The Two Social Groups In Hinton's The Outsiders

The Outsiders is a novel that describes the two social groups in the life of the main character, Ponyboy Curtis: the Greasers who are the hoods or the juvenile delinquents and the Socials, or Socs who are rich and ethnocentric. The novel is told in the viewpoint of the Greasers explaining their life and how it was difficult because the Soc’s were always jumping them. Throughout the novel, Ponyboy Curtis attempts to mature and ignore the Socials.
*Spoiler Alert*
However, one night when the Social’s were verbally attacking Johnny and Ponyboy, Johnny killed one of them, and both Greasers quickly fled to an abandoned Church. This major conflict arises much tension and aversion towards both groups. Eventually, both groups participate in a fight
to distinguish the more superior group, and the Greasers win, and the Socials do not act superior to them anymore. Johnny dies as a hero in the conclusion of the novel after helping children survive in a fire. Johnny’s death is very tough for Ponyboy, but it leads him to becoming more mature and feeling more fortunate for everything that he has in his life.