In the novel The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, The main character Ponyboy Curtis is looked upon as an “outsider” or someone who doesn’t belong in a normal group. In the novel, Hinton takes Ponyboy’s character one step further by putting him in different situations that show him as an outsider. The novel is about two different groups, the greasers, which are known as the outsiders, hence the name of the novel, and the Soc’s which is short for Socials or the socially accepted crowd. These two groups hate one another, constantly fighting each other throughout the whole novel. Ponyboy is a big reason these two groups fight. Even though Ponyboy deep down inside of him is really intellectual he puts up an act and carries on the greaser’s attitude so that nobody can really see who he truly is, “There isn't any real good reason for fighting except self-defense” (Hinton, 143) …show more content…
He does not want people to get to know him, so he puts up a front that he is bad and full of trouble when deep down inside of him he is a sensitive smart teenage kid. When you are a teenager you don’t really know who you are, and I feel Ponyboy is trying to hide that more than anything within this whole novel. “I was beginning to relax and wonder if running away was such a great idea. I was sleepy and freezing to death and I wanted to be home in bed, safe and warm under the covers with Soda’s arm across me” (Hinton, 52). This quote shows how Ponyboy was always thinking, thinking if he was doing the right thing and knowing what was good for him and what was not good for him. Even though he was a greaser; an outsider he was always thinking and knew that some of the things he did were not right and would get him in