The Outsiders
Bibliography
Hinton, S.E. 1967. THE OUTSIDERS. New York, NY: Dell Publishing. ISBN 0044967694
Plot Summary
Ponyboy is the youngest amongst his brothers, friends and gang, known as the Greasers. After the death of his parents, his brothers and himself struggle to make ends meet and Ponyboy tries to figure out his identity and what he wants in life. After a tragedy involving his friend and fellow gang member, Johnny, Ponyboy must overcome what occurs in the fallout and learn what it means to be loyal and brave, all while addressing his doubts and dreams.
Critical Analysis
S.E. Hinton's, The Outsiders, is still read and talked about almost 60 years after it was first published. The story of a young group of boys and their struggles with identity, purpose, and the world around them still resonate in today's youth and generate discussion on what teenagers experience and feel.
The characters of the book, while all within a few years of each other and in the same gang, have different personalities, beliefs, and struggles. Ponyboy's brothers, Sodapop and Darry, have different experiences with school and their jobs and show their love for their younger brother in different ways. Johnny and Dallas come from homes where their parents don't care and are two completely different individuals in how they think and act. Two-Bit and Steve are charismatic and open, while Ponyboy and Johnny are quiet. There is a character that each person that reads this book could relate to, in some form or fashion. And their bond and friendship are a theme that Hinton does an amazing job of illustrating with the events that occur in the story, such as Dallas jumping into the burning building for Johnny or the gang coming together to avenge Johnny in the rumble. Their love for each other is raw and open, a love that many people couldn't see happening between a group of teenage boys until this book.
Seeing the book's events occur through the eyes of the youngest in the gang create a sense of naivety, innocence, and confusion. Ponyboy has grown out around all the violence that occurs with the gang, but he doesn't always know why it has to be that way. He questions what goes on around him and wants things to be different, for everyone to get along and not fight. He wants his brothers to love him and for his friends to do good and for the hurting and killing to stop. This helps to remind the reader that these are just kids. That they are having to deal with what they have to because they grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. This is how Hinton illustrates the theme of identity and self. Can you truly change who you are despite your circumstances? Is it even possible?
The Outsiders is a book for all, not just teenage boys. It has stood the test of time because of this. Everyone has an identity. Everyone wishes to change. And it doesn't matter where you grow up. What matters is what you do with it.
Review Excerpts
National Observer: "What it's like to live lonely and unwanted and cornered by circumstance... There is rawness and violence here, but honest hope to."
The Guardian: "The Outsiders is gritty, honest and authentic, and a novel that I feel every teenager needs to read. It makes the reader see that at the end of the day, as Ponyboy says, 'we see the same sunset, and that while we are the ones who create the divides between ourselves, we can also be the ones to challenge them'."
Chicago Tribune: "...taut with tension, filled with drama..."
Connections
The Big Screen: Watch the Francis Ford Coppola 1983 film adaptation, and compare and contrast. What is left in, taken out, changed for the screen?
More by S.E. Hinton: That Was Then, This Is Now (1971)
Rumble Fish (1975)
Tex (1979)
If you liked The Outsiders, you should read: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
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