The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is about two groups of kids the greasers and the Socs. The Socs are the rich kids who drive expensive cars and wear expensive clothes and the greasers are considered the bums. They don’t have money and they don’t get whatever they want, they also have to work extra hard to get to where they want to be. If you are considered a greaser you are a muffin and the Socs are the cupcakes. Everybody would prefer a cupcake over a muffin, but in this story two boys were just trying to protect themselves and they get into some trouble while doing it so, they hit the road. I am going to tell you about whether or not Ponyboy and Johnny are heroes.

In “The Outsiders”, the speaker of the novel is a fourteen year-old fellow named Ponyboy who is the narrator and the youngest member of the greasers. S.E. Hinton wrote the novel in the 1960s in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the time of class struggle in society. The novel was intended to relate to young teens and adults who have experienced the troubles and unfortunate situations in the story. The author is referring to the poor and their daily struggles. The author explains the harshness of the greaser’s life and shows empathy for them. The author tells the truth as it is and doesn’t blur the reality. The author wants the audience to understand the predicaments and relate to it. “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton is a fiction novel that represents social

“The Outsiders”, by S.E. Hinton, is centered around Ponyboy’s path to maturity and the life lessons he learns along the way. The novel follows Ponyboy, a greaser, and his gang’s conflict with the Socials, a rival gang. In it, he learns to not judge people hastily and reject gang mentality. Ponyboy also loses his innocence. The following paragraphs will explore his growth throughout “The Outsiders”.

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 Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, is a book that is full of excitement, adventure, and real-life situations. The book starts out in the daily life of a 16-year-old boy named Ponyboy. He is a part of a group called “greasers” that battle with “socs” daily. The greasers are usually poor and the socs are usually rich. One night, Ponyboy and his friend, Johnny, are walking when they get jumped by a group of socs. One of them is attempting to drown Ponyboy in a fountain, but Johnny saves his friend and kills the soc with a switchblade. They quickly run to Dally to explain what happened. He gives the boys a gun, $50, and a place to hide. They jump on a train and hide out in an abandoned church. They stay in that church for a couple weeks, then Dally

Have you ever wondered how the 1960’s was like? Would you have been fearful, jovial, or melancholy? In the book, The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton the main character Ponyboy Curtis lives with his two brothers, Sodapop and Darry, and is involved in a gang called the “greasers.” Ponyboy realizes what it is to be a kind person instead of being violent, he is always on top of his studies and is very observant of others.

Most people strive to belong, to be someone or part of something important. People all around you experience different ways of belonging, such as cliques or social class. Others who are excluded, are simply left as outsiders, forced to make up their own groups, maybe just because of where they live, how much money they have, and the items they have and do not have. This is the case in author S.E. Hinton’s prominent novel The Outsiders. Within this well known book is a 2 week story of 14 year old Ponyboy, as he learns to mature in his rough, poor, East side neighborhood while also dealing with most of the rich, stuck up, West side kids known as the Socs. To rival the Socs are the Greasers, a tight-knit gang that includes many East side teens that have become almost like brothers to each other. Throughout this novel, Ponyboy learns many life lessons, while facing multiple obstacles and overcoming his own inner problems to finally realize a bigger picture in the end. S.E. Hinton focused deeply on symbolism to display these multiple themes.

As a young adult, it is difficult to grow up without parents and still be tough and brave. In addition, teens can be emotional and overreact at times. In the novel The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, a fourteen-year-old kid named Ponyboy Curtis feels different emotions that make him stand out from other Greasers, or “hoodlums”. Ponyboy, the youngest of all the Greasers, is a great example of a teen who feels isolated, brave, and emotional throughout the novel.

Have you ever read a very hard hitting and the phenomenal story about rival gangs and the effect it has on the lives of the people and the society. In The Outsiders, is a story of 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis and his two older brothers, Soda and Darry. The boys are orphans and struggle to stick together in their lower-class neighborhood, known as the East Side. They and their friends are part of a gang of tough street boys called the Greasers. Even though other people might think you're unimportant and below them. You will always have your friends and family. In The Outsiders, we see the idea of the difference in the society based on the economic level of the characters, honor among the lawless and violence among the youth.

Eastside, Westside: Eastside is the poor side of town and Westside is Soc side of town with wealthier people.

The Outsiders by S.E Hinton follows the lives of two groups of young adult’s set in 1950’s America. The groups are the “Greasers” and the “Socs”. Greasers is a term used to class all the boys living on the East side, which was the poor side of the town they were mainly known for their long and greased hair. The rival gang, the Socs short for Socials, are "the jet set, the West-side rich kids," who are from upper-middle-class families. Ponyboy explains that the gangs are "just small bunches of friends who stick together, and the warfare is between the social classes" (pg 10). Ponyboy is a Greaser, a 14-year-old boy whose world has been turned upside down. His parents were killed in an automobile accident just eight months before The Outsiders story takes place. He lives with his oldest brother, Darry, who is 20 years old and has legal custody of him and his other brother, Sodapop. Society views greasers as dull but views soc's more hardworking as they get better grades. They are more favoured as they are better looking and are rich. Greasers aren’t respected by society, many of them have heroic qualities. This novel The Outsiders shows that all people have heroic qualities all it takes is a dramatic event. A hero is someone who helps those in need and does not expect people to applaud or reward them for it. Dally, Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade are the three main Greasers and three unlikely heroes in the novel. They achieved this state by saving people's lives, help those in need, showing care and standing up for each other. These three greasers put their lives in front of others to save people.

“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 author of The Outsiders S.E. Hinton wrote Johnny and Dally as complete opposites. Johnny is made out to be a quiet, timid sixteen year old boy who has a bad home life. And Dally is known as the outspoken leader that is tough as nails. Ponyboys relationship with Johnny is completely different than the relationship he has with Dally. Ponyboy loves and cares for Johnny’s wellbeing, and Johnny is someone Ponyboy can be open with.

The act of taking out his handkerchief and gently nursing Pony’s wound shows that Soda is affectionate and caring. Even though Sodapop is not present in the whole book, he continues to look after Ponyboy even when he is not involved in the present events. Another example that displays that Sodapop is caring is after Bob gets killed and Dally meets Johnny and Pony while they're in hiding. The letter tells Pony the aftermath of Bob’s murder and pleads that he and Johnny return back home. (Hinton 82-83).

The Outsiders protagonist Ponyboy Curtis, is a boy barely fourteen years old exposed to a world heavily divided by social class. As a member of the lower class designated to the east side of the of the train tracks, Ponyboy has grown up at a disadvantage. The novel explores both the struggles of the ‘Socs’ and the ‘greasers’ and plays off the idea that, “things are rough all over,” (Hinton, 33). Cherry Valance so eloquently explained this to Ponyboy saying that though wealthy the socs too faced social requirements that hurt just as much as they did for the greasers. The novel centers around the murder of Bob Sheldon, a soc who had brutally beaten up Ponyboy and his best friend Johnny.