Book Review of ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E Hinton
Introduction
“Outsiders” is a novel by S.E Hinton based in 1965. The first Publication was done in 1967 when the author was 18 years old. The book revolves around two opposing groups called the Socs and the Greasers. The two groups in the book are divided along socioeconomic lines. The author was upset by a situation when a friend of hers was confronted by a group of Socs for being a Greaser. She therefore decided to write the book basing her arguments and facts to the prevailing circumstances and the issues revolved around the rivalry of the two groups.
The novels starts with a character, Ponyboy who is a Greaser being jumped by a group of Socs just after leaving a movie theatre. He is dsaved by his two brothers called Darry and Sodapop. Ponyboy and his two friends, Dally and Johnny meet two ladies Cherry and Marcia at a movie and Ponyboy realizes that Cherry is just like the other Socs he had met before therefore his two friends walk the two ladies home. However, Bob and Randy who are Socs see the two boys escorting the two Socs as people who were trying to take their girlfriends away. The two ladies leave with Bon and Randy so as to prevent an eruption of a fight. Ponyboy arrived home late and was hit by Darry. This made him to run away and later meet Johnny. However, as they are still wandering in the neighborhood, they are confronted by a group of Socs and Bob almost drowned Ponyboy in a spring. Johnny who was terrified decided to stab Bob and killed him accidentally. Ponyboy and Johnny then went to hide in some abandoned church. They stay in the church for sometime and later on Dally joins them and reveals to them that a fight between the two rival groups had intensified since Bob’s demise. As they are about to leave the church, the church suddenly catches fire and there were some children who were trapped inside. The three rushes to save them and unfortunately a burning timber fell on Johnny’s back thus fracturing his back. Johnny is rescued by Dally and takes the two to hospital. Ponyboy and Johnny were informed by Two-Bit that they had been affirmed heroes for saving the kids, but Johnny is to be charged for manslaughter for Bob’s death. The Greasers won the fight and after the two groups decided to settle their scores with a rumble. When Dally and Ponyboy went to see Johnny die, Dally is overcome and rushes from the hospital to rob a store. He then decided to point a gun at the police prompting the police to shoot and kill him. Ponyboy fainted and stayed sick for about one week. Ponyboy’s grades drop significantly when he returned to school.
The major conflict in the story is about the two warring groups “the Greasers” and the “Socs”. The two groups engage each other in violent attacks. Later on the two groups agree to settle their scores through engaging in a rumble. The Greasers won the fight and the scores were settled.
The main character in the novel is Ponyboy. Ponyboy is the protagonist and the treatment that he got from the group of Socs motivated the writer to narrate the story and the events that transpired. We are able to see him at the beginning of the novel all through to the end. He is also the narrator of the story. He plays a very important role towards the development of the story as he is seen all through the story.
My favorite character in the novel is Johnny. Johnny is very brave and is ready to confront any person or situation in order to make things right. He was able to save Ponyboy from being drowned and later killed Bob to caution them from their misdeeds. He was also involved in the rescue operation when he helped in saving the kids even though he broke his back. He was still able to state that he was happy as he will die proudly for saving the life of the kids.
My least favorite character in the novel is David who is am member of the Bob and Randy’s gang. He is the one who attempted to drown Ponyboy in the fountain. He has a weird character that is not attractive at all.
When casting in the movie, I would like to play the part of Johnny due to his brave character and ability to handle situations as they occur. I would however, not prefer acting any part that was played by the Soc gangs due to their uncouth nature and mode of aimless confrontation.
I would highly recommend this book to any person who is studying conflicts and conflict resolution. The book is well organized and uses a simple language that is very easy to understand and follow. The author also organizes her thoughts very well on how each circumstance led to the other and the events that occurred thereafter.
