preview

The Outsiders In The Outsiders And Struggle Street

Good Essays

An ‘outsider’ is a person or people who do not fit in society in due to their appearance and/or behaviour. Through the use of literary and film techniques, both S.E Hinton’s novel The Outsiders and David Galloway’s documentary Struggle Street portray a community of marginalised people with sensitive people. These techniques inspire empathy from the audience, encouraging the audience to view outsiders in a different perspective. In Struggle Street and The Outsiders, both texts create a common theme individuality amongst a gang of outsiders through the use of techniques. One of the techniques used by Hinton to portray characters as an ‘outsider’ is the use of colour. Colour is used to target the audience’s understanding of the symbolic use …show more content…

This allows the audience to understand Ponyboy’s unique perspective of the Greasers and the Socials. Pony boy tends to use cool colours do describe a Greaser. For example, Ponyboy describes Darry’s eyes as ‘two pieces of pale blue-green ice’ (p. 8). In contrast to the Greasers, Ponyboy tends to use warm colours to describe the Socials. For example, Ponyboy described Sherry’s hair as ‘long red hair’ (p. 26). The use of red is further accentuated when Sherry introduces herself as Cherry due to her hair. Through the use of colour, Hinton allows the audience to understand Ponyboy sensitive personality in contrast to his tough exterior as well as the gang members’ tough personalities. In a similar way, Galloway uses film techniques to portray the citizens of Mount Druitt as outsiders. Throughout the episode, David Field- the narrator- interviews a number of people based on their experiences living in Mount Druitt. Bailee- one of the interviewees- narrates her story as she describes the cruelty she received as a teenager. Bailee’s story relates to Ponyboy as both teenagers experience hardships as outsiders. Despite her resilient personality, Bailee shows her sensitivity in her …show more content…

Both Galloway and Hinton focus on the individuality of their characters. Allusion is another technique used by Hinton to represent the unique inner worlds of characters who are ostracised by society. As Johnny and Ponyboy stay in the church, Ponyboy introduces the novel Gone With the Wind (GWTW) to Johnny. Through the intertextual reference of GWTW, Hinton allow the audience to apply their connotations of the novel to a new context. Although the genre of GWTW juxtaposes with The Outsiders, Hinton connects both text due to the fact that the stereotype of the ‘tuff’ Greasers (p.15) contrasted with Johnny’s unique perception of the world since he was able to understand the meaning of GWTW better than Ponyboy. The revelation of Johnny’s character shocks Ponyboy as he stated,”It amazed me (Ponyboy) how Johnny could get more meaning out if stuff in there than I could- I was supposed to be the deep one.” (p. 92). In the same manner, Galloway uses different camera shots to represent different outcasts. Similar to the Greaser’s stereotype, Mount Druitt’s citizens have been stereotyped as a ‘nest of dole bludgers and layabouts’. This statement was reinforced when the camera was at establishing shot as it shows the amount of houses that have been destroyed by young adults. However, the director also showed that regardless of the negative stigma, Mount Druitt will

Get Access