The Outsiders Character Analysis Essay

The Outsiders, a novel written by S. E. Hinton, contains many dynamic characters; however, the main character, Ponyboy Curtis, endures the most change. He witnesses many life-changing events over the course of two weeks, which heavily contributes to his transformation. In the beginning, Ponyboy feels isolated and alienated from the world. As a result, he decides to run away, hoping to find love and acceptance—something he believes he had never received. While on his journey, Ponyboy encounters different situations that cause him to question society, its values, and class divisions. His transformation ultimately concludes when Ponyboy matures and understands life. At the end of his journey, the reader realizes that Ponyboy wrote The Outsiders
He becomes curious as to why certain intolerant situations exist. As Ponyboy becomes friendly with Cherry, a member of the Greasers’ rival gang, the Socs, he voices his opinions and rejects the idea that these groups are vastly different. Ponyboy finds out that he has many things in common with Cherry, and they can talk to each other about situations that they cannot talk to any other gang members about. For example, they talk about their love for reading and watching sunsets because those are some things that only these two members have in common. The sunset, in particular, has a major impact on Ponyboy. He says to Cherry, “We aren’t in the same class. Just don’t forget that some of us watch the sunset too” (Hinton 46). Ponyboy questions society in this concise statement because to him, it does not make any sense that there is a social class difference between the two gangs if they all look at the same sunset and have many similarities. Although the Greasers are not as wealthy as the Socs, many of its members share the same appreciation for beauty that the wealthy aristocrats have. When Cherry recognizes the validity of what Ponyboy is saying, they make a small step towards a possible accordance between the rival gangs