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The Theme Of Coming Of Age In The Outsiders

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The Outsiders, written by SE Hinton represents the social values of their society through the choices made within the genre. The book The Outsiders written in the perspective of a young boy named Ponyboy Curtis and his struggles to find what is right and what is wrong in society and what his identity is, and who he is as a person. The genre of this book is coming of age. Coming of age is the transition of a child becoming an adult and their journey to becoming an adult and all the problems they face along the way. Hinton explores this genre through the stages of realization, removal, challenge, and reintegration. The Outsiders, written by SE Hinton represents the social values identity and respect through the choices made within the genre. …show more content…

Hinton shows these concepts through the theme individual identity vs group identity. This theme is shown throughout the whole book as Ponyboy and others find out what they value as an individual and who or what they want to be. For instance in chapter 1 page 2 and 3 it states “Socs. I'm not sure how you spell it, but it's the abbreviation for the Socials, the jet set, the West-side rich kids. It's like the term "greaser," which is used to class all us boys on the East Side." This line tells us how different the socs are to the greasers. It shows us the contrast of the 2 worlds that they live in with the socs living on the rich west side and the greasers on the poor east side. It also shows us how they are viewed as a whole and not as individuals because of where they live and how they grew …show more content…

The curtis brothers had lost their parents at a very young age and rely on their friends for emotional support. Darry the oldest brother had no choice but to step in as the father figure for his 2 younger brothers which helped strengthen their relationship and the stability of the family. In chapter 10 it says “It was Dally. He phoned from a booth. He’s just robbed a grocery store and the cops are after him. We gotta hide him. He’ll be at the lot in a minute” the gang's friendship shows that they will do anything for their fellow member and even if the cops are after them they will hide them even if they get caught in the process. It shows the gangs loyalty to each other and how much they care for eachother even if some of them aren't as close, they still treat each other like family. Furthermore Ponyboy and Johnny show their loyalty to each other in chapter 5 where they fled to an abandoned church. Ponyboy could've left Jonny and not have to risk getting caught by the police since he did not kill Bob but he decided to help Johnny since he killed Bob to save Ponyboy. This shows their relationship and how loyal they are to each other. This value links back to the genre since it shows us the journey of the characters and their relationship to each other helping each other overcome obstacles and

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