"The Outsiders" is a text about internal and external conflict.
"The Outsiders" is a classic based on differentiation between two gangs in the east and west side (rich class and working class) during 1965.S.E. Hinton published the book when she was seventeen focusing on struggles within the mind (internal conflict) and conflicts with people or nature (external conflict).Also the struggles against society, S.E. Hinton also foreshadows some resolutions for conflicts when Ponyboy and Johnny get jumped near the fountain. Johnny carries a switch blade after he got jumped so you know something is going to happen. We wear our hair long and dress in blue jeans and T-shirts'; the way you dress defines what social group you belong to. It's an expression of group identity. In the outsiders Ponyboy has many internal conflicts throughout the story including finding his own identity. He's torn between his need to belong to a gang or to choose his own path. His relationship with his brothers is also an internal conflict because he struggles to find loves from his older brother dally and Sodapop is always sticking up for him. Sodapop also struggled finding himself within his siblings because they were always fighting and he would always struggle to take a side. He also struggled into marrying a girl named sandy.
When Ponyboys parents died it was a huge struggle for the three siblings Darry, Sodapop and Ponyboy because they had to rely on themselves and pay all the bills etc. Johnny's death was also a big impact on Ponyboy it broke him because Johnny was that one person in the group you can't do without. Johnny was also the closest person in the gang to Johnny. Fighting the Socs was the main external conflict in the book. Because the only thing that separated them was the money and place. It meant that the Socs had the right to enjoy themselves even if it was crossing the red line (hurting the greasers). The greaser's hardest struggle is versing society, standing up for their thoughts and become who they are.