Literary Analysis - The Outsiders Have you ever worried about children you know being in a gang? The Outsiders is a book by S.E. Hinton from the perspective of a fourteen year old boy named Ponyboy and it illustrates two weeks in his life that changed him forever. The book opens with ponyboy as just a kid but throughout the entire book you see him change and follow along as he goes through his hardships and eventually perseveres through it all as a basically different person. The book is based around the theme of “Nothing, especially that which is perfect and beautiful, can last forever.” and it really shows in the parts where the poem “Nothing Gold can Stay.” by Robert Frost comes into play. Ponyboy is more like a normal fourteen year old …show more content…
He is nice enough and thinks that the greasers and soc’s live in different worlds but after meeting cherry he changes his mind and he says this after realizing he and cherry can’t connect “Maybe the two different worlds we live in weren’t so different. we saw the same sunset.” This also brings out the theme and explains his views. Also it is just an amazing quote because it shows his view of the soc’s and it also shows that he is finally able to understand the similarities between them and not just the differences, frankly an amazing quote. Next is Johnny and Johnny brings out the theme more than any other, he tells ponyboy to stay gold when he dies and he also writes the letter. The letter really just brings the story around and adds some things that the story wouldn’t have without it. Johnny is introduced as a scared boy but you see him in the burning church and it completely changes the way you look at him, of …show more content…
Sodapop relates to the theme because he seems like a sunset but after a while you see that he is not, in fact he even dropped out of school because he is “stupid” and he also says an amazing quote that just moves you and makes the story all that much better, he says this quote after Pony and Darry are arguing and they bring Soda into it, he then starts to run away but Pony catches up to him and Darry not long after. Then he says “We're all we got left now. If we don't have each other, then we ain't got nothing. And when you ain't got nothin, you end up like Dally... I don't mean dead either, I mean, I mean how he was before. So please...don't fight anymore... please…” This is really for another theme in the story but it was so good I had to put it in here, it just brings so much out in Soda that you’ve never seen before and it’s so emotionally raw it’s just explains everything about how he feels and frankly it’s just perfect for this part in the
The theme of chapter seven is about empathy. Ponyboy starts to realize that not everyone thinks the same, and that people are different. For example, on page 101, the reporters asked a few questions to Ponyboy that said, “What would you do right now if you could do anything you wanted?” Ponyboy replied “ Take a bath.” Right
“No, we’re greasers,” I said, which means Ponyboy is stepping up to his family and love his brothers. Ponyboy is thinking the same way I am like explaining and what the theme means of trusting someone, or trusting your family. My theme for the middle of the novel is, “the little kids could have a better life than you.”
“Theme; the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a person's thoughts, or an exhibition; a topic” ~ Google. There are many themes in both books and each of them are incredibly valuable. One of them main and common themes in both books is “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” ~ Lester Fuller and Edwin Rolfe. Both books have a different way of teaching us this lesson and on page 11 of The Outsiders, Ponyboy is explaining the appearance and parts of their personality, he says, “Johnny Cade was last and least . If you picture a little dark puppy that’s been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd, you’ll have Johnny.” This line from the book is about how Ponyboy thinks of Johnny. Also on page 25 the author writes, “But Johnny was the gang’s pet, and Dally just couldn't hit him. He was Dally’s pet
Pony starts to understand, through talking to Johnny and learning about his life, he has it better off than some people. A few days later, Dally, the Greaser who helped them, shows up at the church. He takes Johnny and Pony to a Dairy Queen to get a bite to eat. On their way back from the Dairy Queen, the boys notice that the church is on fire. Pony and Johnny instantly jump out of the car after they hear the screams of some children inside. They rush into the church and run to the back rooms to rescue the children. When the last of the kids are out, a burning timber crashes down into Johnny. They rush him to the hospital in a very bad condition. A few days later, when Johnny is about to die, Johnny tells Ponyboy that it was worth saving the kids and that everyone has a purpose in life no matter how bad it is. Johnny said that his purpose may have been saving those kids, but Pony should keep living life to its fullest. Johnny dies not long after. Pony can't get over his death and the fact that Pony thinks it was his fault. Pony ends up not wanting to “chill” and mess around with his other Greasers. He stops wanting to do his best at his school work and just sit around. The child in Ponyboy is gone. It went with Johnny. Ponyboy is no longer scared of the Socs or fighting. At the end of the book, some Socs come up to him and threaten him. Pony breaks off the end of his bottle and chases them away (pg. 171). Pony is now a man who will stick up for
The Outsiders, by S.E. Hilton, was about Ponyboy Curtis and his two brothers, Darry and Sodapop. Ponyboy was an intelligent, brave, and kind 14 year old boy. Ponyboy and his brothers were members of a group called the Greasers. Only those that were extremely poor were considered members of this group. Ponyboy learned to overcome obstacles by fighting with the Socs, which were the rich kids of the town.
