The Outsiders

‘The Outsiders’ written by S.E Hinton demonstrates that violence can cause much change to a person on the inside as well as outside. This book became an immediate success when it was written during the 1960’s and was based around the reputation and the stereotypes of that current decade. If you were a kid growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma you either belonged to one of two groups, a “Soc” or a “Greaser”. In this book, there are many differences between the two groups, which tends to cause much violence. S.E Hinton has much authority to write about this violence because she has seen it happen firsthand. In The Outsiders violence occurs at its very best. It affects people in different ways, changes people – physically and emotionally but also causes very positive outcomes which turns into a lifelong lesson for both the Socs and the Greasers.

Violence affects many different people in many different ways. Some people find it easier to contain their emotions and keep it personal where as others like to let it all out in the open. For instance, Dallas Winston gets a thrill out of violence and is always stating “Don’t you know a rumble ain’t a rumble unless I’m in it?” (Dallas p.175) When Ponyboy sees no point in all the fighting and questions “Why do I fight? [He] thought, and couldn’t think of any real good reason. There isn’t any real good reason for fighting except self-defence.” (Ponyboy p.166) Violence has many various affects that can cause good or bad outcomes, depending on the person.

Most people change because of violence whether it’s physically or emotionally. In The Outsiders, Hinton demonstrates much use of teen violence. Guns and switchblades were most commonly used by the Greasers. They would use their switchblades when a Soc wanted to jump them or get into a fight. Johnny and Ponyboy used a gun, but it was never fired. Johnny was emotionally scarred for life after an attack from the Socs. Ever since then, Johnny has been paranoid about the Socs and