The Outsiders
by S. E. Hinton
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Book Summary Information
Author: S. E. HintonBrand: Speak
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-11-01
ISBN: 014038572X
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Speak
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780140385724
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The Outsiders
Book Review: The Outsiders -> Best Book Ever
Summary: 5 Stars
THE OUTSIDERS
Main Characters
Pony Curtis - the narrator and protagonist of the story. His elder brother, Darry, brings him up after the death of his parents in a car accident. Though Pony resents him, he is also in awe of him. He also idolizes his middle brother, Soda. All three brothers belong to a gang of poor teenagers called the Greasers, named for their long, oily hair. Their bitter rivals are the Socs, the rich kids living on the west side of town. Pony is involved in the murder of a Soc named Bob. After the killing, he runs away with his friend Johnny to Windrixville. There they hide in an abandoned church. When the church catches on fire, they bravely rescue some children trapped in it. Johnny is badly injured and has to be hospitalized. When he dies, Pony is completely shattered. He cannot reconcile himself to his friend's death until he reads a letter Johnny has left for him telling him to 'stay gold' and to continue appreciating sunsets. He finally understands that with hard work he can overcome his circumstances and not remain an outsider all his life. Pony then adopts a mission for himself to tell the rest of the world about the odds that under-privileged children have to face. He also realizes and appreciates how much Darry loves and cares for him.
Johnny Cade - a member of the Greasers whom the other gang members try to protect. His father constantly beats him up, and his mother either ignores his presence or screams at him. He becomes a nervous wreck after he is terribly beaten up by the Socs. He starts carrying a switchblade in his pocket; when he and Pony are attacked by the Socs, he uses the knife to kill Bob in self-defense. He hides with Pony in an abandoned church in Windrixville and heroically rescues children who are trapped in the church after it catches fire. During the rescue, a burning beam falls on his back, and he later dies in a hospital. Before dying, he tells Dally that 'fighting's no good' and asks Pony to 'stay gold.' Even after death, his spirit reaches out to Pony in the form of a letter which he leaves for him, exhorting him to remain pure and rise above being an outsider. The letter motivates Pony to tell the rest of the world that it is wrong to judge children by the amount of hair oil they wear.
Dallas Winston (Dally) - the toughest, coldest, and meanest of the Greasers. He has been in and out of jail since the age of ten. He gives Pony and Johnny a gun and some money when they come to him after Bob's death. He also tells them where to hide. During the rescue, Dally plunges into the burning church to rescue Johnny, who is trapped under a beam. Upset by Johnny's death, he threatens the police with an unloaded gun after robbing a store. He dies without the world knowing about his qualities or the reasons for his delinquency.
SETTING
The Outsiders is set in a large, unnamed town in the United States. It is about a gang of teenage boys who are called the Greasers. They live on the east side of the town, also known as the wrong side of town; the eastside neighborhood is described in graphic detail. The story is set in the 1960's and relates the incidents that take place over a few days. After killing Bob, Pony and Johnny take shelter in an abandoned church in Windrixville. After it catches fire and burns down, they return to their hometown, where Johnny dies in a hospital.
CONFLICT
Protagonist
Pony Curtis is the teenage narrator and protagonist of the novel. When his parents were killed in a car accident, Darry, his twenty- year-old brother, began to provide for him. He resents Darry's bullying manner, not realizing that he does so because he loves him and wants him to make something of himself. Pony belongs to an eastside gang of poor teenagers, called the Greasers; their rivals are the Socs, the rich kids living on the west side of town.
