Premium Essay

Friendship In The Outsiders

Submitted By
Words 411
Pages 2
In S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, the characters demonstrate friendship. The gang members help each other out when their buddies are hurt. Furthermore, they stick up for each other when times are rough. Hinton’s novel demonstrates generosity and kindness all throughout the book.From helping each other out with murder, to just being there for each other, the characters in The Outsiders show a theme of friendship.

Dally shows a sense friendship to Ponyboy and Johnny. When Johnny kills Bob, he goes a with Ponyboy to find Dally for help. “ ‘Git goin,’ ” he messed up Johnny’s hair, “ ‘Take care kid,’ he said softly. ‘Man I thought New York was the only place I could get mixed up in a murder rap.’ ” said Dally ( ). Dally is showing sacrifice and …show more content…
When Ponyboy gets beat up by the Soc’s, the gang comes to make sure that he is okay. “ ‘Are you alright Ponyboy?’ He was shaking me and I wished he’d stop, because I was already dizzy enough anyway” ( ). Instead of leaving Ponyboy, the gang stops what they are doing to help him. In this case, the gang is showing kindness. They did this because they are Ponyboy’s friend, and they stick up for each other. Therefore, they are showing friendship in this situation.

The gang sticks together because they have a tight friendship with each other. “I felt myself stiffen. ‘I am a greaser, same as Dally’ ” ( ). Ponyboy didn’t have to stand up for Dally, but he did. He was being a good friend to Dally by saying that they were both together as greasers. Friends stick up for each other, and that is exactly what Ponyboy did. Ponyboy is showing an example of friendship in the book.

As shown through the actions of the characters, friendship is an established theme in The Outsiders. The characters take action when their friends are in trouble. They also have sympathy for each other, and they make sure that their friends are okay, even in fatal circumstances. Additionally, they show kind actions to each other which signifies true friendship. This novel exhibits the importance and theme of

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

The Outsiders Conflict Analysis

...There is more conflict in the world than you may realize. The Outsiders is full of conflicts. Susan Eloise Hinton started the novel when she was 15 and did the majority of it when she was 16. She used her initials because the publisher was afraid, that if buyers would be able to tell that she was a girl, not many people would buy it. In the book The Outsiders there are two main groups, the Socs and the Greasers. Socs, are the “nice” kids that are more upper class. They still get in fights, but they can get out of them more easily. Greasers are the ones with lower hand. They are more well known to usually be trouble makers. The Outsiders is in the eyes of a greaser named Ponyboy, who seems to go against the stereotype of a greaser. He is in advanced classes in school and is considered “nice”. One of Ponyboy’s friends, Johnny, commits murder while Ponyboy is there to witness. He and Johnny run away, and they wonder if they should turn themselves in or not. In the end of the novel, Johnny ends up dying and leaves the rest of the group in pieces. In The Outsiders the main conflict is Person vs Society. Throughout the novel, the characters experience the power of friendship. Dallas Winston acts like a person who doesn’t care about anyone or anything, but he holds a few things very closely. Throughout the story,...

Words: 713 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Loneliness In S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders

...Feeling like an outsider,isolated or an outcast makes people feel like they don't belong. Being isolated is an awful feeling that any person wants to feel. Also when feeling like an outsider can feel like the outcast. Like in the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton feeling “isolated or an outsider” a lot in this novel. Ponyboy is portrayed as an outsider for he doesn't fit in his gang,he doesn't like fighting he makes friend outside of his gang friends. Ponyboy is viewed that he doesn't fit in because he smarter than everyone else. Typically Greasers don't care about school and usually drop out like Ponyboy's brother Sodapop. Also Greasers do bad things in school and don't care about there'd reputation. Hinton writes, “I never could please...

Words: 808 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Tyranny In The Outsiders

...In the fictional book, The Outsiders by S.E. Hilton, displays a variety of characters, each with their own unique back stories and situations. Of all characters Darry seemed the most interesting through my point of view. After the death of his parents Darry had to step up his game to raise his two younger brothers Sodapop and Ponyboy. However Darry is more harsh on Ponyboy than he is on Sodapop. After reading the book I came to the conclusion that I don’t like him, however the friendship is questionable.. Although, Darry represents being responsible and is protective of his brothers, I don’t agree on his parenting. It’s normal for men wanting to be masculine but he takes the cake. Throughout the book, Ponyboy cries at times and feels insecure but won’t show it in front of Darry because it shows weakness. Pony usually goes to Sodapop for these types of things because Soda is more understanding. Which is nice considering Pony has someone to talk to, but this behavior is making Pony believe he isn’t loved by Darry. “Darry just thought I was just another mouth to feed and somebody to holler at.” In addition, Darry mostly goes after Pony. In another point of view it can be seen that he just wants Pony to do good in life, but Pony isn’t going to progress through yelling. Soda is the one who tells Darry to...

