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The year is 1966 and if you were a kid growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. You belonged to one of two groups, you were either a “soc” or a “greaser”. “Soc” is pronounced like society, and means just that: money, nice cars, nice homes and a bright future. “Greasers” are the poor kids from the bad side of town with no future and no real hope. Always at each other's throats, the two warring groups fight to save face and prove themselves. “The Outsiders” is the story of two of the Greasers who come to realize that it's not always where you live that decides what kind of person you are. Instead of wallowing in hopelessness they find the strength to grow and find the beauty of the world. In this paper I will give you a look into “The Outsiders” and compare the film with the novel. I feel it is an excellent book, as well as an excellent movie. It is for these reasons that I feel it would be beneficial for you to use S.E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders” in your class in the future.
S.E. Hinton wrote the story when she was just 16 years old, in the 1950s. The book was successful, and it was sold, and is still being sold today. “The Outsiders” is about a gang that lives in a city in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Ponyboy Curtis, a 14-year-old greaser, tells the story. Other characters include Sodapop and Darry (Ponyboy's brothers), Johnny, Dallas, and Two- Bit, that were also gang members and Ponyboy's friends. The story deals with two forms of social classes: the socs, the rich kids, and the greasers, the poor kids. The socs go around looking for trouble and greasers to beat up, and then the greasers are blamed for it, because they are poor and cannot affect the authorities.
Plot Development The plot development in the book, “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, was easy to follow. In this part of the book analysis I will give some more details about the plot development. There were no hooks or hurdles in the beginning of the book, the first sentence starts right away with the plot—without any forewords. This is the beginning of the first sentence: “When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house...” (page 9). As you can see, it goes straight to the point without any prologues or any kind of introduction. The plot development in the middle of the story was sensible and easy to understand. It was clear and simple, and the events have occurred in a reasonable order. The ending of the story was a bit expected. I anticipated the death of Johnny because a broken neck usually means death. The death of Dally was not as predictable as Johnny’s death because it was said that: “He was tougher than the rest of us—tougher, colder, meaner.” (page 19). I did not think that such a tough person would get himself killed because of a death of a friend, although it was said a short time before the death of Dally that: “Johnny was the only thing Dally loved.” (page 160). The climaxes at the end of the story were the deaths of Johnny and Dally. Here are quotations about the deaths: Johnny’s death: “The pillow seemed to sink a little, and Johnny died.” (page 157). Dally’s death: “He was jerked half around by the impact of the bullets, then slowly crumpled with a look of grim triumph on his face. He was dead before he hit the ground.” (page 162). To conclude I can say that the plot development was simple and easy to understand and to follow. The author organized it in a way that fits the actual content of the plot. Character Development The characters in the book, “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, were not very heroic—they were just humans—it was easy to believe that this is the way they should be. The characters in the plot give the reader a feeling that this can be a true story. The author has created the personality of the characters through the descriptions of Ponyboy—the narrator—and through their actions. Following are some examples of these methods of getting familiar with a character. Here is an example for a description of Ponyboy: “Steve Randle was seventeen, tall and lean, with thick greasy hair he kept combed in complicated swirls. He was cocky, smart, and Soda’s best buddy since grade school. Steve’s specialty was cars...” (page 17). The reader can find this kind of descriptions almost everywhere in the story, but especially in the beginning. I think the author put them there because the reader does not know the characters, and he needs to get familiar with them. The descriptions make the reader know the characters better and understand their actions. A good example of an action that was taken and suggested something about a character is the way Dally was killed. He wanted the police to kill him, so he robbed a store, and the police officers shoot him. This shows that Dally was sensitive to a death of a friend although he acted like a tough guy. The dialogues in the story show the thoughts and the feelings of the speakers. The way the gang members talk shows that they are gang members and street boys, because they speak in street slang. When the socs talk to greasers, the reader can feel their aversion to them. Following are some examples for dialogues that indicate something about the characters. Here is an example for a dialogue with slang in it: “...so I can still help Darry with the bills and stuff...Tuff enough. Wait till I get out...I told you he don’t mean half of what he says...” (page 26). The highlighted words and phrases are ones that will not be used in formal writing and they even contain grammar mistakes. Here is an example of the hate