The novel The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hilton is about two gangs living in Oklahoma around the 1950s. Although there are a few minor conflicts at the start of the book these begin to start forming into major conflicts.

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  “Conflict Is At The Heart Of A Novel”

The meaning of conflict is to fight, struggle or to disagree. This essay will show how “conflict is at the heart of a novel”, by showing and explaining examples to prove this. The novel The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hilton is about two gangs living in Oklahoma around the 1950’s. Although there are a few minor conflicts at the start of the book these begin to start forming into major conflicts. This essay will demonstrate examples of conflicts found in this story. The types of conflict being, personal conflict within the main characters, conflicts between the gangs and conflict between characters and the law.

Firstly, an example of conflict in this novel is the personal conflict within the characters. I will start with Ponyboy as he has a lot of conflict within his own family. Ponyboy is a fourteen year old teenager who lives with his two older brothers, Darry and Sodapop. The story the Outsiders is told from his prospective. Ponyboy has had a lot of conflict in his life since his parents died in a car crash. This forced Darry to work full time, quit school and take care of his younger brothers. Due to their desperate struggle with poverty, Ponyboy and his brothers often find themselves in conflict with each other. These conflicts are often a result of Darry getting frustrated. Darry realises that life is hard and knows that if Ponyboy can work hard at school he can find a way out of poverty. Another reason why there is conflict within the family is that Darry worries about his sibling’s safety. This is shown in chapter 1, Page 15-16, where Darry argues with Ponyboy about common sense and walking alone at night time. He states, “You don’t ever think, not at home, or anywhere when it counts”. Ponyboy feels his brother is never happy with him. “Me and Darry just didn’t dig each other. I never could please him”. Chapter 1, page 16.

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Another character in this novel that faced personal conflicts is Johnny. It states in the novel that his father always beats him up and his mother ignores him or yells at him. This has caused Johnny to be nervous and suspicious. “He would have run away a million times if we hadn’t been there.” Chapter 1, page 14. This quote from the book tells that Johnny’s home life was unhappy and filled with conflict.

Secondly, another example of conflict in this novel is the conflict between both gangs. The Greasers are a group of juveniles joined by the common factor ...

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