My point is that money divides both towns and separates their relationships with each other. That is how they connect. In conclusion, both stereotypes and connections connect this book and movie because of the stereotypes and connections between the book and movie. This problem of dividing relationships because of people's money amounts is still a problem today. The privileged rich people get to watch everyone struggle, but they don’t know how it feels, and they never will.

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After reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, I was still  thinking about stereotypes, I was still thinking about stereotypes because it still happens today and this book is over 20 years old. The theme stereotypes can be connected to so many things in the book, the outsiders for example.

The first example of stereotypes in the book The Outsiders  is, when cherry was at the movies and dally would not leave her alone, when dally finally left her alone she said to ponyboy and Johnny, ”Are you going to start it on us?” Pg 22 when ponyboy said no she cherry started asking him more questions and learning about his life she realized that he was a completely different person than she thought.

The first example of stereotypes in the book The Outsiders  is, When dally finally left cherry and Marcia alone at the movies pony tried to talk to cherry and at first before talking to him she assumed that he was like dally. Cherry said ”Are you going to start it on us?” Pg 22 when ponyboy said no she cherry started asking him more questions and learning about his life she realized that he was a completely different person than she thought.

A lot of people in the town thought that ponyboy and Johnny were terrible people when they killed a soc when they didn’t know the backstory. Then when they saved the kids from the church everyone considered them “heroes” but it was always in them and people just don’t know because they assume bad about them.

This happened with multiple greasers throughout the story and it happened to ponyboy more then once. Some other examples were darry ponyboys older brother dropped out and everybody assumed that he was bad and dumb but when people talked to him they saw the reasons and why he did it.

A second example of stereotypes in the book The Outsiders is the stereotype that all the greaser boys have to be tuff and like fights..etc but when ponyboy likes sunsets, books, and movies he thinks of that as a bad thing, something to be ashamed of. Cherry asked ponyboy on page 40 “you read a lot ponyboy.” I bet you watch sunsets too.” After these two questions ponyboy felt awkward and embarrassed because he does in fact like those types of things.

The thing that stuck me is anytime anyone saw the greasers they thought that they were up to something bad. Something also stuck with me is that the greasers were considered bad so the socs were always the ones starting the fights. The big theme I was wondering about was why was everything related to if they had a “perfect life” like a greaser like ponyboy did not have anything close to the perfect life and people always assumed he was bad until they talked to him and realized he's a good human being.

In conclusion stereotypes are everywhere whether we like it or not we have to fight against them and not some things about people because of how they look. Before assuming something about someone get to know them.

Some links connected to stereotypes are

● Rick Reilly: Gainesville State high school football gets the best gift of all: hope

● America's Enduring Caste System

● Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story | TED Talk

● Why Do You Think Stereotypes Are True? | Decoded | MTV News

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The Outsiders shares a bunch of similarities with the real world. One big similarity is stereotypes. There are many themes in the book that share with the world, but I think that stereotypes are the most important because they show how people view the world and other people.

The Outsiders have a bunch of stereotypes within the book. This is one of them “Greasers are poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we’re wilder, too. Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while.”-Page 3. This is one of the few very common stereotypes. The stereotype is talking about if you’re not rich, you’re poor. And if you’re poor, you have to steal things to survive. It's saying that if you’re poor, you are a bad person because all you do is steal. This happens a lot in the world too. A lot of people think that if you’re poor and can’t buy a house or afford daily supplies, you have to steal to get what you need.

In this video by MTV Impact, it talks about stereotypes. It says that stereotypes are putting people into 1 group, and putting the others into another group. It also talks about how stereotypes are cognitive shortcuts. Your brain wants to make an immediate judgement about somebody based on their gender, race, or age. This relates to The Outsiders because the greasers are stereotyped to be bad people. That they steal things and just do bad stuff.

Those are some of the many reasons why The Outsiders and the world share stereotypical similarities. The amount of stereotypes in this book that relate to the world are astonishing. Hopefully you now understand stereotypes in this book.

