Connor Housden: The Outsiders

The Outsiders Review blog

The Outsiders is about a teenage boy named Ponyboy. After his parents died, his brother Darrell takes care of him and Sodapop, his other brother. Besides his brothers, Ponyboy hangs out with the neighbourhood kids, Johnny, Dally, Steve, and two-bit. They all belong to a local poor gang called the Greasers, who have a rival gang called the Soc’s. The cinematic version of “The Outsiders” differs from the novel as it cuts out parts of the novel to focus on the conflict between the Greasers and the Soc’s, as well as the close friendships of Ponyboy and the other Greasers.

Throughout the novel, Ponyboy narrates the story and we are allowed to experience his feelings & perspective on events. His first person narration of the story and effective language draws the reader into the story and more importantly Ponyboy’s journey. In contrast the characters in the film seem to be quite similar to each other. In fact we do not see much of Sodapop, and the entire story of his horse Mickey Mouse is excluded.

There also some other scenes which were excluded in the film; Ponyboy smashing a bottle and Pony handing in his essay. The director of the film decides to focus on the rivalry between the two neighbourhood gangs the Greasers and the Soc’s; he has also decided to concentrate on the close friendships between the six Greasers.  We do not get to experience some of the more sensitive moments other than “Ponyboy’s journey”.

I liked the novel better as it has much more detail about the characters and how they live. The film does not stay true to the book as it leaves out important points such as; the Curtis’s horse Mickey Mouse, towards the end of the novel where Ponyboy decides to smash a glass bottle and threaten to stab the Soc’s with it, and lastly at the very end, in the novel, Ponyboy hands his essay into his english teacher.