Symbols In The Outsiders Essay

"The Outsiders" is a seminal coming-of-age novel authored by S.E. Hinton and originally published in 1967. The novel tells the story of Ponyboy Curtis, a member of a gang called the Greasers, who perpetually finds himself at odds with the affluent and privileged Socs. The central premise of the novel involves the significance of learning from mistakes and overcoming challenges. Hinton employs the literary technique of characterisation to effectively communicate this message to the reader. Ponyboy Curtis is a young and impressionable protagonist who confronts various challenges throughout the narrative.

Symbols are often characters, animals, objects, and or actions. In The Grapes of Wrath, a symbol that I first came across when reading was the turtle that was trying to continue its journey in the rough terrain. It was run over by a truck, that threw it on to the other side of the road and it still got up and continued its way. The turtle directly symbolizes the Joad’s. Like the turtle, the Joad’s are thrown off track by the harsh environment, but continue on their journey through the hardship.

The motif and the symbols basically balance eachother out, from what i interpret is because they both have to do with the veil. The veil gets emphasized roughly, it is such a huge piece of context in the story and it is really a matter of life or death in the story because when Hooper dies, he gets buried with the veil on still and that's what leads the story on insane as

The numerous symbols throughout help the reader to get a deeper understanding of the characters and further develop the story. The symbols

Another example of usage of symbolism in this book would be Alcohol. Alcohol is used as a symbol to convey a deeper meaning. Alcohol in this novel symbolizes that many of the characters face problems and obstacles that are very difficult, but they don’t really face them head-on. They try to escape from their problems in many ways, and the main one is alcohol. The characters are having tough times in their lives, where they really don’t know what to do and how to handle their obstacles or setbacks to be happy.

The last symbol is the pebble carried by Lieutenant Jimmy Cross this symbolizes the love that he has for Martha. In the story “The Things They Carried” his pebble represents his love for Martha and good luck due to her picking out the pebble for him and sending it to him. Later in the chapter “Love” he thinks about getting rid of the pebble when he was burning the pictures of Martha after Lavender’s death but he is not able to get rid of it just like his love for Martha. The pebble shows his attachment to Martha and how he always has it with him and isn’t able to get rid of it.

What is the purpose of symbols? Symbols are used to make a reader think more about the novel they’re reading and think about what the novel represents. Symbols help the reader understand the author's purpose of writing the novel. The Outsiders by S.E Hinton is a novel that is in the POV of Ponyboy who's in a gang. The gang is called the Greasers and includes Ponyboy,his two older brothers and some of their very close friends.

Symbolism: What types of symbolism do you find in this novel? What do these objects really represent? How do characters react to and with these symbolic objects? Why are these objects significant, or why are their representations significant? (5)

In the novel the outsiders, S.E. Hinton does a great job bringing more readers to the young adult fiction genre. It was the reason she captured the reader that keeps it popular among middle schoolers everywhere. Her revealing acts is why it is a staple for schools and readers throughout the decades. S.E. Hinton does a great job showing revealing acts through the church fire. Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dallas all risk their lives to save people, that alone shows that those three are very courageous and caring, despite being greasers.

As timely now as it was written 48 years ago, “The Outsiders” is a dramatic and enduring work of fiction written by S.E Hinton. Books such as “The Outsiders” have the power to affect readers’ lives and stay with them forever. Ponyboy’s life was not easy, he had it tough and he is very aware of that. But he finds ways to make it work. I really liked this book because it was like a “Blast in the past” sorta thing because we are reading a book about a 14 year old in the mid 60s, and he is talking about the issues he has and the differences between the two groups the Socs and the Greasers,we get a rare glimpse of a boy 's life in the 60s and we get to read a unique piece of literature which we can’t find nowhere else.

The three most significant symbols in the story are the regalia, the money, and the pawnshop. The symbolism in each of them is closely related to one another. The regalia symbolizes the Indian heritage and culture (Alexie 2). It also symbolizes what is pawned and that no one is perfect “because only God is perfect” (Alexie 2). The pawnshop symbolizes a place of redemption and the motivation to find redemption.

Symbolism helps set the theme, showing something as simple as light can be seen as gold. There are ways that symbolism can be changed, to change the themes meaning. Another example of symbolism in “Gold” is “In the wind where all eye to eye”. In this symbolism context I think it means that through the eyes of God/ ultimate force all things are equal.

Have you ever experience the loneliness? Have you ever be an outsider? Do you care about other people feeling? The book “The Outsiders” written by S.E. Hinton’s novel, is about a boy named Ponyboy, which is on the greaser side. There are two main gangs of people.

“Nature’s first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold,” is most directly portrayed in Ponyboy. “Her early leaf’s a flower, but only so an hour,” is symbolic of Johnny’s personality. “Then leaf subsides to leaf, so Eden sank to grief,” displays Dally’s shift of character towards the end of the novel. “So dawn goes down to day, nothing gold can stay,” is a comparison of the amount of innocence the three greasers possess within themselves.

The function of these symbols in the story play a pivotal role in how the reader perceives the characters and also how the theme of knowledge influences the nature