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After reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, it made me think about all of the things and issues that it connects to in our modern day world. One of those issues that it talks about in the book is police violence. I’m sure that many people have heard the story of George Floyd and how he was murdered by a police officer. George Floyd was unarmed and minding his own business when the police approached him and began to place his knee on George Floyd’s neck. He then stayed there until George became unconscious and ever naturally died. Although Dally did have a gun, many of the events that happened are very similar, Dally’s gun wasn’t loaded and he made no intentions to use it except for holding it up in the air. In articles about what have happened with police violence throughout this year and last year is demonstrates the same events that happened over 50 years ago when The Outsiders was written. This has been going on throughout history and something needs to change so that innocent lives aren’t being taken.

One thing that I noticed throughout the book is that even though The Outsiders was written over 50 years ago, many ideas from the hook still occur in our modern day world. There are very few times, if any, that the police are nice to the greasers. One example of this is when Dally was running around in the field with police approaching him when the rest of the gang shows up to find him running around with an unloaded gun in his hands the author writes, “He was jerked half around by the impact of the bullets.” ( Hinton 154). This is very similar to what has been happening with police violence now because in both of these situations, the police could have just noticed their surroundings and could have saved a life. For example, in the story, if they had just waited they would have found out that it wasn’t loaded but instead they didn’t give Dally a chance and just started shooting at him until they were sure that he had died which is very similar to what happened in recent cases.

There are many articles that can represent the similarities from the past and the present and in this article about George Floyd, it talks about he had no freedom and wasn’t given a chance even though he hadn’t done anything wrong which connects to the outsiders in multiple ways. This article is called George Floyd killed in police custody and it was written by By Evan Hill, Ainara Tiefenthäler, Christiaan Triebert, Drew Jordan, Haley Willis and Robin Stein It mentions that not only George Floyd, but many of the people around him were screaming for help and saying stop. It also mentions that the police officer kept putting his knee on George Floyd’s neck even after he became unconscious.This connects to the outsiders because just like how the officer kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck even after he became unconscious, the police who shot Dally kept shooting him even after Dally fell to the ground.

In conclusion, I believe that even though our world has gotten much nicer in the past years, there are still many things that need to be fixed about it. Now that I have read the book it puts life into a different perspective that maybe people haven’t seen before and i think it is important to not see life from a single story.

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lose can impact people’s lives in a huge way The Outsiders is about a group of boys who are close enough to be family, each of the characters has been through hard and life changing things. lose has affected most of the characters from the outsiders “I don’t know. It’s just . . . I can’t stand to hear y’all fight. Sometimes . . . I just have to get out or . . . it’s like I’m the middleman in a tug o’ war and I’m being split in half. You dig?”  Page 175 this quote connects to the theme because we finally get to see what Soda is really feeling and he breaks. Most characters like Soda act like they are ok but really they are very hurt even if they don’t show it. Soda shows how much the fighting that his brothers get into have effected him. in the Ted Tock ‘we don’t “move on” from grief’ the woman states some people may deal with pain differently to others. Pain and loss take place multiple times throughout the book and we get to see how reactions vary from other reactions. Lose can affect people in many different ways and people cope with loss in many ways. Some people may take longer to move on but we all cope however we need to. in the Ted talk “We don’t ‘move on’ from grief. We move forward.” By Nora Mclnerny, she discusses all people go through pain all people move on in there own way and it may take time and you might not come out the same person you were. in the second text it shows how some people have dealt with grief diffrently, and at different parts of the book we get to see different reations to death and other difficult moments The theme of this text was that when you lose somebody, you might not handle it the way other people do and it’s okay. one of the ways that people may change from this experience is that losing their loved ones made them “grow up in a minute” another way “they would spill their hearts out to anyone they could” and that person alsocould say “they would try to distract themselves.” This shows how all the brothers reacted to death of their parents death changes people in different ways, some are different from others, but no matter how long it takes, so day it will get better and the pain won’t last forever and you will find people who you can confide in. You will never truly get over loss but you will grow.

