In many cities, there will be a group of richer or more upper-class people, called “Socs”
whose children are privileged and may be spoiled. There may also be a lower class, nicknamed
“Greasers” whose children are not looked after very well, and may form street “gangs”. This
happens in The Outsiders, where a group of delinquent boys, including Ponyboy Curtis, form a
group that look out for each other, similar to a real family, one that neither of the boys have had
before.

During the events of the book, the main character, Ponyboy Curtis, lives with his
brothers, Sodapop Curtis and Darry Curtis. Most, if not all of his friends are in a sort of “gang”
led by Darry. One day, Ponyboy and his friend Johnny are walking home when they are abused
by Bob Sheldon, a Soc who got drunk at a party. Bob tries to drown Ponyboy, but is stabbed to
death by Johnny, in Ponyboy’s defense. Johnny and Ponyboy run away to a church in
Windrixville. They cut and dye their hair in the abandoned church, and the two read from “Gone
With The Wind”. After a week, Dally, one of the older boys and a delinquent with a long criminal
rap sheet shows up, and tells the two that Bob’s girlfriend, Cherry Valance, has testified that
Bob was drunk during the murder, and the killing was in self-defense. Johny decides to turn
himself in, but when he gets back to the church, he and Ponyboy discover that it was on fire,
with a school outing still inside. Johnny and Ponyboy go into the church to save the children, but
the former is hit by a burning timber and suffers severe burns, as well as a broken back. After
this, Ponyboy and the rest of the gang, sans Johnny, meet in a parking lot for a fight with a gang
of Socs. After the fight, Johnny later dies from his injuries, and Dally robs a grocery store in
grief, and is shot by the police for bluffing with an unloaded gun. Ponyboy passes out from a
concussion he sustained in the fight, and wakes up three days later, refusing to believe that
Johnny and Dally are dead. Ponyboy and Johnny are both acquitted, and Ponyboy starts to
write a book about his experiences for school, which starts with the first few words of the first
chapter.

This book gives an insight on how living below the poverty line can lead the children
under the line to trouble, and even how children and teens who live above the line can act like
thugs. An example in the book that portrays this the most is when Bob Sheldon and his friends
attack Ponyboy and Johnny. Bob and his friends are both rich kids who aren’t expected to do
this sort of thing, but they still do, undermining the stereotypes that rich kids are well-behaved,
and poor kids may not be.