Themes from The Outsiders

The Outsiders:

Though  groups of people may be very different from each other, they still have much in common. 

We can learn to get along with one another.

Family love can overcome great hardships. 

Courtesy and propriety (honor, gallantry) can exist even among the most lawless of social groups. 

You can't really understand what someone else is going through unless you have "walked a mile in their shoes."

Loyalty creates strong bonds among family members or friends.  

Lack of loyalty breaks down the bonds among family members or friends. 

Lack of love and support at home can have tragic consequences for a kid. 

Parents, not a person's outside environment, have the biggest impact on how a kid turns out.

Looking at life as an outsider and feeling as though one is being treated as an outsider is a matter of perspective or point of view. 

We need to be careful not to judge others unfairly.

A powerful sense of connection can come from reaching out to others and trying to understand their struggles. 

Wealth can be a hardship.

We can be fooled by appearances. 

The less educated aren't necessary less smart than the better educated. 

Education can help us to connect to others.  

Heroes can come from surprising places. 

Even though an individual's choices may make a tragedy possible, the tragedy is not necessarily that individual's fault. 

Hardships can help us to grow closer to family and friends.

Not everything is black and white, purely wrong or purely right. 

How a person reacts to an experience depends on how they choose to see it.  That person can be hardened or can remain hopeful.

All beautiful things fade with the passage of time.

We need to preserve the hope and optimism of youth no matter what the world my throw at us. 

It is important to have an individual identity, not just a group identity.

Each person has choices about how he or she will react to circumstances and situations.

A person's choices may be limited by circumstances and situations. 

Class conflict is harmful and unproductive for all involved. 

Experiencing trials teaches us lessons about ourselves. 

Actions speak louder than appearances.

You can't always judge correctly based on appearances. 

We have more in common than we have differences. 

Sometimes love doesn't look like love to the one who's being loved. 

Setting boundaries is a way of expressing love.  

Family can be more than just those who are related by blood. 
Parents, not a person's outside environment, have the biggest impact on how a kid turns out. 
Focusing on superficial differences can lead to hate and violence. 
Working together against a common enemy can unite people. 

Under the right circumstances, people don't always behave as you expect them to.

Having outsiders and insiders in a community is bad for both the outsiders and the insiders.

Just because a person belongs to a certain group doesn’t mean he or she will act like the rest of the group.

We all need love and understanding. 

No one is so hard he or she doesn’t need to receive and give love.

Material belongings don't necessarily bring satisfaction. 
Sometimes we understand the least about the people we're closest to. 

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