Antagonist
Pony's antagonist is his status in life. Poor and from the wrong side of town, he gets no breaks in life, even though he is a good student and studies hard. He joins the Greasers because it is the thing to do if you live on the east side of town. Their rivals are the Socs, a gang of rich, spoiled kids living on the west side of town. The Socs constantly pick fights with the Greasers, and Bob, one of the Socs, attacks Johnny and Pony because they have been friendly with Cherry. Johnny kills Bob in self-defense, and he and Pony go into hiding in a church in Windrixville. When the church catches on fire, Johnny and Pony try to save the children trapped inside. Johnny is serious injured during the rescue and dies a few days later in a hospital. Dally, who was Johnny's best friend, is completely shattered by his death. Crazy with grief, he robs a store and then threatens the police with an unloaded gun. As a result, he is killed. Now Pony has lost two friends. He falls sick, becomes delirious, tries to deny Johnny's death, and begins to fail in school.
Climax
The climax occurs when Pony reads the letter that Johnny has written to him before his death. Johnny encourages his friend to "stay gold" - to look for the sunsets and good things in life. He tells Pony that if he tries, he will be able to make something worthwhile out of his life. Reading the letter is the turning point in Pony's life.
Outcome
The novel ends as a tragic comedy. Even though Bob, Johnny, and Dally have needlessly perished, Pony overcomes his problems, largely due to Johnny's letter of encouragement. He reconciles with Darry, finally understanding how much his older brother loves and cares for him. He also accepts that he does not have to be an outsider or a Greaser for the rest of his life. In order to seek help and understanding for underprivileged children like himself, Pony's mission becomes to tell others about the immense obstacles that stand in the way of success for teenagers from the wrong side of town. The novel, therefore, ends on a note of hope and optimism.
PLOT
Pony Curtis is a member of the Greasers, a gang of poor teenagers with long, oily hair and from the wrong side of town. While returning home from the movies one night, Pony is attacked by the Socs, a gang of rich kids from the west side of town. Pony is afraid that they are going to kill him and starts shouting for help. His brothers (Darry and Soda), along with Steve Randle, Two Bit Matthews, Dally Winston, and Johnny Cade, rush to his rescue. After ascertaining that Pony is relatively unharmed, Darry shouts at him for walking alone and tells him that he should use a bit of common sense. Darry is Pony's oldest brother who has provided for him since his parents were killed in a car accident. Darry knows that Pony is smart and wants him to do well in life. As a result, he constantly nags Pony about doing well in school and making good grades. Pony resents his brother's intrusion in his life and his unemotional ways. In contrast, Pony adores Soda, his middle brother. He is a high school dropout, who works at a gas station with his best friend Steve Randal. Two-Bit Matthews is a member of the Greasers who always tries to have the last word on things. Johnny Cade is another gang member whom everyone tries to protect, because his father constantly tries to beat him up. The toughest character of the Greaser's gang is Dally, who has been in and out of jail since the age of ten. Pony, Johnny, and Dally decide to go to the drive-in the next evening. There they meet Cherry and Marcia, friends of the Socs. Dally is rude and obnoxious. When Cherry throws a coke in his face, he stalks off in anger. Pony and Johnny are left to watch the movie with the girls, but they are soon joined by Two Bits. After the movie they decide to walk to Two Bits' house to pick up his car in order to take the girls home. Along the way, Pony and Cherry find that they have a lot in common; they are both are idealistic dreamers, who love sunsets. Suddenly a blue Mustang pulls up near them. Two members of the Socs, Bob and Randy, emerge from the car to confront them. A fight almost takes place between the boys, but Cherry prevents it by getting into the Mustang.
Two-Bit goes off to play snooker, and Pony and Johnny go to the vacant lot where they often hang out. At about two-thirty in the morning, Pony gets up with a start, for he has fallen asleep in the vacant lot. He rushes home to find Darry awake and frantic with worry. He shouts at Pony, which results in an argument. When Darry slaps his younger brother, Pony rushes out of the house and finds Johnny. As they walk in the park, Bob, Randy, and several other Socs attack them for being with their girls earlier. In the fight that follows, Johnny, in self-defense, kills Bob with his switchblade.
In a panic, Johnny and Pony go to Dally for help. He gives them a loaded gun, money, and directions to reach an abandoned church in Windrixville, where they can hide out. They change their appearance by cutting off their long hair and pass the time by reading Gone with the Wind and discussing life. Once Pony recites one of Robert Frost's poems, "Nothing Gold Can Stay." Johnny understands that "gold" in the poem stands for freshness, innocence, and purity.
