The outsiders By: S.E. Hinton What are the symbols in The Outsiders and what do they really represent?

Symbol #1: Ponyboy's Cigarettes “ ‘Uhmmmm,’ I said, trying to blow a smoke ring [with the cigarette]. ‘Too bad it couldn’t stay like that all the time.’ ‘Nothing gold can stay.’ I was remembering a poem I’d read once” (Hinton 77). Ponyboy and his cigarettes are always presented when a dramatic or heartfelt concept/part of the plot is in action. The cigarettes symbolize Ponyboy’s wisdom and how much he is learning throughout the novel. If you pay attention in the novel, the declaration of Ponyboy smoking is mentioned a lot more until the end of the story. Tati Montes: Symbols

Symbol #2: Sunsets “It seemed funny that the sunset [Cherry] saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset” (40-41). Ponyboy states right in the quote that the worlds they lived in aren’t so different at all. He shows that even though Greasers and Socs are known to have major differences, like social status, clothing, and opinions, the sunset that appears every evening proves that there is some sort of a unification intertwined in the mess of Greasers versus Socs. The sunsets also provide a key idea of the novel: There are many branches of a tree, but they all are from the same seed. Tati Montes: Symbols

Symbol #3: Switchblades “Johnny never walked by himself after that. And Johnny...now carried in his back pocket a six-inch switchblade. He’d use it, too, if he ever got jumped again”(34). The switchblade Johnny carries represents the past conflict between the Socs and Greasers. Switchblades provide protection from enemies, which were made in the past and how insecure Johnny feels because of the scarring (emotional and physical) that Socs have implemented on Johnny. The switchblade also represents the I.B. Trait of Reflective because the past is what influences the present and the future, and you have to reminisce the past to make a better future. Tati Montes: Symbols

In the end, there are three main symbols in The Outsiders. Cigarettes Sunsets Switchblades All three symbols enhance the plot and learning experience that derives from the novel.