Identity In The Outsiders

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The movie The Outsiders tells the story of two groups of young adults; the greasers and the socs. There is a bitter rivalry that stems from economic differences. While there are some differences, these two groups are not as dissimilar as one would think; they do have some things in common. Cherry Valance and Ponyboy Curtis have a love of poetry, sunsets, and music in common. The characters in the movie are all unique, and while they all fall into the Identity vs. Role Confusion stage, they all act very differently and have different personalities. Erikson would say this is due to the crisis’s they faced growing up, and the new crisis that they are put in throughout the movie. Ponyboy Curtis is a 14 year-old boy who is living with his 2 brothers…show more content…
He is of average intelligence but has a hard time with reading comprehension, which caused him to be held back a grade. At 16 he also falls into the same stage of Identity vs. Role confusion as Ponyboy. With parents that fight a lot and are alcoholics it seems like he was unable to learn any kind of coping skills and relies a lot on what other people tell him to do. His shyness and a social awkwardness lead to the question of abuse and PTSD; this belief is also substantiated as he has a scar on his check from being beaten by 5 grown men. Johnny also has frequent thoughts of suicide which could be due to depression, feeling unloved by his parents, socially undesirable, seeing himself as “out of place” even amongst friends, and that he internalizes that actions of others. Throughout the film he never really comes to terms with his role in life. He runs to Dallas when he needs to make a decision, probably as he feels uncomfortable making a decision that will affect others as well as himself. One sign of strength in his character is that he decides to turn himself in so the Ponyboy could go back home to his family and friends. When he is in hospital with life-threatening burns and talking to Ponyboy the first time he says he regretted a lot of his past; that he wished he had never helped rescue the children, and that he didn’t want to die even though he didn’t know what to do with his

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