On the fifth day of their hiding, Dally comes to visit Pony and Johnny. He takes them out to eat and informs them that the tension between the Socs and the Greasers has increased. A rumble between the two gangs is supposedly to take place the following evening. Dally says that he has started carrying an unloaded gun to serve as a deterrent to any serious trouble. Johnny announces his decision to turn himself in to the police, for he does not want to be on the run for the rest of his life. He believes that he will get a light sentence since he has killed Bob in self-defense. Dally tries to dissuade him; he knows first-hand that any prison time is miserable.
THEMES
Major
The major theme of the novel revolves around the purposelessness of any gang of teenagers. The book centers on the foolish gang rivalry existing between the Socs, the rich kids from the west side of town, and the Greasers, the poor kids from the east side.
Pony, the protagonist of the story, is bitter about the fact that the wealthy Socs have nice cars, fancy clothes, and girlfriends; things are simply easier for them than for the Greasers. Because the Socs are convinced that they are better, they constantly pick on members of the Greasers, who fight back. During one squabble, Bob, one of the Socs, is murdered by Johnny in self-defense. Then Johnny, while hiding out in a church, is killed while trying to rescue children from the burning building. In reaction to Johnny's death, Dally, his best friend, goes on a rampage. He robs a store and points an unloaded gun at the police; as a result, he is shot and killed. Because of the needless gang fighting, three teenagers are killed in the novel, clearly pointing out the negative aspect of belonging to a gang. Hinton is obviously trying to warn the reader against participation in any gang.
Minor
Related to the major theme of the book is the theme that a teenager can rise above his circumstances through hard work, patience, and determination. Pony is the proof of this theme. Even though he is born into poverty, loses his parents in a car accident at an early age, and participates in the Greasers, by the end of the book, he is determined to better his plight in life, largely due to the encouragement he receives from the deceased Johnny in a letter. At the close of the novel, Pony wants to tell the world that underprivileged children need to have some breaks in order to get ahead and need to be judged for who they are, not by how they look or how they dress. Hinton definitely convinces the reader that Pony, because of his intelligence and determination, will rise above the poverty and gang life that he was born into.
MOOD
When the story opens, the mood is bitter and rebellious. Pony and the other Greasers resent the fact that the Socs have lots of money, nice cars, fancy clothes, and many girlfriends. In contrast, they are poor and must work extremely hard for everything they have. In addition, society is prejudiced against them because of their clothes, long hair, and greasy appearance. In the middle of the novel, the mood becomes increasingly angry. The Greasers are tired of the Socs always picking on them, and the Socs are furious about the Greasers hanging out with some of "their girls." As a result, the Socs jump Pony and Johnny. In self-defense Johnny kills Bob, one of the Socs. The mood then becomes one of terror. Pony and Johnny are scared for their own safety and fear the police. Upon Dally's advice, they hide in an abandoned church and worry about being found. The mood then switches to great sadness, for Johnny, in trying to rescue the children when the church catches on fire, is killed himself. Dally then gets himself foolishly shot by the police, leaving Pony with two less friends. By the end of the novel, however, the mood has some degree of hope. Pony is determined to rise above his past. He adopts a new mission in life, to tell the world about the problems and deprivations of underprivileged children, like himself. It is obvious that in the end, Hinton is very sympathetic towards the plight of Pony and the Greasers.
Summary of The Outsiders
Written over forty years ago, S. E. Hinton?s classic story of the struggle between the Socs and the Greasers remains as powerful today as it was the day it was written, and it is taught in schools nationwide. Now available in a great new package with an improved trim size, a stunning new cover, and bonus material. Designed with classroom use in mind, the new edition will maintain the same pagination as the previous edition.
According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser. This classic, written by S. E. Hinton when she was 16 years old, is as profound today as it was when it was first published in 1967.
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