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The Outsiders

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Does ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E. Hinton deserve a place in the canon? ‘The Outsiders’, written by S.E. Hinton, follows the story of Ponyboy Curtis and his group of friends, known as ‘Greasers’, and their rivalry with the ‘Socs’ or socials. The novel portrays themes of friendship, courage, honour and divisions between the rich and poor. Hinton was born in 1948 and grew up through the 50s and 60s. She began writing the novel aged fifteen and published it three years later. The novel was inspired by her own frustrations with class and social divisions through her high school years. The setting of the story is Hinton’s hometown, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the language throughout suggests it was based in the 1960s. Arguably, ‘The Outsiders’ is a valuable …show more content…

‘The Outsiders’ includes “not only a skilfully constructed main plot, but often the co-existence of… sub-plots.” Hinton carefully composes the sub-plots, blending it into the main plot, while not distracting the reader’s main attention from the main storyline. The sub-plots are brought to attention when the narrator, Ponyboy, returns home and is informed of the happenings while he had been away. This is beneficial as the reader is informed at the same time as the narrator, creating extra depth and unity for the novel, as a whole. Furthermore, Hinton includes complexity in the language and the structure. Foreshadowing was commonly used and deliberately placed at the end of the chapters, concerning the shocking and horrifying events that unfold towards the end of the novel, reminding the reader of Ponyboy’s position as the narrator and his control over the story as he knows how it will end. The adds extra depth and complexity to the story. The structural complexity works powerfully, combined with the language complexity used throughout. “Writers do not simply choose ‘ordinary’ words, but words which have resonance, historical associations, beauty, or ‘rightness’ for the particular context.” Relating this to ‘The Outsiders’, the language throughout is simple and fits well with the context, but at times includes beautiful and aesthetically pleasing pieces of writing and phrasing. This is unexpected of the narrator who is young and a ‘Greaser’ but it is explained away by his passion for reading and writing at home and

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