the outsiders book review

the outsiders book review

The Outsiders Book Review

1. Introduction

The Outsiders is an extension work by S. E. Hinton that depicts the life of two gatherings of hooligan kinfolk, living on the other side of good and bad. The story happens in the year of 1965 and is pretty much based on posse savagery in light of the fact that Hinton has composed this novel because of a genuine occurrence that occurred not a long way from her home when she was going to class. The novel orbits around the lives of Ponyboy, his siblings, and their posse of hooligan companions, who are part of a lower-class financial status regularly alluded to as “Greasers”. Throughout the novel, the hooligans are living against a rough society and are battling to support their lifestyle between opponent consult leader of the Socs and making a decent attempt to safeguard one another. Ponyboy portrays the occurrences through his perspective and helps us understand the Greaser method for living, their unique bond, and normal history. This novel is useful for numerous explanations, one of them being the way that it is without a doubt a point of view of the writer’s adolescence. Hinton was essentially a Greaser and was seeing what happened when her posse of Socs and hooligans might convergence and the kind of fights that emulated, so it is genuinely a reflection of her developing years and its outcomes. It is likewise important as it does a legitimate occupation of depicting society most importantly when depicting the lifestyles of Socs and hooligans and generally the changes between individuals regardless of what their financial state is. Sometimes it might be seen that narrating might be inconsiderate however at the same time it is only a harsh mind picture of what corollary itself is. Posses today’s reality, frequently mixed up for lower class detainees and the hardship that is required to keep their societal standing.

2. Plot Summary

Ponyboy Curtis, a member of a renowned gang called “Greasers”, is the protagonist in The Outsiders. His two older brothers, Darry and Sodapop, consistently criticize him for being meek and veering off track. The gang is in bitter rivalry with another gang, the “Socials” or “Socs”. They have a rumble, the Greasers coming out victorious. Thereafter, Johnny – a close friend of Ponyboy – kills a Soc called Bob, who was the cause of Johnny being mercilessly beaten. This results in the two boys running off to Jay Mountain, to hide in an abandoned church called Windrixville. They cut and dye their hair as a disguise. While they are hiding out in the church, things begin to get out of hand. First, there is a fire in the church that nearly kills the two boys, and then Johnny kills a Soc named Bob. After saving some children in the midst of the burning church, Ponyboy is honored as a local hero – this event prompted the Socs to call a truce. Subsequent to this, the Greasers and the Socs take part in a final “rumble” to settle their differences, resulting in the scaring of a few Socs and the death of Two-Bit and Johnny. At the hospital, after being told by Two-Bit, Ponyboy and Dally (who informs him) the truth of events, and while Ponyboy is partially delirious, Darry breaks down and cries, rare for him. The novel ends with Ponyboy starting to write his essay for his teacher, and it is the essay – with which the novel is a first-person recollection – of the events that had taken place.

3. Character Analysis

A character analysis is a great way to understand the characters that are present in a story. Each character is different from the other in one way or form. The comparison and contrast of each character helps us to understand each character individually. The analysis of each character is also an important process. From this, we can comprehend if the character transforms at all. If the character does change, the analysis will help us to understand why the character has changed. Coming back to The Outsiders, we have Ponyboy Curtis. Ponyboy is the 14-year-old little brother of Soda and Darry. He is the most important character in the book. He is the main character and the narrator. Ponyboy is very smart and interested in culture and poetry. This makes him different from the other members of his gang. He is a good student but does not receive the same grades because he is not as fortunate as the Socs. His parents were killed in an auto wreck that he survived. This makes him strive for the best and try to not disappoint his brothers. He is also smart enough to realize that he should not get too involved in anything with the law because this would allow them to place him in a bad home, separating the Curtis brothers. Now to retell, in his analysis, he would mention the traits of Ponyboy and what makes him different from the rest of the gang. He will also discuss what kind of person Ponyboy is. Retell would then go on to make a prediction on what Ponyboy will become. The character analysis does not state what will happen to the character later on as this is a different thing which is discussed later on. This analysis would be the same for every character in the story. Now we skip over what I have mentioned above about what a character analysis does. Step and repeat. An important piece of information here would be about the two friends of Ponyboy by the names of Johnny and Dally. These are also important characters, so it is important to compare and contrast them with Ponyboy and each other. Now moving on from this, the character analysis work is left up to the reader until the completion of the story. This is because the characters will change at some point, and so it is important to apply this process again to gain a better understanding of the character.

