The Outsiders, By S. E. Hinton
In our world today, the standards of society are what many of us live by. The people who do not meet these qualifications are cast out by society. The novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, demonstrates what being on the outside is like. The Greasers, labeled as outsiders, are viewed by their community as hoodlums and criminals; the only reasons being that they are not well off, put grease in their hair, and dress differently. Reading this book made me think of a very important lesson everyone should live by: you should not judge or treat a person differently because of their differences. I have experienced being on the outside; I know what it feels like to balance on the edge of society. It is in those times, though, that I have learned some
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I was only friends with these people, though, because my best friend from fifth grade was, and I always felt like I did not belong. They were the kind of people everyone liked and wanted to be. I was not. All of them had many friends. I did not. I began to think that maybe if I changed myself, people would like me.
My friends back then all wore certain clothes. Skinny jeans, cute sweaters, and things like that. I, on the other hand, wore hoodies, plain jeans, and t-shirts. So that was the first thing I changed about myself. I started to wear skinny jeans, converse, all the clothes the popular kids wore. After that, I began to procrastinate and put off my work until last minute; all for the sake of fitting in. But even as I made these changes, nothing within my group of friends was different. People still treated me like I was invisible. If anything, I felt even more alone than ever.
As the year seemed to drag on, I slowly started to drift away from my group. I met new people, and they became some of my closest friends; one girl especially. I no longer sat with the popular kids, instead with my new friends. I actually felt like I belonged. But I took our friendship for granted. I pushed my ideals onto her and compared her to my other friends, even though they were nothing alike. I judged her personality as weird just because she was not exactly like another person. I still so focused on being “popular”, that I completely ignored
I was only friends with these people, though, because my best friend from fifth grade was, and I always felt like I did not belong. They were the kind of people everyone liked and wanted to be. I was not. All of them had many friends. I did not. I began to think that maybe if I changed myself, people would like me.
My friends back then all wore certain clothes. Skinny jeans, cute sweaters, and things like that. I, on the other hand, wore hoodies, plain jeans, and t-shirts. So that was the first thing I changed about myself. I started to wear skinny jeans, converse, all the clothes the popular kids wore. After that, I began to procrastinate and put off my work until last minute; all for the sake of fitting in. But even as I made these changes, nothing within my group of friends was different. People still treated me like I was invisible. If anything, I felt even more alone than ever.
As the year seemed to drag on, I slowly started to drift away from my group. I met new people, and they became some of my closest friends; one girl especially. I no longer sat with the popular kids, instead with my new friends. I actually felt like I belonged. But I took our friendship for granted. I pushed my ideals onto her and compared her to my other friends, even though they were nothing alike. I judged her personality as weird just because she was not exactly like another person. I still so focused on being “popular”, that I completely ignored