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Some people say stereotypes are gone. Others say they still exist. In S.E. Hinton’s book, The Outsiders, lots of stereotypes and assumptions are made about the different social classes, the Socs and the Greasers. The Socs are thought of as the rich kids who have a perfect life. The Greasers are thought of as poor and thieves. This is just like how people make assumptions because of others' appearances. Even though stereotypes have changed throughout the years they have not gone away.

People have one vision about one group of people. When Ponyboy is in the ambulance, S. E. Hinton writes, “‘Send from heaven?’ Had he gotten a good look at Dallas? ‘No, we’re greasers,’ I said. I was too worried and scared to appreciate the fact that he was trying to be funny. ‘You’re what?’ ‘Greasers. You know, like hoods, JD’s. Johnny is wanted for murder, and Dallas has a record with the fuzz a mile long.’ ‘Are you kidding me?’ (95). This shows that Jerry, the ambulance driver, was very surprised when he heard that the Greasers had saved the kids. He never thought that they could be heroes. He had a single story of Greasers.

Many people have a single story. According to  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie she has encountered many single stories. Single stories can affect many people. In the Ted Talk, The Danger of a Single Story, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shares her encounters with stereotypes. She is a colored woman who lives in America. She moved to America to go to a university. Lots of people stereotyped her because she is from Nigeria. In her Ted Talk, she stated, “‘What struck me was this: She had felt sorry for me even before she saw me. Her default position toward me, as an African, was a kind of patronizing, well-meaning pity.’” The Outsiders takes place in the 1960s, this Ted Talk was filmed in 2009. In this 49 year difference, stereotypes and assumptions have differed. Chimamanda says that people she has met thought she could not do certain things because of what she looked like. Just like how people think the Greasers are incapable of being smart.

The single stories someone has doesn’t just affect the group of people, it affects many others. Chimamanda states that she did not identify as an African before she moved to America because she didn’t think she had to. The Socs and Greasers identify only as Socs and Greasers because of their social-class. They think they are very different because of how much money they have, just like how people who see Chimamanda think she is very different because of her skin color and heritage. Many people think they know everything about you by a single glance. Do you worry about assumptions? Or preconceived notions?

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Self sacrifice is something that people don’t like talking about. Thought of giving up your life to save others doesn’t come to mind often. Many people don’t think about it because they don’t need to. I noticed that self-sacrifice pops up more and more often nowadays. It is very important that many people have the quality to sacrifice themselves in this pandemic. They are the people who are saving the lives of the infected patient and are keeping the economy up. I would like to talk about how self sacrifice is shown through the book  The Outsiders written by S.E.Hinton and how it compares to our lives now.

The novel exhibits many themes such as friendship, courage and loyalty. A lot of people might see greases as criminals but they live by a specific and honorable code of friendship. Dally who seems like he doesn’t; have feelings shows great loyalty to his friends. When Two-Bit broke the window at school Dally “just took the sentence without baitin an eye or even denyin’ it.” page 76. Johnny considered that as a gallant act of him.  On the night of Bob’s killing Dally helps Pony and Johnny get away from town. He even gives them a gun (illegally) knowing that if they get caught he would pay the price.  Darry, “had been a real popular guy in school; he was captain of the football team and he had been voted Boy of the Year.”  Darry declined a full time athletic scholarship to a college just to take care of his younger brothers when their parents died. Pony thought “Darry didn't deserve to work like an old man when he was only twenty.”page 16. In the church fire Pony, Johnny and Dally all played a big role in saving the kids. They all were willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. They’re act was called heroic. When Ponyboy tells Randy that he would “have saved them the same as we did,” (page 117) it shows that Pony thinks that his act was a human thing to do and he doesn’t consider himself a hero.

