Reflection The Outsiders

The Outsiders is a realistic fiction novel written by S.E. Hinton. In order for every book to have a good plot, it needs one or more conflict. In The Outsiders, there are several hostilities. The conflict doesn’t just happen to Ponyboy, but everyone in the book is affected by opposition. While there are many different kinds of disputes in this novels, the main ones are character versus character, character versus nature, and character versus society.

The Outsiders, a coming-of-age novel, written by S.E. Hinton who was a teenager at the time of writing is firmly based upon groups of teenagers divided amongst their social classes. The novel takes on the rival battles of the Socials and the Greasers.

He lacks decent behavior as shown when he smokes (pg. 12), stays up unreasonably late (pg. 58), and even harasses Cherry Valance as his way of “flirting” (pg. 24). His lack of any sense in general even goes as far as not knowing how valuable friendship is. Regardless of whether Dally is indeed a lovable caring person deep down inside, it really does not matter as he does not know how to express it properly towards the people he cares for; especially towards Johnny. Dally could not comprehend how critical Johnny’s condition was and that sometimes, the most important thing in life was actually near him. In Dally’s case it would have been Johnny’s friendship but he missed the opportunity to tell him how much he matters to him and instead says, “We beat the Socs. We stomped them-outta our territory” (pg.148). After Johnny’s death, Dally finally became aware of how meaningless his life has been this whole time after losing his friend, so he commits suicide by his own will by raising an unloaded gun tricking the police into thinking it was actually loaded after chasing him down for robbing a grocery store (pg.154). This fatal end for Dally just proves what a impulsive and thoughtless person he is as he simply just wasted his life. He could have been considered “gallant” if he gained courage and motivation to start his life over after Johnny’s death, but instead blew the

S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders is a classic novel that explores many themes. One of the central themes is loss of innocence. The violence and painful events experienced by the characters in The Outsiders illustrate how teenagers cannot keep their innocence.

“The Outsiders” identifies the 60’s, illustrating the violence between groups, often involving a group’s social class. For instance, the violent tensions between the Socs and Greasers lead to Bob’s death, Johnny’s death, as well as many injuries throughout both gangs. The book “The Outsiders” is written by S.E. Hinton and is portrayed through the eyes of a high school student in Tulsa, OK where S.E. Hinton grew up. Hinton began writing “The Outsiders” in 1965 at the age of 17 and the book was finally published in 1967 when she was 19. The difference in perspective upon the society and social class creates issues throughout “The Outsiders” and since the Socs and Greasers assume the problems will be solved with violence, they take action.

The Outsiders is a young adult novel written by S.E. Hinton. The book was first published in 1967 by The Viking Press. Today, the book is published under Speak, an imprint of Penguin Group. The book has a total of a hundred and eighty pages. The Outsiders fits in the genre of young-adult fiction because it relates to teens on emotional levels. Like Ponyboy, the teen protagonist of the story, teens relate to his emotional growth as he tries to piece his life together. The story follows a rivalry in a socially divided community. The Greasers are a gang of teenage boys who live on the east side of town; the wrong side of town. Their rivals, the Socials, better known as the Socs; come from the wealthier side of town. The two groups are always head to head with one another, seeking a fight. Ponyboy belongs to the Greasers. He is the youngest out of the three brothers in his family. Apart from his brothers, Ponyboy hangs out with Johnny, Dallas, Two-Bit and others who are also Greasers. The rivalry between the two groups heightens when Johnny kills Bob, a Soc, in an attempt to save Ponyboy from drowning. In this book report, I will go through the meaning of this book and my opinion on the story itself.

The 1967 novel The Outsiders by S.E Hinton is about the social outcasts; the Greasers and their rivalry against the high class Socs. In the beginning of the book the characters values and attitudes are revealed to the reader through the point of view of Ponyboy. As the book progresses and the lives of the characters take a turn for the worse there is a significant impact on the characters resulting in an alteration of their values and attitudes. Ponyboy, Dally and Johnny experience these changes due to the death of Bob the Soc and the chain of events that follow.

“How come y’all ain’t scared of us like you were Dally?” Johnny said. He had that scared look in his eyes, that told me he’d been badly hurt, but I could only tell because I had that same look for weeks after my mother died. I sighed, “You two are too sweet to scare anyone. First of all, you didn’t join in Dallas’s dirty talk, and you made him leave us alone. And when we asked you to sit up here with us, you didn't act like it was an invitation to make out for the night. Besides that, I’ve heard about Dallas Winston, and he looked as hard as nails and twice as tough. And you two don’t look mean.”

Dally is portrayed as hardened and unfeeling. Some reasons this is not true include that he had a breaking point, he cared for Johnny, and he also showed that he cared through his actions throughout the book.

Johnny hates fighting most of them all. He will always do the right thing never getting into fights except for when he was jumped. Johnny said to Dally and Pony that fighting is “‘Useless... fighting's no good....”’(148). Johnny was disappointed in them for fighting the soc’s he disagrees with all fighting. Unlike Johnny, Dally loves to fight.Dally is a tough greaser who does not waste anytime creating a problem if he has the opportunity. Dally is always looking to start a problem with the police and other people. The matter of facts, even his friends try their hardest to stay on his friendly side. Ponyboy says of Dallas, “One time, in a dime store, a guy told him to move over at the candy counter. Dally had turned around and belted him so hard it knocked a tooth loose. A complete stranger, too” (24). Dally has a bad temper, and he is not afraid to fight with anyone. Most of the time he will find ways to break laws randomly. Looking up to what I have stated you can tell they are two completely different people at

“The functions of intellect are insufficient and useless if you are without courage, love, friendship, compassion, and empathy,” says a quote by Dean Koontz. Throughout S.E. Hinton’s book The Outsiders, there are many themes that she conveys in the book as she narrates the experiences of a greaser named Ponyboy who is a member of the Social group (Socs). Ponyboy meets many people and witnesses many difficult situations throughout the book. This inspirational book teaches the reader crucial lessons that are very important for everyone, even if their lives are not anything like Ponyboy’s. Three important themes in the book include friendship, courage and empathy.

‘The Outsiders’ by S.E Hinton was written in the 1960’s, a time of rebels and outlaws. The novel follows the story of two rival gangs, the Socs and the Greasers. The Socs are rich and powerful but feel no emotion; they are cool to the point of not feeling anymore while the Greasers are in poverty and are often shunned by society,but they have a passion for life, the exact opposite of the Socs. The story also discusses the loss of innocence in the main character, Ponyboy Curtis, a young teen in the 1960’s. Throughout the story he is subjected to many forms of corruption to make him lose his childhood innocence and make him cold and hard. Hinton explains this message to us through the use of a poem by Robert Frost ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay ‘

The Outsiders Essay In the outsiders, Susan Hinton showed the strong sense of loyalty that was held in many ways between the characters in the novel. ‘When you're a gang, you stick up for the members. If you don't stick up for them, stick together, make like brothers, it isn't a gang anymore. It a pack’.

The Outsiders is a book that changed the style of young adult writers because it went off from the genre that young adult writer were using during that time period. The reader sees the everyday problems that teenagers were going through, “I can’t take much more

Most books teenagers read are not realistic about the amount of violence in the real world. The Outsiders, introduces a reality that prepares teens for the real world violence. While reading is a way to gain book smarts, reading The Outsiders, helps gain both book smarts and street smarts. This book is not only a great story, but also an incredible learning source. It teaches kids to be aware, to not be afraid to talk to someone, and that running away from problems does not fix them but only makes them worse.