Alexander Moyses review

English Assessment

The film adaptation of ‘The Outsider’ did not live up to the high expectations that the novel set for it. It lacked the detail and intensity of the novel. The film gave the same sort of storyline as the novel but it missed out some of the most important subplots in the novel, such as soda pop’s horse and when soda pop runs away from home after pony boy has a fight with. The characters and the Stylistic features in the movie lacked the feeling that the novel gave to them. The plot was one thing was really disappointing that let down the movie a lot.

The plot of the cinematic version of The Outsiders lacked some of the most important subplots of the Novel, such as when Soda Pop runs away from home. The cinematic version of the novel also left out attention to detail. Another important subplot that was missing was Soda Pop’s horse, Mickey Mouse, and also when Pony Boy smashes the bottle to scare away the socs. Attention to detail was overlooked in the movie; the movie barely even showed Soda Pop, a really important character in the novel.  Another example is when Johnny stabs the soc, the dead body rolls over making the film unrealistic and fake.  In the novel obviously none of these things were missing because that was what the movie was based on, but after all those years it still has that original touch to it. The movie lacks that touch and fails to meet the expectations set by the novel. 

The characters in the novel compared to the film were definitely more enjoyable. In the novel the characters had that quick wit and that sense of humour that everybody loved, but in the film it simply lacked. Take Soda Pop: in the novel Soda Pop was exciting and bouncy but in the film he was barely seen at all, let alone seen in a happy mood. Also there were people like Pony Boy, which in the movie showed a lot less emotion than that of in the book. Some characters were the same, such as Two-Bit. Both the novel and the book had that same humour that could make anyone laugh. Some characters weren’t even put in the film or just barely featured, such as Soda Pop, who was barely featured, and Pony Boy’s teacher, who is really important because he led him to make the book that the novel is based on in the first place. This is why the movie has less interesting and less emotive characters than in the novel.

The stylistic features in the novel and the film are greatly contrasting. Take Mickey Mouse: in the film Mickey Mouse is shown on the shirt of Two-Bit, which represents him still being childish while in the novel Mickey Mouse is Soda Pop’s horse that he had when he was young and that represents childhood dreams. Sunsets still mean the same thing in both the novel and the book - it represents the preserving of childhood innocence. These reasons show that the movie and the novel have similar stylistic features, but those of the novel are still better than that of the movie.

This is why the novel version of ‘The Outsiders’ is better in many different ways. This is shown in the movie’s plot, stylistic features and its characters, which is why the movie lets the viewer down at every turn, whereas the novel keeps the reader hooked on every word and important moment in it. The film did not meet the expectations that the novel had set for it and was a letdown.