Life in 2020 was harsh. The virus caused many ill and sadly many have died. I can infer that everyone in the world wants this pandemic to end but unfortunately you can't wake up and life to be perfect. That is why many doctors and nurses go out to do their job everyday knowing that they themselves may get infected. Sacrifice and risk in the time of COVID-19 by Julia Simons and Jenny Vaughan. Many of these workers choose to not see their families for months because they don’t want to possibly infect their relatives. Not only should we be thankful for the doctor but for all the people we do not get to notice.Truck drivers, grocery store workers and more unsung heroes of the coronavirus pandemic by CHRISTINA CAPATIDES  People such as vaccine developers and major distributors. How about all the electric companies? Hospitals don’t just get electricity out of thin air. Even software developers are having a hard time because many people are working online and they need to sustain the platform. Lastly our very own teachers go to school everyday, meet large amounts of students and are willing to educate us for our good.We all need to be thankful for those who work hard during this time.

In conclusion, I would like to again say that the time I read this book it really corresponded with the present day. Self sacrifice is something special. Something that everyone has. Like Ponyboy and Johnny were willing to give up their lives, so are the people around you. We all need to show appreciation for those who care for us because life isn’t easy right now.

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After I read The Outsider by S.E. Hinton. I was still thinking about socioeconomics, segregation. this is the topic I think it is important.

In The Outsiders the segregation is between the Greaser and Socs, Greaser is poor and the Socs are very rich so Greaser has a very worth place than Socs have. To  support my idea I found this quote “Can you see the sunset real good from the West side?” (page. 129) This happened when Ponyboy was talking to Cherry and that was the same day of the street fight. In addition the quote shows they do not live in the same place, Socs are very rich so they must have a nice house to live in, the place where Socs live is a very bustling place. Another quote is the  “ I'm not sure how you spell it, but it's the abbreviation for the Socials, the jet set, the West-side rich kids. It's like the term "greaser," which is used to class all us boys on the East Side.” This also supports my topic and it is said by the narrator, and on page 2,3. This quote said very clearly, that Socs is in the west, Greaser in the east, they have spread with each other. Furthermore this is also a stereotype, they think greasers are poor, bad and mean, but not all of them are all bad or mean, someone are kind and friendly.

There are some that are very similar to the Outsider.

The article that name is How Has Boston Gotten Away with Being Segregated for So Long? And this is a very good article to make connections to the Outsider. This article talks about the story of people that have experienced or have seen. How Has Boston Gotten Away with Being Segregated for So Long?. The thing that article has talked about is the Homeownership  “from a 2015 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston report showing that the average white household’s wealth in Greater Boston is $247,500 and the average Black household’s wealth is $8.” because they are very poor so that is the reason most black people can not live with white people, in other words live in a good place. Another point is “Amid the clauses about matters such as how far back from the road the houses had to be set was a stipulation that they could not be sold to a “Negro or native of Ireland.'' ' This is also the reason that different races can not live with white people in the past. You can not buy the house, even if you have enough money. So they only can live in areas that have no perfect education, have not complete buildings and are far away from the city. Do you want to live there?

Either in the book or past there are many bad things going on with different races of people and poor people.

The segregation is not good for the community and this can make economic inequality, and I am not saying that black people are not working hard. I am saying that give them a good job, stop segregation and don't racially discriminate, so they can have a good job, house and education.

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What is a stereotype? How does it affect people? A stereotype is a belief about a specific group of people or class of people. Stereotypes can affect people in many ways, in good ways, and in bad ways. Stereotypes happen all throughout the outsiders. Stereotypes are happening now in life due to this COVID-19 pandemic and racial Stereotypes. I will talk about how stereotypes today can relate to stereotypes in the outsiders and how it may affect people.

In the outsiders there are some examples on how the characters make stereotypes but the result turns out different than they expected. when a ponyboy meets this girl at the movie theater he thinks she is going to laugh at him or be mean to him. ” the girl looked at me. I was half scared of her. I’m half scared of all the nice girls, especially socs, are you going to start in on us?” PG#22. This quote can connect to the theme of stereotyping because ponyboy assumes that the socs will start in on them because from past times that is what the socs have done to him. But really the girl introduces herself and the ponyboy didn’t expect it.

