An Analysis Of The Outsiders In S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders

The teenage years are monumental in most people’s lives. Some remember their teen years as a time of making great memories with friends, a time when they felt like they were thriving. Others, however, do not have that experience. Many teens struggle with the feeling of not belonging and of trying to figure out who they are and where they fit into the world and their spheres in particular. In The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, she writes about the ways certain characters feel like outsiders and how they deal with those feelings.In S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, Ponyboy, Cherry, and Darry are all outsiders in their own way.
Ponyboy is a great example of a character who feels like an outsider. For instance, even though he is classified as a Greaser,

You still have a lot of time to make yourself be what you want” (Hinton 152). When he reads this letter, Ponyboy realizes that he does not have to be stuck as a Greaser for life. Mary Baron explains, "Ponyboy rejects escapist fiction as he leaves the movie theater. He rejects the world of make-believe, leaving behind the illusions of the movies and choosing, instead, the real world. What he writes in his journal is true, and this truth is the beginning of prophecy in the sense of forth-telling. He examines his life, using writing to clarify rather than to camouflage it; he predicts where he will go and begins the journey. He will move into adulthood on ‘the road less traveled” ( np). He separates himself between growing up to be like all the other Greasers or growing up by staying true to himself and seeing what else there is for him in life. Furthermore, Ponyboy wants to act tough like his friends but when he tries to find a reason to fight, he struggles to find one. Before the final rumble, Ponyboy asks his brothers if they like to fight, and they both affirm

""You Greasers Have A Different Set Of Values": Othering, Violence, And The Promise Of Reconciliation In S.E Hinton's The Outsiders." Critical Insights: The Outsiders, edited by M. Katherine Grimes, Salem Press, 2018. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?bookId=963&articleName=CIOutside_0007&searchText=the%20outsiders&searchOperators=any&category=Literature. Accessed 17 Jan. 2023.
Hayes, Julia. ""Things Are Rough All Over" Indeed: Suffering And Salvation In James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" And S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders." Critical Insights: The Outsiders, edited by M. Katherine Grimes, Salem Press, 2018. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?bookId=963&articleName=CIOutside_0008&searchText=Darry&searchOperators=any&category=Literature. Accessed 01 Feb. 2023.
Hinton, S. E. The Outsiders. Viking, 1995.
"The Outsiders." Novels for Students, edited by Marie Rose Napierkowski, vol. 5, Gale, 1999, pp. 281-304. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2591800025/GVRL?u=tel_k_briar&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=c55c7758. Accessed 9 Jan.