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The Outsiders is a coming-of-age novel based in 1965 by S. E. Hinton, first published in 1967 by Viking Press. Hinton was 15 when she started writing the novel, and 18 when it was published. The book follows two rival groups, the Greasers and the Socs (pronounced by the author as "so-shez", short for Socials), who are divided by their socioeconomic status. This was a truly amazing book.

A film adaptation was produced in 1983, and a short-lived television series appeared in 1990, picking up where the movie left off.

Plot summary

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Ponyboy Curtis and his brothers, Soda and Darry, belong to a gang of lower-class youth called the Greasers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1965. They often fight with the Socs, a group of wealthy, privileged boys. Ponyboy is a shy, quiet 14 year old boy who gets good grades and likes to draw and read. Sodapop, the middle brother, is handsome and gets along well with the other Greasers. Darry, the oldest brother, has been caring for his brothers since their parents died in a car crash. He is very serious, works most of the time, and often yells at Ponyboy. Darry is athletic and was a good student, but he had to give up his education to care for his brothers so that they wouldn't have to separate and go to an orphanage. Dallas (Dally) Winston is the roughest of the Greasers, having lived on the streets of New York City for three years. He seems to enjoy being a criminal and thinks that the law is a big joke. Two other Greasers are Kevin (Two-Bit) Mathews, who has a prodigious sense of humor and is known as the "wise- cracker", and Steve Randle, Sodapop's best friend. Finally, Johnny, the pet of the Greasers and 16 years old, is Ponyboy's closest friend and lives with his alcoholic and abusive mother and father. Johnny was jumped and beat up by a Soc wearing heavy rings. Ever since then, Johnny has been paranoid about the Socs and always carries a switchblade.

As the novel opens, Ponyboy is leaving a movie theater when he is jumped by a group of Socs. He is saved from the attack by his friends and brothers, Darry and Sodapop. That night, Dallas, Johnny, and Ponyboy meet two Soc girls, Sherri (Cherry) Valance and Marcia . Ponyboy realizes that Cherry is nothing like the Socs he has met before. She tells Ponyboy that "things are rough all over", indicating that the rich kids have problems of their own. On the way home, Cherry and Marcia's boyfriends, Bob Sheldon and Randy Adderson, see them with Johnny, Two-Bit, and Ponyboy outside the movie and think the boys are trying to "pick them up". Cherry and Marcia prevent a fight by leaving with Bob and Randy willingly. He and Johnny went to the vacant lot(A popular hang-out place for the greasers)and they fell asleep. When Ponyboy comes home late, Darry gets really angry and hits him. Ponyboy storms out of the house and meets up with Johnny. He wants to run away, but in stead they go to the park to cool off.There, Bob, Randy, and three other drunk Socs confront them. They chase and catch both of them. Ponyboy is nearly drowned in a fountain by David, another Soc, so a terrified Johnny stabs Bob, accidentally killing him and scaring away the other Socs. They are afraid that Johnny will be put in an electric chair for killing Bob so they run to find Dally for help.He gives them some money and a loaded gun and tells them to hide in an abandoned church a short distance out of town. They hop a train and make it to the church with no problem. They stay there for a five days, during which time Ponyboy reads Gone with the Wind to Johnny and recites the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost.

When Dally comes to find them, he reveals that Cherry has become a spy for the Greasers and that the fights between the two rival groups have exploded in intensity since Bob's death. They had planned a rumble between the gangs. Johnny decides that he wants to turn himself in, as it isn't fair to Ponyboy to have to hide out while his brothers are worried about him.He also believes he will get it easy because it was all self-defense. They come back to the church to notice it has caught on fire and that several small children are trapped inside. Johnny and Ponyboy rush to rescue them, they got the five children out and Pony got out, but a large piece of burning wood falls on Johnny and breaks his back. Dally puts out the fire that was burning on Ponyboys back, and Pony faints (Dally burnt own arm along the way). Ponyboy spends a short time in the hospital. When his brothers arrive to see him, Darry breaks down and cries. Ponyboy then realizes that Darry cares about him, and is only hard on Ponyboy because he wants him to have a good future.

As Ponyboy is recovering at home, Two-Bit shows up and informs him that Johnny and Ponyboy have been declared heroes for rescuing the kids, but that Johnny will be charged with manslaughter for Bob's death. When Ponyboy and Two-Bit visit Johnny and Dally in the hospital, they find Johnny in bad condition with multiple burns and a broken back, he could not feel anything below his waist. Dally is recovering well and insists on going to the rumble. The next evening, the Greasers win the fight with the Socs, with the help of Dally at the end. Ponyboy however suffers from a minor concussion. After the rumble, Dally and Ponyboy has to visit Johnny again because he is getting worse, they get a police escort when Dally told a police officer that the reason they were speeding was because Pony had been in a motorcycle wreck and he needed rushed to the hospital. There Johnny says "staygold, ponyboy, stay gold" and dies in front of their eyes. Dally is overwhelmed and runs out of the hospital. Soon after, Darry and the others get a phone call from Dally, who has robbed a grocery store. The boys run out to find him, but the police are chasing him. They surround him in front of the lot. Dally pulls out an unloaded gun that he only used as a bluff. Not knowing this, the police shoot him down. The boys realize that Dally couldn't bear to live without Johnny, so he wanted this to happen. Ponyboy faints and stays sick and delirious for three days. He stayed in bed for a week after that. While recovering at home, he convinces himself that Johnny is not dead and that he is the one who killed Bob. When Randy shows up to visit he mesions Johnny and Pony went off on him. His brothers made him leave.

When Ponyboy goes back to school, his grades drop dramatically. He begins to run into things and forget things. Although he is failing English, his teacher says he will pass him with a c grade if he writes a decent theme. Ponyboy reads the copy of Gone with the Wind that Johnny gave to him before dying. In the pages, he finds a note from Johnny describing how he will die proudly after saving the kids from the fire. Johnny also urges Ponyboy to "stay gold," by which he means to stay the way he is and follow his dreams. That gold means the way you are when your a kid. Like the way Ponyboy watches sunsets. With this in mind, Ponyboy decides to write his English assignment about everything that has happened recently in his life. He begins his theme with the same sentence with which the book began: "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home..."

See also

• Continuity within S.E. Hinton Novels

References

1. Frequently Asked Questions at sehinton.com
2. Hinton, S. E. (2005) . "speaking with S. E. Hinton... p. 162". The Outsiders. Speak/Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-14-038572-X.
3. Frequently Asked Questions at sehinton.com

External links

• S.E. Hinton's Website
• "‘The Outsiders’: 40 Years Later" By Dale Peck The New York Times September 23, 2007

Edited by: "sexy lady"

• 1967 novels
• Debut novels
• American young adult novels
• American novels adapted into films