These stereotypes from the outsiders can relate to modern day life. One example is stereotypes, by dr. Saul McLeod is an article about stereotypes and the different types of stereotypes. In this text dr. Saul McLeod says that an advantage of stereotypes is that it makes us respond rapidly to situations because we may have had a similar experience before. In this text it also says that one disadvantage is that it makes us ignore differences between others. There are also different kinds of stereotypes which include racial stereotypes. The purpose of stereotypes is that we use it to simplify our social world in life. This text connects to the theme of stereotypes because it is explaining stereotypes and the different kinds of stereotypes. This can also relate to this theme of stereotypes because it talks about the advantages and disadvantages.

In conclusion stereotypes from the outsiders can connect to modern day stereotypes because they are the same thing and stereotypes happen in the same way. Stereotypes always have an affect on people and people react a certain way. This is why stereotypes can be good or bad. now I want you to ask yourself what do you think about Stereotypes?

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After reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, I was still thinking about self-identity. As a teenage boy, the subject of self-identity is relevant to me as well as the main character in this book.
Self-identity is an important theme in The Outsiders. It is generally defined as the unique circumstances an individual is born into (personal) and surrounded by (social group). Personal and social self-identity can sometimes conflict creating challenges for the individual.

In The Outsiders, the concept of self-identity includes socioeconomic status and educational opportunity. The theme of self-identity in The Outsiders is highlighted in the text in Chapter 12, line 171, when Two-Bit says, “Ponyboy, listen, don’t get tough. You’re not like the rest of us and don’t try to be…” This links to Ponyboy’s conflict of self-identity as an individual versus a social group (the greasers). By acting tough and threatening to fight the Socs if they didn’t leave, Ponyboy was identifying with the greasers although Two-Bit was concerned that he wasn’t being true to himself. In Chapter 12, on page 173, the theme of self-identity in terms of socioeconomic status (the struggle between prioritizing being good at school versus having to get a job) is highlighted when Darry tells Ponyboy, “Listen, with your brains and grades you could get a scholarship, and we could put you through college. But schoolwork’s not the point,” after they discussed Soda (who was very intelligent) dropping out of school to get a job to support them. These parts of the text show that personal and social self-identity can sometimes be at odds with one another and closely linked to socioeconomic status and educational opportunities. Reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton reminded me of the same theme of self-identity in another book I enjoyed reading called It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime.

Although the concept of self-identity in the form of race is not represented in The Outsiders, the concept of self-identity in the form of socioeconomic groups directly connects to the theme in Trevor Noah: Born a Crime. In The Outsiders, the two socioeconomic groups were the poorer greasers and the more wealthy Socs. In Born a Crime, the two socio-economic groups are the poorer black South Africans and the more wealthy white Europeans. Trevor Noah, the writer of Born A crime; the son of a black mother and a white father, grew up in South Africa during the apartheid. In this book, Trevor Noah highlights his deeply personal struggles with race and the impact it had on socioeconomic and educational opportunities. Chapter 2, page 28: ”Where most children are proof of their parent’s love, I was the proof of their criminality.” Earlier in the chapter, on page 21, Trevor Noah stated that his parents committed the “crime” of having inter-racial sexual relations. This relates to his self-identity as a young boy growing up in a mixed family during the apartheid in South Africa. He describes race-mixing as, “a crime worse than treason.” Being a mixed kid at a time of racial segregation made it difficult for him to identify as white or black.

Interestingly, later in the text on page 141 in chapter 11, Trevor Noah writes of his experience of trying to fit in at Sandringham High School, which had students from various racial and socioeconomic groups, that the group he felt the most affinity for was the poor black kids. Analyze how 2nd text connects to the theme. There are key similarities between The Outsiders and It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime.
Both texts detail the personal experiences of two boys struggling to establish their self-identity, particularly in their early teens. Both texts connect the central theme of self-identity to socioeconomic status (wealthy white versus poor black, and Socs versus greasers) and more promising educational opportunities available to wealthy white and Soc groups. Also, the main character in each book is born into the group they struggle to self-identify with (Ponyboy was born into the greasers and Trevor Noah was born into a racially mixed family).
The main difference between The Outsiders and It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime, is that The Outsiders takes place in the sixties in the United States and Trevor Noah’s text takes place in South Africa during the apartheid which lasted until the nineties. The concept of race is not represented in The Outsiders but is a main component of the text in Trevor Noah’s book since he was born into a racially mixed family when segregation was sadly the norm.

