S E Hinton The Outsiders English Literature Essay

The title of this book is called The Outsiders. The Outsiders was written by S.E. Hinton which is of the female gender. The genre of this novel is realistic fiction. The exuberating story concentrates on an adventure that brought forth courage and strength from the heart to a young boy living in a place where challenges are encountered everyday and must be fought whether you have the money or skills to do it.

Ponyboy Curtis is the main character of this novel. Ponyboy is a greaser, which is a term to describe those of the town that lack money and don’t have fancy cars and rich houses. But apart from that, Ponyboy has something that most Socs, the rich kids, don’t have, and that is called love and the ability to use the soul. Some physical traits of his include being young, small, smart, athletic, and also, greasy hair. This may not appetite many kids of today’s society, but it did then.

The main character, Ponyboy, does the right thing on page 92 when he saves the children in the burning building. This occurred as a result of Johnny and him escaping the town of Tulsa, and going out into the open country. During the time that they were there, and incident occurred where an old church caught on fire with some kids inside. Ponyboy and Johnny, thinking that they could have caused that unfortunate situation, went in there and rescued the children. This was a heroic act that the two boys risked.

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I can identify with the character when he talks about how smart he is and how intelligent he is compared to his classmates. I believe that I am very similar to that because I also consider myself intelligent and smart. Also, Ponyboy gets courageous throughout the movie, and I had the same characteristics when I first got to the town of Waller. I gained courage and learned to appreciate those new people around me, and therefore, got courageous.

One other important character in the book is Johnny Cade. Johnny is sixteen years old and the most traumatized in the gang. His parents hate him, and he has to live with the Curtis brothers. He was bullied immensely by the Socs and was not been able to recover from the incident, not even to the day of his death. It is cruel what Johnny went through his sixteen years of life.

Another character in the book is Sodapop Curtis. Soda is the easy-going guy in the gang and can make anyone feel much better right away. Soda dropped out of school claiming that he was dumb, but that was most likely not true. Either way, he is always fun to be with and is unfortunately played tug-o-war with virtually through the fights of his brothers. At the end, he is still the fun guy to hang around with.

The time and place of the book is held in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the time period of the 1960’s. Features of the setting include that it is a very poor setting. They live in a poor neighborhood in the poor part of town. The setting affects the character by a great deal because if it weren’t for the poorness of the place, Ponyboy would a completely different person. If Ponyboy lived in Houston, he wouldn’t have the struggles he encounters in Tulsa, such as being judged by everyone, and being divided into social category as a greaser. Also, Socs wouldn’t be there bothering Ponyboy. Poorness has a lot to do with how one feels about self-esteem and how they are challenged to get the things they need. This is also what makes the greasers feel the need for having to steal in order to get basic things.

A basic summary of the story would begin when Ponyboy exited the movie theatre all by himself and got jumped by a load of Socs. After that occurs, Ponyboy and Johnny go to the movie theatre and meet Marcia and Cherry. As they walk home, the boys that were the boyfriends of the girls spot them and later get into a fight with them at the park. Johnny, trying to save Ponyboy, uses self defense and stabs Bob, causing his death. Then, with the help of one of the gang member, Dally, Ponyboy and Johnny are able to leave and escape to Windrixville, a small town out in the country. After that, a tragic event occurs where an old burning church catches on fire and Ponyboy and Johnny go and save the kids. Johnny, left with serious injuries, is in critical condition until the day of his death, to where Dally is greatly affected and robs a store. Dally, still in shock, aims to the police, causing the police to shoot at him instead, charging his life.

The message that the author is trying to communicate to the reader is that friendship is a strong weapon, meaning that because of this strong connection, they do what they do, which is the whole point of this book. Along with that, other key points that are highlighted in the book include being you, and that money is not everything.

This is a story about courage because of what Ponyboy goes through. During the course of this book, Ponyboy learns how to stand up to the Socs and how to overcome a difficult situation, such as the death of Ponyboy. Also, this book also teaches about jealousy. Bob gets jealous when he sees that his girl Cherry is with Ponyboy. Because of this, the whole incident about Johnny killing Bob occurred, causing chaos.

A problem in the story was Johnny killing Bob and the way it was solved was that they saved the kids in the church, making the “crime” just labeled as manslaughter.

What I think of the book is that it was good. The book did not bore me at all, and I like the way the story was expressed. In inclusion, this book is a real attention getter. What I liked about this book is the special and unique personalities of each and all greasers. You don’t see such a strong bond between all friendships the way The Outsiders did. What I didn’t like about the book was the fact that they did a lot of rumbles and fights and I just don’t understand why that is exciting or even fun. I know I would never get my face bruised. The story was easy to follow a long to, but I’m not sure if I believe all the messes that the Socs and Greasers created just because of a silly economic and social difference and dispute. The story was not predictable because I would have never guessed that Johnny would have died or that Dally would do something as dumb as too get himself killed. Overall the story was 80% believable because of the silliness involve d in a town. The ending was fun and completely unpredictable because of Dally’s death and the way the author makes the story loop around into a confusing brain teaser. It was very creative and totally original.