Challenges Between Social Classes In The Outsiders

Challenges Between Social Classes
There are over seven billion people living on this planet. Amongst the seven billion people, people are categorized by many things, one of those things including social class. Unquestionably, challenges will come up when trying to form relationships between classes. Because of this, a considerable amount of conflict occurs when interacting between social classes. First of all, understanding why conflict transpires between the classes starts the analysis. In Social Class as Culture it states, “People from lower classes have fundamentally different ways of thinking about the world than people in upper classes” (Keltner). When people see things completely differently they usually disagree and that leads to conflict. Keltner explains, “In psychology experiments, wealthier people don’t read other people’s emotions as well. They hoard resources and are less generous
than they could be.” This brings up an immense issue because if people can not read each other, how are they supposed to interact in everyday life? They can not. Lastly, in Social Class as Culture, Keltner observes that people in lower social classes interact more with each other because they have to depend on each other more. For example to watch each others’ pet or babysit someone's children. In contrast, wealthier people normally do not have to depend on each other for things like this, therefore they interact less with others and are not as friendly when they do have to interface with people (Keltner). Several examples of conflict between social classes exist in literature.
For example, the novel, The Outsiders, includes many examples of conflict between the upper class, “the Socs”, and the lower class, “the Greasers.” In The Outsiders the main character, Ponyboy says, “We’re poorer than the Socs and the middle class” (Hinton 3). This description shows that social class was a big part of what defined individuals and determined how they were treated in the 1960s. Ponyboy later explains, “organized gangs are rarities-there are just small bunches of friends who stick together, and the warfare is between social classes” (Hinton 11). In the book, Ponyboy specifically states that the conflict stays between the social classes, not within them; because they can relate to each other. Ponyboy’s family does all they can to earn money and provide Ponyboy with an education. The Socs have so much free time not having to work for money that they just jump greasers for fun (Hinton 43). “Juming Greasers” demonstrates conflict between the groups that are separated because of their
income. Even though in The Outsiders the story was set in the 1960s, conflict and challenges still occur when forming relationships between classes in present day. In Rising Share of Americans See Conflict Between Rich and Poor, it explains that “Not only have perceptions of class conflict grown more prevalent; so, too, has the belief that these disputes are intense” (Morin). This shows that many people perceive that an abundant amount of conflict still transpires and they recognize the issue. They recognize it as much as they recognize cliques in a high school. Morin also says that “A center survey of 2,048 adults finds that about two-thirds of the public (66%) believes there are “very strong” or “strong” conflicts between the rich and the poor” (Morin). More than half of the people surveyed believed this, so this proves that conflict really does exist between the social classes. Morin also elucidates that although there are many other tensions, such as conflict between age, nationalities, and race, that can present challenges when trying to form relationships, the conflict between social classes are most seen. Many challenges are formed with relationships between social classes. Challenges such as not seeing things in the same way and not understanding each other's’ views can result in conflict. It is remarkable that as much as our society continues to advance, social classes seem to remain the same and struggle as they have for decades.