George Milton and Ponyboy Curtis are both outsiders. They are trapped on the outskirts of society with no clear paths to success. George is a migrant worker, living day to day, job by job, in Depression-era California. Ponyboy is a Greaser, part of a “tuff” gang of lower-class teenagers living in a town based on Tulsa, Oklahoma (the author's hometown), during the 1960s. He lives with his two older brothers, who care for him after their parents die in a car crash, but there is always the fear that the government will take him from his brothers and put him in a boys’ home.

And yet, despite their outsider status, both George and Ponyboy are also insiders. They each have someone to trust, someone who makes them feel safe. George travels with Lennie Small, and together they dream the American Dream; they imagine a life where they can be their own boss by owning some land and achieving modest success through hard work. Similarly, Ponyboy depends on his two brothers and his circle of friends. In particular, his friend Johnny Cade encourages him to dream of a way to escape the confines of their low status. These male friendships give power to both protagonists, who otherwise are rendered powerless by society. George and Ponyboy are strengthened by their hopes for a future in which they have a greater sense of control over their destinies.

However, once George loses Lennie, it seems unlikely he will ever make his dream come true. George becomes like “all the other guys,” alone and without a place to call home. Ponyboy, on the other hand, although he too loses his friend Johnny, still has his brothers and the rest of his friends, who continue to provide him with much-needed support. The reader is hopeful that Ponyboy will find a way to escape the Greaser label and the Greaser life, using his creativity, along with the love he gets from his friends and family, in order to achieve his dreams.