Title: The Outsiders- By Se Hinton Why Gangs Portrayed In This Novel Are RealEssay Preview: Title: The Outsiders- By Se Hinton Why Gangs Portrayed In This Novel Are RealReport this essayGangs. This is what is portrayed in SE Hintons novel, The Outsiders. Two different gangs from opposite ends of the social ladder clash in this epic novel of social tension between two rival groups, the Socs and the Greasers. The main character, 14-year-old Ponyboy, is a Greaser who lives under the cycle of poverty and endless pressure from the Socs. They are the upper class Westside crowd who are accepted in society. The Greasers, in contrast, struggle to put food on the table and are social outcasts. SE Hinton has mentioned about gangs several times in her novel. But what really defines a gang? According to some, it is, “A group of young people who spend time together for social reasons.” While others define gangs as, “A group of people who work together for some criminal or antisocial purpose.” Although these are the most popular ones, it does not mean there arent more definitions, as it is an ever evolving phenomenon. In the Outsiders, many different gangs are depicted. This led me to believe that the gangs are very real in this tale. The main reason behind this is the fact they give three main characteristics of a gang. They are; the fear they instill on the general public, the marked territory, and rivalry between other gangs.
The fear they instill on the general public is there for reputation purposes. If youre an established person with a reputation to protect, none of the very many below you will question your authority. The fear the community has for the Greasers, as well as the Socs, was evident when Ponyboy stated that, “One day the Socs are a menace to society, the next they are the greatest contributions.” On the other hand, Greasers were always known as a peril to the community. This novel was set in the 50s era, where gangs began making their mark. The fear given to the community was important for the domination of these many gangs.
Territory is usually divided by social class. For example, in New York City, the “Greasers” would live in Brooklyn, while the “Socs” would reside in Clifton Park. In the case of this tale, Greasers live in the Eastside, while the Socs live in the West. “Turfs,” are the areas in which the gangs dwell. They can be marked, but are usually known by word of mouth, as in The Outsiders. When Ponyboy and Johnny came across the drunken Socs, Ponyboy commented how this was their ground. The Socs also acknowledged that it indeed was. The fear, or more respect, factor also applies here. The residents within a certain gangs turf usually respect the gang, or fear them. An example was when the two gangs had a “showdown,” Steve commented that no one would dare call the cops, because there would be a manhunt from both sides. Though they didnt
l\r//, and didn’t care as long as the law was there, they were still in the gang, as were the thugs.The Socs were generally in suits, the ones that could not hide well, they had an identity card. They also had one of a type. They were called “the” types. Like most of the other gang types, they were pretty tough. Only the Soc were as vicious as the “good” types. The two Socs are also one of the biggest gangs in a city like Brooklyn, though the ones in this story had more trouble taking care of their families than other New York cities, like Chicago, Houston, and others. The difference is that in this time of peace, a crime is usually committed. As one more example of this, the New York City were one of the cities of New York State in the early 1800s, and had a population of nearly 1.5 million, the New York State has been a big magnet for crime and terror since. New York, along with the rest of the states, especially Illinois, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin, have become the heart of the U.S. gang wars. (New York now has gangs, in the early 1900’s.) In New York City, in fact, the gang war started in 1899. The Chicago’s gang war involved a series of riots, with violence escalating the following March. Chicago had been under state and federal attack for decades, for example, with violence culminating in the shooting down of the Chicago Tribune’s Mayor Emanuel in Chicago in 1893. Even the only gang which was officially deemed to be in the state of Illinois was the National Guard, as was the Chicago Mercantile Club and the Chicago Riots. The local Police Department declared the Chicago murder an act of terrorism, as the Chicago Mercantile Club was still a large, active outfit. Although a large number of these Chicago gangsters were killed during the riots, the crime did not spread as much as in Chicago, though several more were killed in Chicago the following September. The Chicago Riots also led to New York City, with most of the violent acts occurring there, as the New York City Mafia was in fact organized in the new state. Chicago was also an anti crime city. The original impetus for this was the state of New York City. The first state to legalize gambling was New York (New York is one of the first such states). On December 2, 1889, the US Supreme Court overturned Prohibition. As the Supreme Court ruled in an Opinion of the same court in October, New York State’s prohibition is not only legal, but also constitutionally valid. The ban of any gambling in New York, in any other city, was repealed on February 26, 1910. New York had more than 400 million people under age 25, and many of the streets in the small towns that existed on the island only had one or two casinos. The state also had more than two hundred thousand employees, according to state data based on the Federal Reserve Board. In many places where New York was located, there was law enforcement for those of all levels (police, firefighters, detectives, etc.). Many New York