Themes of the Outsiders

The Themes of The Outsiders

Authors Note:
The Outsiders is a novel that my Language arts class was required to read. At first I thought it was kind of not my type and I didn’t really understand the message that it was trying to send. This book turned out to be a very good read. I feel as if there are three themes in the book.

“Stay gold, Ponyboy, Stay Gold” said Johnny as he was slipping away into eternal life. This was his last words to poor Ponyboy, the Greaser who was also known as a brother of Johnny and the rest of the gang. The innocents slipped out of his body the way you would have expected a cold blooded killer to do so. The only difference was Johnny was not a cold blooded killer he was a young man who lost his innocents as a child, and had gang members for a family. He had been stereo typed from the time he was a Greaser until the day he died on his hospital bed.
The three themes for the Outsiders are, Loss of innocents, Family and stereotypes. The greasers all had hard up bringing some from broken homes and others had to raise themselves. Family is often times thought of as, your biological mother and her brothers and sisters, your biological father and his brothers and sisters, and you biological Grandparents. This is not true for the Greasers. Family. Friends are family for them. Dally, Darry, Johnny, Sodapop, and Ponyboy are all greasers. They are a “Gang” or as they call themselves brothers. Family is the people who love you, care for you, and will always be there for you. This is what the greasers have always thought.
Loss of innocents. The loss of childhood often occurs when the child becomes an adult at age 18.This is not true for the Greasers. They have been picking fights and getting themselves into trouble from an early age. Although I can see why they do what they do, it isn’t right what some of them do. Their parents are absent from their life and they have to fend for themselves. Darry, Sodapop and Ponyboy Curtis' parents died in a car accident when they were younger. Ever since they have become greasers and have gotten into trouble. The greasers have all lost their innocents when they became a “gang” member. Darry was borderline-Soc; Star football player, good grades, but after the devastating death of his parents he had to throw all that away to become the father figure of his two younger brothers. Even though Darry was a little tough on his brothers, it turns out he only wants the best for them.
That brings me to the third theme, Stereo typing. I have had stereo typing in my life, I have been stereo typed as dumb because I am a cheerleader, and I have also been stereo typed because of someone I use to hang out with. This effected my life in a negative way. The same way with the greasers. They we stereo typed because of their broken homes and they way they sometimes would act. Also the greasers were stereo typed as bad people, let me ask you this. Would a “bad” person run into a burning church to save children? Yes it might have been an act for self proclaim but he still did it. Stereo tying is one of the lead concepts in this book.
The book the Outsiders has three themes, Family, Stereo Typing and Loss of Innocents. All three of these are key in understanding this novel. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton is an eye opening story about two groups and how they act and react to their life styles and the lifestyle of others. This book is a great read and it truly shows what really matters.