Sodapop helps Ponyboy recognize that Darry’s high expectations for him are a result of love. Randy added more strength to the argument when he told Ponyboy about Bob’s troubled life, making him have compassion for Socs as an individual. Cherry tried to draw empathy from Ponyboy at the drive-in when she insisted that “things are rough all over,” and encouraged Ponyboy to see Socs as individuals. The two gangs are engrossed with the appearance and class status of their rivals which underscores the superficiality of their mutual hostility. The ability to see things through other people’s perspectives (empathy) is predominant in the resolution of both conflicts in The Outsiders. Ponyboy sees his brother’s desperate attempt to deliver him from the poverty and strife of their neighborhood as antagonism, while Darry sees Ponyboy’s quest to escape his conflict-ridden existence as irresponsibility and lack of consideration. Just like the two gangs are unable to see past their superficial differences to their deeper similarities, Darry and Ponyboy’s limited views make them misunderstand each other’s actions. The conflict between Darry and Ponyboy is aggravated by misunderstanding, just like that of Socs and Greasers. The other divided community in the story can be found in Ponyboy’s immediate family. This means that without the conflict, the individual members of the two gangs might go their own way. For example, the greasers live by a motto to “stick together” against the Socs. However, the story also shows how the two groups depend on their conflict for their continual existence. In the conflict between the teenagers and their gangs, the novel shows how the two groups focus on their frivolous differences – they dress differently, socialize differently, and hang out with different girls, and how all this leads to hate and violence. However, we are going to explore only empathy, divided communities, preserving childhood innocence, self-sacrifice and honor, and individual identity.ĭivided communities is a major theme of the novel as the story revolves around two major conflicts, which are- the conflict between the Socs and greasers, and the conflict between Ponyboy and his brother Darry in the Curtis family. There are many themes that can be found in the novel, The Outsiders.
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