Ponyboy has been heroic when he defends Sherry and Marcia at the drive-in theater when Dallas was harassing them. He also shows that he is heroic when he saves the children from the church fire. Ponyboy demonstrations how he can be a good friend by staying by Johnny’s bed side while he was sick. There are numerous amounts of heroic decisions that Ponyboy committed but he can also be the villain at some stages. Ponyboy smokes a packet of cigarettes a day which is bad for his health. Ponyboy fights a lot with Darry, Soda says, “I can’t stand to hearing y’all fight anymore.” After Johnny died Ponyboy’s grades went down and he wanted to drop out of school, Ponyboy announces, “I’ll have to get a job as soon as I get out of school anyway. Look at Soda. He’s doing okay, and he dropped out. You can just lay off”. Ponyboy listens to Randy even though he’s a Soc’s. “I swear you three are the bravest kids I’ve seen in a long time” said Randy. S.E Hinton has cleverly used Ponyboy to show that all people can be heroic and
Ponyboy is often seen as a small, young, and vulnerable child, through the eyes of the gang and other people. In one instance Two-Bit gets upset at Ponyboy “Shut your mouth, kid. If you wasn’t Soda’s kid brother I’d beat the tar out of you” (Hinton, 42). Not only is Ponyboy lucky that he has the gang, he understands that he has different emotions and personalities than most of the gang. Ponyboy goes throughout the novel feeling like he has to do everything in his power to protect his friends, but he also wants to do what is best for him, this is
Ponyboy is the main character. Not only is Ponyboy the only main character, the Greasers Gang, and some of the Socs. Each character in this book has different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. “This book teaches the kids about prejudice and violence as Ponyboy Curtis overcomes it too,” says Cheesecakes125 (cheesecakes125). That shows that Ponyboy is a coming of age character. If I had to choose a favorite character, it would be Johnny. Johnny is a 16 year old and the gang’s pet. He comes from a rough family and the book shows him overcoming it. By the end of the book, Johnny is a hero. Johnny and Ponyboy are not the only character, there are many more in The Outsiders, a lot of them alike and a lot different. Overall, the message, settings, and the characters are great reasons to read the
Her early leafs a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, so dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay,”” (Hinton 77) S.E. Hinton use this to show that you’re innocent when you’re a child and everything is new and when you get used to everything it’s like old. Getting close to the end of the book Johnny is dying so he sends Ponyboy a letter in his book “Gone with the Wind” telling Ponyboy not to change how he acts and not to grow up.Then, at the middle of the story the readers see the difference in characterization in Ponyboy and the rest of his gang after pony said “nobody in our gang digs movies and books the way I do,” (Hinton 3). In these lines, we see how Ponyboy is the only one in their gang that wants to read and doesn’t find it dumb or hard to understand. Ponyboy also said “when I was
The Outsiders is a very good book written by S. E. Hinton. This is a book but they have also made a movie about this book. The movie was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The book is about a group of “Greasers” who have to face a series of problems emotionally and physically. In this book the main character, Ponyboy, has to face challenges when his parents die in a crash. Later they were getting beaten up so his friend johnny killed a guy that was harming them, causing them to run and hide in a church. Later when they go back the church catches on fire Johnny and Ponyboy go inside to rescue children and Johney end up dieing because of this. But the movie and the book have some major differences and can have some major turns because of this.
The Outsiders is a novel by S.E Hinton, that follows a young boy named Ponyboy who grows up in a gang. Johnny, Sodapop and Darry help him find how he fits into the world and without them he would have a hard time finding his own identity. Without having a close group of friends he would have a tough way of life, especially with the Socs. Being in a group that you associate with, that have different values to yourself can lead you to disregard your own ethics and do things you wouldn’t normally do, but at the same time this can assist and reinforce your own values…
Ponyboy first alludes to a work of literature in Chapter 1, when he compares himself to Pip from Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations. Ponyboy identifies with Pip because he, like Pip, is orphaned, impoverished, and struggling to make sense of the world. Literature not only creates a bond between Ponyboy and the other characters, as when he discusses books with Cherry and reads to Johnny, but it also creates a cyclic premise for the narrative itself.
In the book The Outsiders, written by S. E. Hinton, Ponyboy and his friends have been fighting with the Socs for years, but one day things go horribly wrong. The novel focuses on how Ponyboy realizes how important the rest of the Greasers are to him. He experiences many hardships that alters his perception of the differences between the Socs and Greasers. The three topics addressed in this charming novel are the fight between rich and poor, what it means to be a hero, and the power of friendship.
One of the most important themes in The Outsiders by S.E Hinton is Society and Class division. In the novel, the Greasers and Socs are divided by wealth, social class and opportunities to succeed. Following the journey of Ponyboy and his gang of friends, the reader learns the reality of these kids’ lives. At the beginning of the book the two groups share a hatred for each other not realizing the other similarities they share. After many tragic happenings, these youngsters realize they are not that different. The author wants the reader to understand that wealth, social class and education should not divide people.
They are often looked down upon and even expected to act as if they were garbage compared to the wealthy. For example, on page 23 in the book, “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, the book states, “Cherry was looking at me. ‘What’s a nice, smart kid like you running around with trash like that for?’ I [Ponyboy] felt myself stiffen. ‘I’m a grease, same as Dally. He’s my buddy.’” That citation shows how Cherry’s inner expectations of a Greaser impaired her knowledge of knowing Ponyboy was a Greaser as well. You can see in that very citation that Cherry expects all Greasers to act like Dally, who is not intelligent, kind, or as well-mannered as Ponyboy. This expectation upon the Greasers causes the Socs to act terribly towards them, while the Greasers act the same way towards them to show no weakness. This causes tension and violence to erupt among them, which is one of the reasons why they act so menacing towards each other. Additionally, it states on page 117 in the book, “The Outsiders,” by S.E. Hinton that, “He looked at me. ‘No, you wouldn’t. I’m a Soc. You get a little money and the whole world hates you.’” That citation explains how that particular Soc (Randy), broke the barrier towards the expectation of the Greaser of how they were terrible, disgusting, worthless people. He realized that they aren’t trash and actually hardworking people who are trying to survive with their poor lifestyle. While other people see the Greasers as low-lives, they have to combat the violence that they are brought upon by the kinds of people who enjoy hurting those who are living a tough lifestyle. Greasers also have to fight off the internal voice inside their head that they are worthless, whom they try to prove themselves with participating in fights and standing up for themselves. Finally, you can see here how these expectations can really affect a person’s