In conclusion, both Ponyboy in The Outsiders and Trevor Noah in Born a Crime struggle to reconcile their self-identities. Comparing the two main characters shows that although the overall theme of self-identity is broadly similar, their circumstances are very different. In contrast to Trevor Noah in Born a Crime,  the self-identity struggle for Ponyboy in The Outsiders is unrelated to race and discrimination.  Thus, there are many similarities but also key differences in their self-identity narrative that ultimately impact who they are and the individuals they will become.

Each individual may experience a conflict in their personal and social self-identity to find their “right place in the world that surrounds them. This must be reconciled with care and with the help of friends and family to avoid an existential crisis.

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Something that really stuck with me after I read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton was how there were greasers and socs and how most of the greasers are poor and have bad living situations, while most of the socs are rich and have not as bad living situations.I believe that money doesn’t define who you are. It is who you are as a person and who you surround yourself with that matters.

In the book The Outsiders, there are a few times where the main characters show how money doesn’t define you as a person. One of those times was where Ponyboy says, “It’s okay… we aren’t in the same class. Just don’t forget that some of us watch the sunset too.” This quote connects to the theme since even though the greasers and socs are very multiple in many ways, they do still have a few things in common such as watching the sunset.

Another source that proves that money doesn’t define you is from an article. This article is called, "The Real Value of Money" by Mark Manson.If you look at the first paragraph the author talks about how a professor gives the group of  grads coffee, some of the coffee was in paper cups and the rest was in fancier glasses. All of the coffee was the same. The grads started to fight about who got the glasses and who didn’t. The professor soon pointed out how they were fighting about what cup they wanted when the coffee was just as good in the cups than the glasses.This demonstrates that money doesn’t define you since in The Outsiders even though Ponyboy and Cherry lived on completely different sides of town and were different people, they both watched the beautiful sunset. Also the sunset was just as good on the greasers side as it was on the socs side.

In conclusion money doesn’t define who you are as a person. In the book The Outsiders Ponyboy and Cherry show how you can enjoy the same pretty things from the poor side of town than the rich side of town. In the article “The Real Value of Money” by Mark Manson, the author tells a story that ends with how a professor pointed out to a few grads it’s not about which cup or glass that the coffee is in yet the actual coffee itself. The socs and greasers on the outside look and even act different for example the socs drive fancy cars while the greasers wouldn’t be able to afford a car. At the end of the day deep down they all want the same things which is to be happy and enjoy life and the little things like sunsets and sunrises.

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In the Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, the Greasers were a group of poor teenage/young-adults with no one believing in them to do anything great. In the book Pony was not like the other Greasers. He liked to read books, watch movies, and he liked school, while the Greasers liked fights and were mostly “dropouts.” Pony wanted to do something more than fight on the streets and occasionally sneak into the drive-in movies, but, because of his stereotypes, he had no hope and no faith in himself. After reading this book, I realized that stereotypes are affecting the way people live and how stereotypes shouldn’t define who you you are or what you can or can’t do.

The Outsiders by S.E Hinton and Why Do You Think Stereotypes Are True? | Decoded | MTV News shows that stereotypes do not define who you are and what you can or can’t do.

Throughout the book, Ponyboy finds out that he doesn’t have to be like the other Greasers and he proves that his stereotypes do not define what he can and can’t do.

After Johnny Cade's death, in chapter 12, Pony finds a note inside a book, Gone with the Wind, from Johnny.

