The Difference of Initial Inference of Identity

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Shelly Moy

M. Ragan

ENG261AC

April 14, 2003

“The Difference of Initial Inference of Identity”

S.E. Hinton’s novel, The Outsiders, is at first a narrative of Ponyboy, a young outcast boy who later becomes a young man filled with identity. At the end of the novel, it is revealed that the narrative is actually Ponyboy’s autobiographical account of his quest for a place in society. The symbols and motifs of The Outsiders contribute immensely to the novel’s most prominent theme: Commonality between the rich and the poor is camouflaged by economics and socialism.

The greasers are limited to physical forms of identity, as their only significant symbol of identity is their hair. The greasers, unlike the Socs, cannot afford jewelry or cars like their opposing social group. Their greasy hair distinguishes them from all of their social groups and classes. In the beginning of the novel, the Socs and Ponyboy arrive at a confrontation and they promised, “We’re gonna do you a favor greaser. We’re gonna cut all that long greasy hair off” (Hinton 5). This symbolically reveals that the Socs were attempting to rob Ponyboy of his identity. Hinton also places heavy significance upon eye shape and color. The descriptions of each character’s eyes are symbolic of their personalities. Johnny Cade’s eyes are described as wide and brown, reflecting his nervous, gentle, yet vulnerable tendencies. In contrast, both Darry and Dally have eyes that are described as icy blue; this represents Ponyboy’s chilly feelings of uneasiness towards them. Hinton also utilizes their eye shape and color to convey

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their heartlessness, harshness and invulnerability. The symbols of hair and eyes assist in greater illumination the novel’s central theme of identity and class.

The reference to Robert Frost’s poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is introduced by Ponyboy, as he recites it to Johnny in the Windrixville Church.

“Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay” (Hinton 77).

The title of the poem simply suggests that all good things must subside to an end. As the novel concludes, the boys reason that youthful innocence cannot exist forever, as the harsh realities of life distort any such idea. Near the end of the novel Johnny preaches, “Stay gold Ponyboy. Stay gold” (Hinton 159). This quote is representative of Frost’s poem; Johnny has lost his innocence, just as the poem promised that nothing gold could stay. The poem also offers the boys a metaphor to the structure of their loss of innocence.