Question

Analyse how the representation of marginalised groups in ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E Hinton reflects the social context of its time

Answer 1

The social context that is represented in “The Outsiders”, is relevant to its time, as the author, Susan Eloise Hinton, herself faced social degradation in her high school class.

Explanation:

The novel is about the clashes between the lesser privileged section of the community and the higher orders of the community. The clashes are about the superiority of each section of society and the rules that govern the same.

It is also about friendships made and broken for the fear of being hurt or being let down, about love and fear between the two classes, and finally about how at the end of all, it does not make sense to maintain so much of enemy as each person differs in their circumstances.

The author is young and a female faced similar clashes in her times at the time of writing her book. She was also asked to change her name to be gender-neutral to appeal more to the crowd.

These pointer show and reflect the relevance of the marginalized groups of the contextual times.