4. Themes and Messages

A third class of the outsiders is the story of the Curtis brothers versus the system. After the death of their parents, Darry has had to make some tough decisions in order to keep the boys together and not in strife in a boys’ home or worse, foster care. In order to do this, he has had to give up his chance of going to college and take up two jobs to keep the family afloat. He works as a roofer by day and a car mechanic at night, and it has taken a major strain on him. Sodapop dropped out of school to work in an attempt to help Darry and to make the family life a little easier. They have done anything possible to avoid the fate of leading into the social welfare system. An example of the system is evident in chapter 6 when Ponyboy and Johnny are found by the police after the death of Bob. In order to salvage themselves and keep themselves out of trouble, they run and hide in an abandoned church. This location isolates them from the rest of the world and shields them from the repercussions of their previous actions. This, in essence, moves them into a type of sanctuary and keeps them away from the clutches of the law.

Another example of the outsiders is Johnny Cade, Ponyboy’s closest ally. Johnny is a poor boy from a violent home and is often beaten by his father. He feels like the only things he has in this world that love him are the gang and his friend. Johnny is a classic glimmer of hope in his life. The greasers become his support and family. However, during the novel, Johnny becomes an outsider within the outsiders prophecy. This occurs when he kills a Soc named Bob. He becomes a fugitive and a criminal. His hope diminishes as the only person who appreciated his good deeds, which was the greasers, now put him under some heavy criticism. Johnny came to realize that there is still some good in the world when he saved young children in the fire that nearly killed him. Unfortunately for him, he died from his burns later in the novel.

The major theme of the book is the same as the title, “The Outsiders.” An outsider is someone who is different from the others in some way and who does not fit in well with other people. The book is about a boy called Ponyboy Curtis who is part of a gang called the greasers. His brothers Darry and Sodapop are also greasers. They try to make a living by being itinerant workers and they are from the wrong side of town. The greasers are bitter enemies with a gang called the Socials who are rich people from the west side of town. The Socials are also known as the Socs. There are many examples of this throughout the book, but I have only mentioned a few. The greaser versus the Soc is the most evident of the outsiders theme.

5. Conclusion and Recommendation

Given that I was allowed that read the novel in excessive college. I would not ever do that, but a advantage of the doubt was given. And I’ve got to claim that the knowledgeable open minded reader who would not expect the following coming of Huckleberry Finn, but fairly a fine younger grownup novel will in finding it money well spent and the time good invested. With a ease and readability of kind, including some extent of suspense that retains desires to be fulfilled as to simply what was yelled, this writer tells his story good, if not with deep insight, then as a minimum with a point of view that has not often been overtold. The characters will not be an argument for the depth of human capacity, but they’re satisfying in their relatability, and there’s a true sense of compassion here for the problems of youngsters looking to figure things out. Built in is a comparison of the Greasers and the “desirable children,” and one might look at the similarities between then and now and think they aren’t quite exotic even in this day and age.

Nonetheless, due to the mass of good evaluations has triggered unattainable expectations. There’s no manner a e book of that is value can reside as much as all you might have heard concerning the nervous breakdown of Ponyboy Curtis, the fire, the yelling, the deaths, or the rumble. Many readers are going to be disappointed. Step one in my attempt to not steer into that category was to keep away from rereading the e book at all costs. A person isn’t disillusioned if he doesn’t know what you would stumble on on.

Give me a chance to call attention to the excellence of this wonderfully executed first novel. The publishers use the sticker expressions “A book you won’t be capable to place down” and “A device of art.” I received over excited however I have no compunctions. This is a first-rate novel and there’s not one disarming word in it. It is a story in regards to a duration in American historical past after we were shedding our innocence, our acceptance.