the socs have for the greasers: “‘Hey, grease,’ one said in an over-friendly voice. ‘We’re gonna do you a favor, greaser. We’re gonna cut all that long greasy hair off.’” (page 13). The reader can feel the hatred of the socs to the greaser in this dialogue when they tell him what they are going to do to him. The central figure of the story is Ponyboy, he is also the narrator. The physical description of Ponyboy can be found in the first page of the book, page 9: “I have light-brown, almost-red hair and greenish-gray eyes. I wish they were more gray, because I hate most guys that have green eyes, but I have to be content with what I have. My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs, squared off in back and long at the front and sides, but I am a greaser and most of my neighborhood rarely bothers to get a haircut. Besides, I look better with long hair.” He is smart, according to page 12: “...I make good grades and have a high IQ and everything...” He is a bit naive sometimes, like on page 45 when he tried to convince himself that the only difference between socs and greasers is that greasers like Elvis and do not like the Beatles and socs like the Beatles and do not like Elvis. Sometimes, Ponyboy is daydreaming and not connected to reality, like on page 158, when he tried to convince himself that Johnny isn’t dead: “...That still body back in the hospital wasn’t Johnny. Johnny was somewhere else—maybe asleep in the lot...” The supporting cast in the story is the gang and other characters. The gang members have long descriptions from Ponyboy’s point of view, and they are part of the plot development. The other characters in the book do not have long descriptions, and they usually appear in small parts of the plot to help its development. To conclude I can say that the characters have contributed a lot to the coherent development of the plot. The characters are believable and they enhance the feeling of realism in the story.
The setting is appropriate to the plot—the streets in the “wrong side of town”. The author’s descriptions are deep but easy to understand. The neighborhood where the gang lives is a place that fits the plot well, and helps to understand it. A good example for a description would be the one in page 85, of the dawn: “...The dawn was coming then. All the lower valley was covered with mist, and sometimes little pieces of it broke off and floated away in small clouds. The sky was lighter in the east, and the horizon was a thin golden line. The clouds changed from gray to pink, and the mist was touched with gold. There was a silent moment when everything held its breath, and then the sun rose. It was beautiful.” This kind of description made an image in my mind of a beautiful dawn—this was a word picture. The story takes place in the 1950s in the US, it lasts a few days. The author usually describes every part of the day using Ponyboy. The mood the setting creates is of the neighborhood, and street life. This really contributes to the judicious plot development—it makes it more believable and reasonable. To conclude I can say that the setting fits the plot and the characters in a very good way. This is the best setting that can be for this kind of plot and characters, because other setting would make the story ridiculous because a street gang can only fit into the streets. Author’s Style In this part of the book analysis, about the book “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, her style of writing would be discussed. The word usage in the dialogues between the gang members is of street slang. In the descriptions there are less simple words and more descriptive and artistic words (look at Setting and Character Development for examples). There is suspense in the book—usually in the middle of chapters— that makes the reader to want to read what will happen next. An example for suspense is when the socs have tried to drown Ponyboy—there was uncertainty and I was anxious about what is going to happen next. The way the plot develops is easy to follow and to understand—the writer does not make it too complex. To conclude I can say that the author’s style is easy to read and not complicated. Reading the book is enjoyable and there is no need to look up words in the dictionary.
Francis Coppola directs this future all-star cast
in this retelling of S.E. Hinton's classic novel
about growing up. The film's intensity and raw
power draws you in and makes you a witness
to the inevitable tragic ending. It pulls you
along as you, like them, learn to draw strength
from the tragedy around them.
Because many of the author’s descriptions are simple, but yet very descriptive, it is easy to understand. You feel as if you are a greaser too. It really feels as if you are there. The movie is done in the same way. You feel as if you are a greaser too. You get to know the characters on a personal level. You begin to sympathize with them. You are a greaser. I love books and films that draw you into themselves. That is another reason that I feel this book would fit into your class. It will draw your students in and make them want to read more. As I have said before, there is always something going on, the film is full of nonstop action.
This book also fits the college setting perfectly. As students first come to college they find themselves alone and isolated. This book shows that everyone goes through the same things in their lives. No matter where we come from or what our background is, we all have the same problems in one way or another. I feel that it is invaluable for college students understand this concept. Many come from
Word Count: 2019
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