Socs and Outsiders: Innocence Amidst Socioeconomic Struggles

Socs in The Outsiders: Exploring Interclass Relationships

The novel The Outsiders by S.E Hinton explores the fluid and taxing time that we know as adolescence. Luckily for the novel's protagonist, 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis, he has the privilege to surround himself with a starkly loyal group of friends he affectionately refers to as his gang. Despite his status as somewhat of an outsider in this group, they share similar qualities in that they are all impoverished and strong-willed fighters willing to stand up for the family they have built for themselves.

Ponyboy and his gang are all referred to as Greasers, a lower social class in the town of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and rivals to the affluent Socials or Socs. It's established many times throughout the novel that the greasers are thought of as grimy, poor, and just generally less than in the minds of Tulsa residents. Through the story of Ponyboy Curtis and those around him, Hinton investigates the line between youth and innocence and attempts to reveal the effect that socioeconomic status can have on an adolescent and their experiences.

Soc Outsiders: The Struggle for Innocence Amidst Hardship

Hinton uses Ponyboy's naïve viewpoint to explore the fluctuation of identity in the community around him. Despite the hardships he has endured in his life, such as losing his parents or a strained relationship with his guardian and older brother Darry, Ponyboy maintains a generally positive outlook on life. Undeterred by his status as a greaser, he continuously seeks out knowledge and beauty in the world around him. Upon meeting Soc cheerleader Cherry Valence, Ponyboy gets insight into their differences and is shocked by their similarities. This scene demonstrates his optimism because he is able to bridge the gap between their lifestyles in a natural phenomenon 'Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset" (Hinton 35).

Meeting a levelheaded Soc like Cherry gets Pony to consider nature – something he already loves and admires – as a connecting factor that doesn't see class or wealth. In defiance of typical expectations, Ponyboy builds a positive relationship with her, and their interactions bring him hope for a more progressive future. This kind of positivity and optimism seems rare among his circle, and his difference in spirit is best outlined in discussions with Johnny about Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay." In a letter, Johnny's last remarks to Ponyboy are as follows "I've been thinking about it, and that poem, that guy that wrote it, he meant you're gold when you're a kid, like green…Like the way, you dig sunsets, Pony. That's gold. Keep it that way. It's a good way to be" (Hinton 152). Johnny's last wishes were for Ponyboy to preserve this mentality and hopefully spread it among those they loved most. It is not often growing up as a greaser that one is able to see the beauty around them, escape the cruel world full of tragedies, and transcend the fate bestowed on them by skin color and financial status.

References:

1. Hinton, S. E. (1967). The Outsiders. Viking Press.

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