Social Class Ladder In S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders

People have dreams, and sometimes those dreams can be destroyed. Many times this devastating event happens because of either money or social class. In S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, the Greasers understand and realize they belong to the working class and that mobility up the social class ladder is nearly impossible.

With the money disadvantage of the working class, even the most plausible chance to move up the social class ladder cannot. Ponyboy remarks on the subject of his brother Darry, “But we just didn’t have enough money for him to go to college, even with the athletic scholarship he won” (p. 16). Money buys TVs, houses, cars, and sometimes very essential things for having the life that people require to have for education or good jobs. Almost none of the people who are million or billionaires started at the very bottom of the hill

Cherry Valance states “You Greasers have a different set of values” (p. 38). Greasers believe in theft, and love to break the law to have what they call fun. However, Socs, the high class, do not disobey the laws and are still being positioned on the top floor of the Social building, while no Greaser has ever gotten close to being a Soc for that very reason. Society will only obliterate a being who has committed crimes, and will only continue to do so.

There are some who believe that Greasers have plentiful chances of becoming Socs; however, throughout the entirety or the book, there is no mention of Greasers working their way up in the world, or even aiming to do so. Ponyboy realizes that Greasers will stay at the bottom by exclaiming, “Young hoods-- who would grow up to be old hoods” (p. 138). On a rare occasion a Greaser may have the chance to get up to the top, but only a few of those will ever attempt it. Darry never took the chance to become a Soc, neither did Soda, nor Steve, nor Two-Bit, nor any others of the billion Greasers that have ever