Thesis Statement For The Outsiders

“Ponyboy, listen don’t get tough. You’re not like the rest of us and don’t try to be…”-Two-bit Matthews Page 171. The Outsiders is a novel written by S.E Hinton in the 1960’s, the novel is based on a true story. The story is about Ponyboy, a teenager that belongs in the gang called Greasers. There is another gang that opposes the Greasers called the Socs. The two gangs live in two sides of Oklahoma, the Greasers being in the east, and the Socs being in the west. The Socs and the Greasers often fight each other. To society, the Greasers are low class and cause trouble, while the Socs are rich and can do no harm. Ponyboy dramatically changes throughout the novel, he starts to wonder if he should model himself to the members of his gang or follow his own path. There are three reasons to support my thesis statement.
Ponyboy is very intelligent and is aware that education can lead to a better future for him. He is the only person in the gang that has a chance at being successful one day. Ponyboy resents fighting while the rest of the gang admires it. “Why do I fight? I thought, and couldn’t think of any real good reason for fighting except for self-defense.” -Ponyboy Curtis page Ponyboy prefers to resolve problems without having to use violence; he only fights when it’s necessary. Darry is already trying to protect Ponyboy from becoming like the rest of the Greasers, he understands that Ponyboy has a bright future and it can not be ruined by the environment he has grown up in(Being raised around people who like to fight and steal things from stores). Ponyboy is selfless unlike the rest of the gang. He rushed into the church to save the kids (knowing that he likely caused the fire) instead of running away to keep himself safe from the police. He didn’t even think about himself before he rushed into the