The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton has numerous analogies throughout to real life situations and communities. S.E. Hinton presents a story of two social groups: Greasers and Socs. The Greasers are usually come from poor economic background, and physically their long hair, dirty jeans, and stolid eyes identify them. On the other side, the Socs are categorized into the middle or upper class, carry a record of higher level crime and are dressed with finely made clothing. Either these gangs would beat each other in groups, or pick on a single person from the opposing gang and beat then to an inch from their lives. The story of the Greasers and the Socs plays out in the present time on the streets of cities like Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, the Bloods and the Crypts have a similar relationship as Socs and Greasers The gang fights and beatings described by S.E. Hinton in Outsiders are almost identical with Bloods and Crypts. It seems that S.E. Hinton drew his story lines from the relationships (or lack there of) between these two historic LA gangs.
Countless stories have been written about gangs, for their negative attributes to society. Though not all is bad about them, for as they say in The Outsiders "When you're a gang, you stick up for the members." (26) This shows that there is camaraderie within gangs, and in gangs minorities can feel strong, and powerful as a group. If a person has nowhere else to turn (their family and friends have all let them down) those people sometimes turn to a gang. In a gang, people stick up for each other, and are willing to take in people who aren't trusted by anyone else. For these reasons, many writers have written about these gangs, and their action. It is easy so see the stereotype gangs as being bad, but there are also the good, loving sides to most stories.
