Jack Brosnan

The Outsiders Review

The Outsiders written by SE Hilton is about two completely different gangs. The Greasers are the lower class of society. They are poor and have a very hard life. The Greasers live on the east side of town. They are called the Greaser’s because of their long and greasy hair. The Socs or “Socials”, are the rich kids. They drive mustangs, wear white pants and are clean looking. The Socs live on the south side of town. The story is based around Ponyboy Curtis and his friend Johnny who are Greasers and the battle against gang rivalry and stereotyping that has classed them as bad boys. They are the first to get into trouble and the Socs  are always classed as good boys, even though the Socs do just as many bad things as the Greasers.  Ponyboy feels as though he is an outsider in society and he doesn’t fit in.

There are some similarities between the plots of the film and the novel but overall the film cuts out a lot of important scenes. The film and novel still have the same characters but the film doesn’t give us much background information on these characters.    The film focuses on the conflict between the Greasers and the Socs as well as the close knit friendship of the Greasers. The film and the novel both talk about the “newspaper hero”. The reason why Ponyboy, Johnny and Dallas Winston where in the newspaper is because they rescued children from a burning church. The headline was “Juvenile Delinquents Turn Heroes”.  The film doesn’t show how close Soda Pop and Pony Boy are in the novel.  The film ends when Dally gets killed it doesn’t show the last part of the novel when Pony boy goes back to school and failing then he writes a English assignment inspired by Johnny.  The film also doesn’t focus on the “sunsets “and the meaning of it and the saying to Johnny from Pony boy to “stay gold”. The novel really focuses on the friendship between the Greasers this is not really seen in the film. Therefore I like the novel better than the film because you get a better insight into the characters and their life

There are differences between the novel and the film is in the novel the Socs are on the west side of town and the Greasers are on the east side of town.   In the film the Socs live on the south side and the Greasers north side.     One of the stylistic elements I like about the novel is that Ponyboy is the narrator throughout the novel you get a detail description of the characters. This helps you understand the characters a lot more.  In the film you get to know very little about the characters.    Pony boy also talks in his own words using slang which helps us understand his perspective on life.    The novel starts with Pony Boy walking home from the movies and getting jumped by the Socs.  This part of the novel shows that the rivalry between the gangs is fierce and you don’t have to be doing anything for a fight to start.  It is completely missed in the film.   In the novel Ponyboy talks about Johnny being bashed by the Socs and the significance of the gold rings on the Socs.  In the film you see Johnny looking terrified when the Socs pull up beside them when they  are walking home from the drive in. You see Johnny’s eyes focus on the rings but you don’t know why unless you have read the novel. The film still focuses on Johnny and Pony boy but the film does not go into a lot of detail about their family life like the novel did.

In my opinion the novel is better as it really focuses on Ponyboy and is struggle with where he fits in society.  I didn’t like the movie as much as it wasn’t told by Pony boy and you missed out on a lot. Reading the novel you felt like you were in Ponyboy’s shoes.    In the novel you really got to know Ponyboy by him telling the story and how he really thought he was an outsider and was different to everyone else but really he is just an ordinary boy.