The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton: An Analysis

Have you ever wondered why people fight? In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Ponyboy searched for the answer to this puzzling conundrum while struggling through his trials of being in the lowest class- a greaser. Although the Soc were always the lucky rich kids and natural enemies to the greasers, they 've never gone this far. Now Ponyboy has to deal with more than his over-responsible brother, Darry. After reading this book, one idea stood out to me the most. I believe that the best theme for The Outsiders is that communication is better than violence because it solves nothing, there 's no reason to do it, and it always has negative consequences.

First of all, violence rarely solves any conflicts. On page 117 in the book, Randy the Soc states, "I 'd fight if I thought it 'd do any good." He

Lastly, violence always has negative consequences. Rumbles usually result in serious injury or even death. Bob, Johnny, and Dallas(Dally) were all killed as a result of physical harm. Actions may be powerful, but words would solve predicaments without the depressing side effects of death. Before he dies on page 148, Johnny tells both Dally and Ponyboy, "Useless...fighting 's no good." Johnny is right. It really is useless. However, if the Soc and the greasers would express their feelings verbally instead of physically, death and injuries would decline dramatically.

In conclusion, I believe that the theme communication is better than violence is the best lesson illustrated in The Outsiders, because physical harm doesn 't change anything, there 's no point in doing it, and it usually ends negatively for the participants. This relates to me because I think sometimes we get so frustrated with people that we don 't even think about talking it out, but really, it would help us resolve our problems more effectively if we communicated with each other. I definitely recommend The Outsiders to anyone who wants an action-packed book that teaches a