Words: 513 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

The Outsiders Theme Essay

...Outsider Themes Have you ever thought that something as little as a theme can change the entire plot of a book? In the novel, The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, life is divided by the two main social groups: the Greasers, who are known to cause trouble and have a reputation of being dangerous, and the Socs, the people who are known to get all the breaks and are able to get away with anything they do. Ponyboy and his gang live their daily life rivaling against their enemy, the Socs, until things turn and events change the way they live their lives. People then realize things are not the way it seems to be and they find out the true meaning of life, the hard way. Throughout the story, many different themes are displayed, yet the two main and effective themes are changes over time and loyalty. First of all, changes over time can be found through each scene and event in the book. The first example is...

Words: 611 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

"The Outsiders" Short Review

...The Outsiders The Outsiders is a story about a group of young greasers living in a small rural town during the 1960’s. Ponyboy and his friend Johnny are the two main characters from this group of greasers and find themselves in a bind after Johnny kills one of the members of a rival click while trying to protect his friend Ponyboy. Eventually Johnny decides that he wants to come clean and turn himself in however, he never gets the opportunity because he is fatally injured after trying to save children from a church that was accidentally set on fire by Johnny and Ponyboy. After much grief and sadness Ponyboy decides to write the story The Outsiders for all the troubled boys involved in gang life. This story illustrates very well the social structure and hierarchy of adolescent life. The rival between the greasers and the socs is a classic example of teenage grouping and rivalry. Unfortunately today, we see these clicks and groups everywhere we go. I think that this story also illustrates the consequences of gang life and can teach children the importance of not becoming involved in gang activity. The Outsiders is and has been one of my favorite books for a long while. I think the story wonderfully illustrates the importance of brotherhood and friendship. Through thick and thin, these boys have an uncanny way of always sticking together and supporting one another, especially considering that they have no adult role models to follow. Definitely recommend this book to all adolescent...

Words: 257 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Pros And Cons Of An Outsider

...Some outsiders have a phase of denial and when they see a self-reflection of themselves through another entity, it fuels hate. If they can see the same faults others have that they have as well, it causes the individual to not only hate those people, but themselves as well. It is the outsiders who are now looking in. The outsider is looking at themselves through another outsider. These hurdles delay or halt the logical reasoning. Especially for children, illogically transitions to a conclusion can form unnecessary hate. The temptation of reverting back to old habits becomes increasingly tempting. When seeing a quiet dainty Chinese girl, Kingston hates her. Beating up the girl is Kingston’s way of beating herself up (Kingston, 214). Kingston...

Words: 415 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of Letter from Birmingham Jail W/ Focus on Ethos

...MLK Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis- w/ focus on Ethos “...we are now confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led in part by outsiders…” In this quote, from the third paragraph of the letter written by eight Alabama clergymen, the term outsiders is used. Early on, this creates a label for Martin Luther King, outsider. Throughout his Letter From Birmingham Jail, King is able appeal to ethos in order to refute his title of “outsider” and generate a connection with his audiences, the clergymen and the people of America. King is able to do such a thing by alluding to multiple passages from the Bible as well as the figures it contains, which is done so that he may identify with the clergymen. When not speaking in reference to the Bible, King makes allusions and references to specific points and people in American history, which allows him to connect to his larger audience, the people of America. By demonstrating his practical wisdom, through the use of allusion, King attempts to strengthen his character with a visible appeal to ethos. King alludes to the Bible multiple times throughout his Letter From Birmingham Jail. These allusions are notable in paragraph three, where king refers to the biblical figures “Jesus Christ” and “the Apostle Paul.” The context in which these two are used is to reiterate the story of Paul leaving Tarsus, which King also mentions, to spread the word of Christ. In paragraph...

Words: 1579 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Review Of The Book 'The Outsiders' By S. E. Hinton

...In the book The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hinton, a character named Ponyboy is unlike the others in his gang, the Greasers, and he goes through many struggles throughout the story. The book, which is fiction, focused on the many struggles between the rich and the poor. The author described the Socs as a gang that had the opportunity to go to college while the Greasers discontinued their education during or after high school. The three topics discussed in this intriguing novel are the fight between the rich and the poor, the power of friendship, and the true meaning of being a hero. To begin with, the fight between the rich and the poor is an ongoing war. For example, “ They had caught him and one of them had a lot of rings on his hand- that’s...

