The Outsiders
“The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton is a novel published in 1967 with themes on the middle area between childhood innocence and adulthood, and social classes in the small American town of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The novel, published when Hinton was only eighteen, follows the journey of Ponyboy Curtis, a fourteen year old “Greaser” from the wrong side of town. The story is emotional and, at times, heart-wrenching, speaking to readers of all ages and genders. The film, released in 1983 and directed by Francis Coppola, is also easily accessible. The magnetic story translates well onto screen, and while there are some differences in between the book and movie, for the most part Coppola managed to stay true to the original story.
The story of “The Outsiders” follows Ponyboy’s journey into partial adulthood, a process started when his friend, Johnny, stabs in self defence and consequently kills Bob, a drunken “Soc” (short for social- the rich kids and sworn enemies of the Greasers) who attacks the two and almost drowns Ponyboy. With the help of their friend and fellow gang-member, Dally, they go on the run and hide in an abandoned church for a week, living off baloney and passing the time by playing cards and reading “Gone With The Wind”. Ponyboy, ever the dreamer of the gang, helps Johnny notice things such as the sunset and in a particularly memorable scene in both book and film, recites Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay”. In one sense, this poem could mean the loss of innocence, a major theme in the book. It also acts as a sort of foreshadowing of character deaths.
This is awful.
ReplyDelete~Julia