The note says, “when you’re a kid everything’s new, dawn. It’s just when you get used to everything that it's a day. Like the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That’s gold. Keep that way, it's a good way to be,” and then later, “you still have a lot of time to make yourself be what you want. There’s still lots of good in the world.” (Hinton 178)

This note is saying that Ponyboy is something special and that he should stay that way. It is telling him that he doesn’t have to be like the other Greasers and that he shouldn’t let his stereotypes define him.

Why Do You Think Stereotypes Are True? | Decoded | MTV News connects to the Outsiders because they both show that stereotypes don’t define what you can or can’t do.

This link is a 6 ½ minute video called Why Do You Think Stereotypes Are True by TV Decoded. In the video Franchesca Ramsey talks about why we believe in stereotypes and why we shouldn’t let it define us.

One of my favorite quotes from the video was when Franchesca Ramsey talks about “stereotype threat.” The woman said, “when you hear you are not supposed to be good at something, you tend to underperform.”

This quote explains that when you hear that you are not supposed to be good at something you don’t try as hard to be good at that thing. This is an example of letting your stereotypes define you because you are letting what someone else thinks of you affect you. Later in the video Franchesca Ramsey talks about black college students' test performance. The studies showed black students performed just as good as white students’t when they weren’t confronted with racial stereotypes. This connects to how Ponyboy feels about being good in school. Just like a lot of the Socs, he gets good grades and is very smart.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and Why Do You Think Stereotypes Are True by TV Decoded both show that stereotypes do not define who you are or what you can or can’t do. In the future I hope that we can look past people’s steriotypes and instead judge them by who they really are.

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As I was reading S.E Hinton’s novel, The Outsiders, it struck me that the Socs and the greasers lived in two different worlds. The Greasers were subjugated and suffered violence merely because they were different, and didn’t conform to society's standards.. The Socs prayed on the Greasers because they could, and their privilege shielded them from punishment. The theme in short was caste and how society treats people who are different with contempt.But this happens in America as well. Isabel Wilkerson wrote an article in the New York Time’ called, America's Enduring Caste System. In it the author argues that white and black people are treated as two different castes, much like the Greasers and the Socs.

One thing I noticed in the novel is that the  Greasers are stuck at the bottom because they refuse to conform to society’s standards and the Socs will always have their privilege.The Outsiders, Ponyboy bravely saves children from a church after being on the run from the law because Johnn; his friend; killed Bob, a soc who aggressively attacked them. Randy who participated in this attack now realizes only after Pony saves the children that it was wrong. He and Pony are having a discussion about the upcoming rumble against the Socs and the Greasers when he proclaims, ”You can’t win even if you whip us.You’ll still be where you were before-at the bottom.And we’ll still be the lucky ones with all the breaks.”(Page #117).This quote is important because it shows that even if the Greaser’s win their lives will not change. The ruble will not change their life because the people in power, the Socs, want to continue to hold power over the Greasers.

The idea of caste is shocking but I assure you the same also happens in America. In America black people and people of color are part of a separate caste because of years of racism in our country. Wonder why there has only been on black president? Ever think about why the median black household makes 61% of the median white? This is because of casteism. ”Casteism is the investment in keeping the hierarchy as it is in order to maintain your own ranking, advantage or privilege or to elevate yourself above others or keep others beneath you.”When Socs like Bob jump greasers they do it in order to keep the hierarchy alive. They do it because it cements their power and sends  a message to Greasers that if they stand up to them they will get hurt. All Ponyboy did was talk to Bob’s girlfriend. When Ponyboy did that he was challenging Bob and therefore had to be punished. The article also makes connections to this talking about the murder of George Floyd as a way of instilling fear in black people.

In conclusion caste is a practice used to create a social pyramid of haves and haves nots.However people in America are starting to rise up and change. Because of the death of George Floyd there has been a reckoning in America about race. In The Outsiders you see people who also try to change the status quo, such as Cherry who tries to help the Greasers even though she’s a soc. I have hope that society will come to terms with how it has negatively impacted people of color and that going forward we’ll be a more free and forward thinking country. And if we don’t we are bound to end up like the Greasers and Socs caught in a never ending civil war against ourselves.