life and to avail himself of the educational opportunities he missed out on due to their parents' untimely deaths. Darry recognizes that Ponyboy's identity isn't as closely bound up with the Greasers as his.

One of the main themes is reflected in the title, The Outsiders.  Ponyboy and his brothers are lack the "normal" comforts of having parents and a real family. They are also outside the socio-economic level that is considered respectable. Because they are outside the borders of what is considered socially acceptable, Ponyboy, his brothers, and his friends are labeled "greasers," a pejorative term. 

Ponyboy cannot help feeling that life has been unfair to his brothers and him.  After all, they have lost their parents. As a consequence, Soda has dropped out of school to work at a gas station. Ponyboy's older brother Darry has assumed the responsibility of acting as a surrogate father to Ponyboy; Darry also works two jobs to try to support his brothers. Unfortunately, their lack of financial security and their social class are the causes of several conflicts. 

One of the greatest of these conflicts is the social conflict between the Greasers and the Socs, the upper-class boys. The Socs had previously beaten Ponyboy's friend Johnny Cade so severely that Johnny now carries a switchblade. But Johnny seems destined for misfortune. In Chapter 3, Johnny tells Pony that he will not commit suicide, but he is very frustrated.

But I gotta do something. It seems like there's gotta be someplace without greasers or Socs, with just people. Plain, ordinary people.

Sadly, the only place he finds a short respite from the gang conflict is in the church where he and Pony hide and where, ironically, he is later severely injured.

One of the most dominant themes in The Outsiders is that of class conflict.  The beginning of the novel strongly introduces this theme as a group of Socs, the West Side rich kids, jump and terrorize Ponyboy, a young boy from the East Side:

"Hey, grease," one said in an over-friendly voice.  "We're gonna do you a favor, greaser.  We're gonna cut all that long greasy hair off" (5).

The Socs target Ponyboy because of his social status as a greaser; the differences between the values and socio-economic status of the greasers and Socs in The Outsiders have turned the two groups against each other in animosity.  Each group targets the other as an enemy, and because of their different lifestyles and the resulting stereotypes, each side despises the other.  The greasers are seen as hoods and juvenile delinquents by the Socs while the greasers perceive the Socs as the group that "has all the breaks" with their "tuff" mustangs and madras shirts.  The class conflict between Socs and greasers drives the plotline of the novel, becoming one of the most important themes in The Outsiders.

S. E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders is a coming-of-age story that details the struggles of Ponyboy Curtis to find his place in society. The teenaged Pony feels pressure to show loyalty to his friends, especially when they are challenged by a rival group, but he also learns the importance of making his own decisions. The questionable choices that numerous other teenagers make not only put Pony in a difficult situation, but even lead to the death of one boy. As two other deaths follow, Pony finally realizes how much he needs his own family and learns to appreciate the love and support of his brothers.

Because the society in which Pony has grown up is highly segregated by class, he and his so-called “Greaser” friends find themselves pitted against the wealthier “Soc” boys. Pony’s friendship with a Soc-affiliated girl, Cherry, makes him see the others as individuals rather than an undifferentiated mass. However, as this rivalry escalates into violence, his friend Johnny kills a Soc to save Pony’s life. Running off with Johnny makes Pony a fugitive as well, and he has to decide what his loyalty and gratitude to Johnny require of him.

An apparently random incident, in which the boys save children from a burning building, leads to Johnny’s death. After another Greaser, Dally, is killed during a robbery, Pony seeks refuge from the lethal violence. He finally accepts that he and his brothers share the values by which he wants to live.

There are many themes in S. E. Hinton’s book TheOutsiders, including friendship, individual identity, and loyalty. However, the main theme is arguably social conflict. The book revolves around the Greasers, a gang of poor boys from the East Side. They are viewed as delinquents because of their social status. The Greasers have frequent run-ins with the Socs, a gang of affluent boys from the West Side. While the Socs also participate in some delinquent activities, society does not view them as delinquents because of their social status.

The socioeconomic differences between the Greasers and the Socs cause a great deal of tension. For instance, recall how the Socs look down on the Greasers because they are poor. Meanwhile, the Greasers view the Socs as pretentious. The conflict takes up almost all of the boys’ time and energy. Recall how Johnny tells Ponyboy:

I gotta do something. It seems like there’s gotta be someplace without Greasers or Socs, with just people. Plain, ordinary people.

