The Root of Identity in The Outsiders Essay Example

“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I’ve ever known” - Chuck Palahniuk. The concept of identity is constructed by two major building blocks, internal and external factors. Internal factors are factors that cannot be controlled. Such as who your parents are and what your cultural background is. While external factors are factors in the world around you that shape how you act, think, and express yourself. The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, display how severely external factors can shape your identity. External factors are a pivotal part of our lives; they can cause people to unite and pit them against each other. Factors such as, if your parents are alive or taking care of you, having the necessities needed to live in modern society, and who you idolize. When you look at someone’s personality, you typically compare how they act to how their parents act. For example, “You have the same laugh as your father.” Looking at similarities in identity between parents and their children can show how much of an impact they had in their life. When raising a kid, the thoughts and aspirations of a parent play a key role in determining the identity of a kid. Some parents choose to neglect their child, while others are in a position where they cannot take care of their child. Bob, a Soc who lived on the westside, had indirect conflicts with his parents. Bob was irritated because his parents never disciplined him and punished him. His parents did not care how he behaved and let him do whatever he desired. ‘“I mean, most parents would be proud of a kid like that -good-lookin’ and smart and everything, but they gave in to him all the time. He kept trying to make someone say “No” and they never did’”. (Page, 116) Bob’s identity was shaped by the fact that his parents did not care for him and didn’t punish him. The lack of attention and discipline led him to be defined as disobedient and rebellious. As you grow up, you face a multitude of challenges. These challenges and how you respond can shape how you think and how you react to difficult situations.

The cost of living is expensive, and some people have what they need to live, while others struggle to provide for themselves. 22.9% of criminals were homeless or incarcerated before being sent to jail (Homelesshub.ca, 2010) . Struggles bring change to a person’s rationale. They make decisions based on what helps them survive, not by what is accepted by societal standards. Dally was an example of this. When he lived in New York, he was living amongst the gangs as a way of survival. This led to him stealing food, money, and whatever he could get his hands on. “Dally was a different matter. If something beefed him, he didn’t keep quiet about it, and if you rubbed him the wrong way- look out. Not even Darry wanted to tangle with him. He was dangerous.’” (Page, 89). When you are living in poverty and/or prison, it shapes you, and it defines you. You become known as ‘dangerous’ or ‘bad people’ when the only factor differentiating the two is their financial situation. Discrimination and judgement are difficult to deal with. Some people who are oppressed look toward someone that they admire and use them as motivation to triumph over their problems.  

Influences, when it comes to influencing who we become, we look at other humans, or even fictional characters who display morals or ideas that we firmly believe in. These beliefs can make us act in selflessness with no regard for what will happen to us. Johnny was aloof. He wasn’t bold, and did nothing out of his way to help anyone outside of his gang. Although, while hiding away in the church, he read the book Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell. He learned about how the southern gentlemen fearlessly saved people without hesitation, and Johnny idolized them for it and made it his life goal to express himself in a way that resembled the cowboys: 

We pushed open the door to the back room and found four or five little kids, about eight years old or younger, huddled in a corner. One was screaming his head off, and Johnny yelled “Shut up! We’re goin’ to get you out!’’The kid looked surprised and quit hollering. I blinked myself- Johnny wasn’t behaving at all like his old self (Page, 92).

Johnny was inspired, in a time where he had nothing and was nothing. He looked up towards the southern gentlemen and resembled them in his actions. By the time Johnny died, his identity changed from an abused hoodlum to a hero and a role model. Our identities are a build-up of influences. These influences surround us, and we choose which ones we want to align with and which ones we do not.

External factors are a determining factor of our lives. They are the cornerstone of our identities. They are built up of parental guidance or the lack of it, whether you have the necessities needed to live in modern society, and who you idolize, and aspire to become. In The Outsiders, external factors shaped the character’s lives in a myriad of ways. It made the Greaser’s hoodlums and miscreants, and the Soc’s flawless. External Factors shape lives so distinctly that it changes the core D.N.A of how a human thinks and acts. The change in the way we think brings unprecedented consequences. If external factors didn’t shape our identities, there would be no poverty, slavery, racism, war, or sexism. If we weren’t unique, we would live in a utopia, and merely be products of each other, like robots, but we are not. And that is what makes us human.