What is some history that happened in The Outsiders?

The Outsiders, a young adult novel written by a sixteen-year-old in the 1960s, contains many references to the history and culture of her youth.

The Outsiders shows how 1960s teenagers broke away from the expectations of their parents’ generation. Removed from the hardships and deprivations of the Great Depression and World War Two, teenagers of the 1960s were more able to experiment with new fashion styles, types of music, and media.  In The Outsiders, the Socs love the Beatles, while the greasers are fans of Elvis Presley. Both musical styles were often seen as deviant or immoral to the older generation. Additionally, while teenagers in the 1940s and 1950s mostly mimicked adult fashion styles, teenagers in the 1960s developed their own trends. The greasers, in particular, show extreme creative flair in their clothing by wearing beat-up leather jackets and gel in their hair. However, these changes were certainly not just surface-level differences in shoe styles and popular bands; instead, they reflected a wider rebellion against the values of the WWII generation. As the Mount Holyoke Historical Atlas says, 1960s teenagers rebelled against “authority, good work ethic, religion, marital fidelity, patriotism and, whatever the establishment represented.” In The Outsiders, we see the older generation’s growing concern over the rebellious actions of both the Socs and the greasers.

The Outsiders also reflects the technological innovations of the 1960s. Cars are an important part of the story. After WWII, automobile ownership skyrocketed, especially given that many people moved to the suburbs, where cars were necessary for daily life activities. Teenagers had increased access to cars, and they quickly became a status symbol.

While analyzing The Outsiders, one can also question what parts of 1960s history the book fails to represent. As you know from your History and Social Studies classes, the 1960s were a high point in the civil rights movement. Though The Outsiders takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1965, it contains no mentions of these events. The world of The Outsiders is concerned with class, not race. Additionally, The Outsiders does not mention the Vietnam War, a pivotal event for many teenagers of the 1960s.