What is the conflict that starts the story The Outsiders?

The conflict that is shown in the beginning of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is one between members of the "Socs" standing for "the Socials" and described as "the jet set, the West-side rich kids" (Hinton P2), and the story's main character Ponyboy, a fourteen year old member of the "Greasers" which is used to describe all the boys from "the East Side" (Hinton P2). At the beginning of the story, Ponyboy goes on to describe...

The conflict that is shown in the beginning of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is one between members of the "Socs" standing for "the Socials" and described as "the jet set, the West-side rich kids" (Hinton P2), and the story's main character Ponyboy, a fourteen year old member of the "Greasers" which is used to describe all the boys from "the East Side" (Hinton P2). At the beginning of the story, Ponyboy goes on to describe further the differences between the Socs, who have "editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next" (Hinton P3), and the Greasers, which he describes as "almost like hoods;we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations" (Hinton P3). The conflict between the groups occurs early in the opening pages of the story when a group of five Socs attack and jump Ponyboy as he walks home alone from the movies. This early attack sets up a larger theme of class conflict between the groups that is continually developed through out the rest of the story. Hope this helps!