Key Themes In The Outsiders

Alexis Hernandez
Alexis Ramirez
Mrs. Kartouch
8 English GATE 1
20 March 2023
Connections Through Themes Literature enlightens human beings about profound life lessons and the complexities of human interactions. In the fictional novel, The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, the protagonist, Ponyboy Curtis, undergoes a multitude of traumatic experiences that change his life forever. Through elaborate direct and indirect characterization and symbolism, S.E. Hinton develops many universal themes. Preserving childhood innocence, stereotypes and biases, and the Human Condition are among the most significant themes that the author wants readers to learn from and apply in life. Childhood innocence is one of the most precious things that a young person has,

Hinton. “‘Stay gold Ponyboy. Stay gold…’ the pillow seemed to sink a little, and Johnny died. You read about people looking peacefully asleep when they’re dead, but they don't. Johnny just looked dead” (Hinton 148). In this quote, Johnny refers to the poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” by Robert Frost, which symbolizes how humans can never stay pure and perfect, and much less innocent. Johnny tells Ponyboy to “Stay Gold” which we can assume is the author's suggestion that Johnny is telling Ponyboy to keep some of that innocence with him even after he’s seen so much horror. The author then states,“Like the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That’s gold. Keep it that way, it’s a good way to be. I want you to tell Dally to look at one. He'll probably think you're crazy, but ask for me. I don't think he’s ever really seen a sunset” (Hinton 178). In this quote Johnny is telling Ponyboy to have

An example of stereotypes states,“Socs were just guys after all. Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too” (Hinton 118). In the quote, Ponyboy is explaining to Two-bit how Randy was just a regular person like anyone else. Ponyboy is starting to break Randy’s idea of stereotypes and automatically seeing the greasers as people completely unlike them, the Socs. Another example states, “It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset” (Hinton 40-41). In this quote, Ponyboy is thinking about the conversation he had just had with Cherry at the drive-in, and how she had told him that she looks at the sunset too. Ponyboy for the first time is realizing that Socs and greasers aren’t all different, and have things in common. Through the similarities shared between Socs and greasers, stereotypes about how the greasers live and look throughout the world are