The novel “The Outsiders,” by S. E. Hinton, opens with a dispute between two gangs. On one side are the Socs, made up of rich kids, and on the other, the Greasers, a gang of poor East Side kids in Tulsa. The hatred between the haughty, contemptuous Socs and the gritty, scrappy Greasers drives the plot that evolves from the physical violence between the two gangs to the inner struggle of the narrator and protagonist, Ponyboy, a fourteen-year-old member of the Greasers. Ponyboy struggles with how right and wrong are portrayed in a society, a society of which he believes he is an outsider. Hinton eloquently creates complex relationships and highlights the loss of innocence in an emotional and suspenseful coming-of-age journey. 

The Outsiders takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960s where the Greasers rule the poor East Side of town, while the Socs run the wealthy West Side of town. Their fight will be endless until one gang overcomes the other. The narrator, Ponyboy Curtis, lives with his older brothers, Darry and Sodapop. Within the major physical conflicts between the gangs, Darry and Ponyboy are continually at odds because of Darry's strict discipline style, which Ponyboy perceives as belittling. 

A crucial turning point in the novel happens when Ponyboy and Johnny, Ponyboy’s best buddy, are attacked by the Socs. To protect Ponyboy, Johnny has no choice but to kill a Soc. To get away from the scene, they set out an aimless escape journey.  By coincidence, Ponyboy and Johnny see a church on fire. They dash into the burning building and find some children who need help. Bravely, they lift each child, one by one, out a window, but during the rescue, Johnny injures himself badly. To their devastation,  the gang learns that Johnny’s injuries are fatal, and he must spend the rest of his limited life in the hospital. 

These life-altering incidences teach Ponyboy a crucial lesson about human compassion. His experience with Johnny forces him to reconsider the idea of his involvement in the gang, an entity that rarely thinks about the effects of its actions on others. In turn, gang loyalty comes into play. As his understanding of humanity and his perception of the gang’s actions change, Ponyboy can now see the Socs through more sympathetic eyes. They are now more human to him, just like Greasers. An event that cements Ponyboy’s new perspective is when he encounters one of the Soc’s girls, Cherry, in the cinema. At first, Ponyboy feels animosity towards Cherry due to his past experiences and stereotypical attitude towards his enemy gang. However, when they start chatting, Ponyboy sees her humanity. Later, Ponyboy tells Cherry that even though they are not members of the same social class, she should remember that “We saw the same sunset” (32). Its beauty can be seen from both the West Side and the East Side. The sunset symbolizes the shared humanity of all people, regardless of the gang or class to which they belong.

In the end, right before Johnny dies, he says to Ponyboy, “Stay gold, Ponyboy”(144), a reference to the Robert Frost poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” that Ponyboy shared when they were hiding at the church. Johnny claims that Frost meant that the loss of innocence is as natural as the death of a flower, both losses must be accepted as an inevitable part of the cycle of life. Johnny writes in his last letter to Ponyboy that his love of sunsets is gold. He wants Ponyboy to safeguard his youthful innocence, foster his capacity for wonder, and fight against misfortune. 

Hinton shows in The Outsiders that the Greasers are sensitive, human youngsters who deserved sympathy and even admiration. Hinton demonstrates that the Socs also deserve empathy because they are a product of their society, and they are humans with similar teenage struggles, despite their wealth and social standing. Hinton teaches us that we shouldn't judge people by money, race, color, religion, or appearance. Instead, we should first see their personalities and their humanity, and we should stay gold!