There is a whole world outside of the conflict between the Greasers and the Socs but the threats and violence and pressures to maintain their images have them all trapped. Hinton is trying to show the many real reasons why boys join gangs and how the social conflicts they become involved in impact their lives.

Ponyboy also learns that even though people might come from different backgrounds, everyone has problems. Recall how Cherry tells him:

I bet you think the Socs have it made. The rich kids, the West-side Socs. I’ll tell you something Ponyboy, and it may come as a surprise. We have troubles you’ve ever even heard of. You want to know something … Things are rough all over.

Ponyboy learns that just because a person has money does not mean they do not have problems, and the Socs learn about the Greasers too. Recall the scene in which Ponyboy tells Randy that he is worried he might have to go into foster care. Randy is genuinely surprised and genuinely sorry. He had never really reflected on how complex their lives were because of their rough backgrounds. The book suggests that it is not right to make assumptions about people based on their social status, and it is not right to put others down because of the way they grew up.

Primarily through the character of Ponyboy Curtis, The Outsiders reveals deep conflicts between loyalty to one’s family and one’s friends. The main theme is that maturing into adulthood often requires a person to make difficult decisions about the relative importance of such loyalties, and to find one's unique place in relation to others based on values.

Ponyboy must learn to make his own decisions, which are influenced by the significant people around him but ultimately depend on his own conscience. As we follow him through these difficulties, we see that he is becoming a leader rather than a follower. He searches for an appropriate role model among the older boys and young men with whom he associates, alternately following his brothers and his friends. In the end, however, it is his own conscience that steers him in the right direction, as he takes initiative to rescue children trapped in a fire. Although less spectacular, his action to assert his own creativity by writing the narrative is also a significant step in growing into his own person.

The novel The Outsiders has a number of different themes. One example is class conflict keeps the status quo. This is seen throughout the book, as Greasers and Socs battle one another every chance they get, from Ponyboy nearly getting jumped on his walk home from the movie theater to the final rumble that will supposedly settle things once and for all. It's only when these economic class divisions are put aside, like when Cherry and Pony befriend one another, that there is any real chance of things changing. 

Another theme could be honor and bravery take many forms. Ponyboy sees that both Johnny and Dally are honorable and brave, real examples for old-fashioned Southern gentlemen. Still, the two boys couldn't be more different. Johnny died a child-saving hero and Dally a rotten hoodlum. Still, in examining their lives and deaths, Ponyboy shows how honor and bravery can be demonstrated in vastly different ways. 

The classic piece of juvenile literature, The Outsiders possesses many themes. The most obvious of them is the theme of class conflict and segregation. This issue of classes in this society creates the conflict of a boy struggling to find his place in the world and in his life. He feels lost like an "outsider" because he does not entirely fit in with the greasers but he can't be anything else. The world is so limited to him because of this segregation and prejudice. There is also the theme of loyalty. This also lends itself to Ponyboy as he doesn't completely fit in with the greasers, but maintains a confused sense of pride at identifying himself as a greaser. 

One of the main themes is class structure or conflict.  The "Greasers" are the poor lower-economic local boys who are in constant conflict with the rich socialites known as the "Socs".  Their upbringing and values differ, so they have a hard time seeing eye-to-eye.

Another theme is the sense of belonging--who am I and where do I fit in?  This is especially true of Pony who just wants to live his life despite all the violence and danger of the gangs which surrounds him.  He reads poetry and does the kind of random acts of kindness that violent and tough gang members do not, but at the same time, his friends and himself are constantly threatened.  He is struggling with his self-identity and where he belongs...this does mold a person into the final adult creation. 

With any piece of literature, you can find other themes by filling in the following blanks:  _______________________(name of story/novel/poem) is about _____________________________ (the first thing that comes to your mind).  This final blank is the theme.  It could be good vs. evil, loss of innocence, search for self, ambition, greed, compassion, men vs. women, etc.  Just be able to point out examples in the literature that back up your thinking.  Good Luck!