Words: 407 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Outsiders Movie And Book Comparison Essay

...The Outsiders is about three boys who get into rumbles a lot. Their favorite place is the lot and their parents died in a car accident. They get in many rumbles with the Socs. The brothers are part of the Greasers. A Soc and Greaser try to figure their life problems out. There are many similarities and differences in the characters, relationships, and scenes of the book and the movie, the Outsiders. The characters in the book and the movie have many similarities and differences. Even though Two-bit was funny in the book, he was hilarious in the movie. After reading the book I thought Two-bit was young. In the movie he is small so that also makes me think he is younger. In the book they described him as skinny and tall. Although in the movie you could see he was short. In the movie Two-bit was shown eating cake. In contrast, him eating cake was not mentioned in the book....

Words: 428 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Poem 'In Response To Executive Order 906'

...started talking to Denise's enemy but she thought she was telling her all of her secrets away which she wasn’t. According to the speaker, “ I gave her her a packet of tomato seeds and asked her to plant them for me, told her when the first tomato ripened she’d miss me”(22-25). The speaker wanted to let her best friend know that the seeds represented their friendship and love. This would also let her know she wasn’t the enemy she thought she was....

Words: 414 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Relationships In The Outsiders

...Depending on what age you are, you might've read a book called "The Outsiders". If you haven't "The Outsiders" is a book about the rivalry between the Greasers and the Socs, but mostly focuses on Ponyboy, who is the main character, and his choices throughout his life. In this essay, we're going to talk about how Ponyboys relationships change throughout the story. The first major change in a relationship is when Ponyboy comes home late after he accidentally fell asleep at the "lot" Once he comes home his brother Darry yells at him. (Page 43-44) "It sounded dumb, even to me, when I stammered, "I... I went to sleep in the lot..." "You what?" He was shouting, and Sodapop sat up and rubbed his eyes. " "He should never yell at Soda. Nobody should...

Words: 612 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Hetrosexcual Relationships Play Analysis

...Friends are the first people they tell about their life choices, not their families. Friends do activities for each other, check in with each other, and joke around. Annie, Peter, Drea, and Rebecca stick pretty closely to these rules they determine their friendship. Yet their romantic relationships sometimes become obstacles to their friendship. In this play, the couples want to always protect their romantic lovers over their friendship, though sometimes one side of the relationship will call another out it is not in front of the other couple. Due to the fact that each relationship has different societal standards, Annie creates tension in the friendship because she wants the happiest Rebecca and Drea are able to have, yet also wants to stick to the predetermined path. Another element that plays into the couple's specific relationship with each other is race, race over all seems to be something they agree to not talk seriously about. When Drea keeps trying to address race, Annie and Peter get defensive and it really doesn’t seem they ever fully listen and address their issues with races, creating a lot of tension with Drea who wants them to recognize their inability to address...

Words: 580 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Loyalty In The Outsiders

...I think a major theme in The Outsiders is, “Loyalty is what keeps friendships together.” This theme is important because it keeps going throughout the whole book and all of the characters are affected by loyalty. The first reason why loyalty is a major theme is whenever the Socs and the greasers fight they always stay loyal to their sides and do not give up on eachother because they know that at the end of the day having each other is all they got. A quote from the book that shows this, “...there are just small bunches of friends who stick together, and the warfare is between the social classes” (Hinton 11). This quote means that the greasers and the Socs are just groups of friends who stay loyal to each other and always stick together no matter what....

Words: 466 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Analysis Of The Outsiders, By S. E. Hinton

...In the book The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hinton, a group of boys are attempting to defend themselves from their enemies while going about in their daily lives. The novel focused on a boy named Ponyboy Curtis and his journey in his neighborhood trying to survive the fight against the socs. He deals with this constantly with his brothers and the other members of the greaser gang. The three topics addressed in this fascinating novel are the journey from youth to adulthood, the power of friendship and the fight between the rich and poor. First, the story shows significance to the journey from youth to adulthood. “They had me down in a second. They had my arms and legs pinned down and one of them was sitting on my chest with his knees on my elbows, and if you don’t think that hurts, you’re crazy” (5). This is important because it shows that Ponyboy needs to learn how to take care of himself in the outside world, especially when the socs are after people like him. After, the socs jumped...

Words: 596 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

The Outsiders Analysis

...The exceptional novel ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E. Hinton leaves us questioning about our lives and the society in which we live in. Hinton explores this throughout her rebellious narrative, using the themes of stereotypes and relationships and connections with others. With these themes Hinton then displays the messages of not to judge people without getting to know them first and that love and understanding can play a major role in a person's life. People should be judged on their merits and not by stereotypes that have been unreasonably placed upon them, as these can often prove inaccurate and misleading. Throughout the novel ‘The Outsider’, S.E. Hinton reveals to readers that people shouldn’t place labels on others, but instead to get to know...

Words: 1120 - Pages: 5