Judgmental

Author’s Note: This essay is about defying stereotypes which is one of the themes in the book The Outsiders and real world examples.

11/21/11

Nick Majeskie


There are many stereotypes in the world today. Examples are nerds, age, and looks. People are stereotypical about nerds because we think they are always on their computers either playing a game or hacking something. I know some people that consider themselves nerds but, they aren’t going around hacking items. The socs and the greasers are both being stereotyped in the book The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hilton. Defying stereotypes is one of the main themes. You can’t always find the truth about people by stereotyping them.

In the book there were two types of groups; the greasers and the socs. The greasers are stereotyped because people think the average greaser is a delinquent kid and they are considered the outcasts because they live on the wrong side of the neighborhood. One way they were stereotyped in the book was at the beginning of the book, where Randy said “Greasers are just white trash”. This is stereotypical because one character named Ponyboy is considered a greaser but, he isn’t the stereotypical greaser. He is kind and intelligent, not rugged and dirty. The book indicated that Ponyboy was very intelligent in language arts. If he were a stereotypical greaser, he wouldn’t care about school.

The other group is the socs. They are stereotyped by the greasers. The greasers think they are stuck up snobs that get what they want and are wealthy. They are stereotyped because they are more affluent. An example in the book is when the socs are stereotyped by the greasers when Ponyboy yells “WELL, SOCS ARE WHITE TRASH WITH MUSTANGS”; he says this right before Johnny kills Bob. Meaning they have money because they drive mustangs. One character that proves that they are stereotyped is Cherry, who is a soc. She is pleasant and brilliant and not stuck up like a stereotypical soc. This is proven when Ponyboy is amazed when they are talking to them and don’t leave.

There are many people that are stereotyped in the book The Outsiders, but people aren’t just being stereotyped in the book; there are people in the real world being stereotyped. One example is when people are judged by where they live. If they live in an affluent neighborhood, people assume they are rich. Conversely, if they live in a neighborhood that has smaller homes, it is assumed they are poor.

One example for me is when I walked into a shoe store with my brother who is only a year older than me. We started to look at shoes. When I reached for a box to try the shoes on, the clerk yelled at me and said, “Hey, you have to pay for that”, and started to walk towards me. This proves I was judged by the clerk because he thought I was going to steal the pair of shoes because I look young.

Finally, there are plentiful ways people are being stereotyped by other people. This happens in books, movies, and real world examples like when I went into the shoe store. The only reason people are stereotyped is because the people judging have seen the same scenario before and they jump to the conclusion before that person being judged can do anything about it. It is best to give people a chance before you jump to conclusions, but sometimes that easier said than done.