One of the most important qualities that can help teens establish their own identities is the ability to "fit in." Finding friends who understand their problems and relate to them is paramount for teenagers.
The novel is built around the class division between the Socs, ("the abbreviation for the Socials, the jet set, the West-side rich kids") and the greasers (a term that refers to the "boys on the East Side," who are "poorer than the Socs and the middle class"). The members of many small neighborhood gangs identify themselves as greasers.
The main characters in The Outsiders — Ponyboy Curtis, Darry Curtis, Sodapop Curtis, Two-Bit Mathews, Steve Randle, Dally Winston, and Johnny Cade — make up a small gang of greasers.
Two themes that run throughout this novel are intricately linked with gang philosophy.
Belonging to a gang instantly gives a teen an extended family. And that family automatically understands him, which is usually different from the family into which he was born. Gang membership also means that you are accepted. You are not an outsider; you are on the inside with at least one group.
Life isn't fair. The idea that life isn't fair is based entirely on one's perspective. Whether life is unfair to the greasers (the main characters' perspective) or to the Socs, (the rival groups' perspective) is a question that is recurrent in the novel. Rarely is injustice seen equally by all eyes.
