“The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton
Recently, I have been re-reading a lot of my favorite books from the past years. I just finished reading “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, and it remains one of the best books I have ever read. Here are three reasons you should read “The Outsiders” if you haven’t already (or at least watch the movie):
1. It addresses the fallacies of social class
“The Outsiders” takes place in the 1950’s, and spotlights 14 year old “Ponyboy” Curtis. Ponyboy lives with his two brothers, Sodapop and Darry, as they lost their parents in a car crash. The boys are called “Greasers”, a term to signify those who live in the poor side of town, which is the East side. The “Socs”, short for “Socials” label those who live on the rich part of town, the west side. Ponyboy already faces discrimination from the society he lives in by being born on the east side. He is bullied and abused by Socs, and they are never called out for it because of their social class. As a Greaser, Ponyboy only has two options for how he can live his life: he can succeed in school, or turn to violence. The novel follows the journey of the Greasers, as they are constantly instigated by the Socs, and the issues encountered by Ponyboy as he struggles to grow up in a world that's been turned against him from birth.
2. It acknowledges loss and grief
A violent altercation between the Socs and the Greasers in the start of the novel sets a grim tone for the rest of the book. In this violent altercation, one of the Socs named Bob, targets Ponyboy, and literally tries to kill him. Ponyboy and his friend, Johnny, accidentally drown Bob through self defense. Ponyboy and Johnny are advised by the Greasers to go hide in a church while the rest of them sort everything out. In a fire that ensues in this church, Ponyboy and Johnny end up saving everyone inside, however, Johnny dies from his injuries. Senseless violence ensues when the Greasers find out about Johnny’s death, and Ponyboy is traumatized by grief and loss.
3. It explores deep themes regarding human nature
S.E. Hinton emphasizes the internal nature of humans, and focuses on the theme that you don’t need to be from a certain group of people in order to be a good person. After Ponyboy and Johnny accidentally murder Bob, they are overwhelmed by the guilt of becoming criminals, and believe this will determine the rest of their lives. However, when they save children from the fire, they display courage, and act outside of their self-classification of murderous teenage criminals.
S.E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders” is a classic coming of age novel that remarks the problems with social cliques, and is a good reminder that regardless of labels, people always have some sort of good inside them.
Nice job on this blog post. I've also read the outsiders and I agree that it's definitely a classic which shows us so much about what people are really like inside. I also agree with you that some of the gruesome scenes in the novel really make the reader feel grief. You did a great job giving scenes from the book to support your claim. Good work!
ReplyDeleteI've read this book for English class before, and I think you did a great job highlighting important aspects of it! I liked how the book portrays the main characters as good people, even though they come from dark backgrounds. On the other hand, it shows that even those who possess lots of wealth and status don't have it all. I completely agree with the theme that you pointed out, and great job overall!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you explained that the book addresses the fallacies of social classes, which is not talked about a lot in most books nowadays. I also like how you explained that the book acknowledges loss and grief, which is something that I find interesting. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI also have read this book and I really liked it as well. I definitely agree that S.E. Hinton shows that despite their labels and reputations as "greasers," making them sound like terrible people, they still have a lot of good in them. I enjoyed reading your blog post and definitely recommend this to everyone!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Outsiders before or any other book with a similar theme. Yet, I still am able to sucessfuly interpret the story's theme and morale via this blog post. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI remember reading this book at NGS and you did a great job of describing what happens in the book without any spoilers. I also liked how you delved deep into the meaning/message of this book. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI remember reading this book at NGS and being really interested in it. You did a good job analyzing things I never really looked into since I read it in 6th grade, like social class, and when reading it I kind of just took it to be an action-packed emotional book that didn't really hold deeper messages. Good job.
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