The Outsiders Book Summary

The Outsiders
  Book Review

The Outsiders is a fictional story written by S.E Hinton in 1967. By now, it has been recognized as a classic, due to its awards and how long it has existed. It's theme can be described as dramatic and moving, while also contemporary and current, despite being written forty-three years ago. It's main theme however, is about how a boy growing up into a man.

The story takes place in Oklahoma, but it is most certainly not set in any "good" neighborhood. No, The Outsiders is mainly set in the slums and ghettos of the state, showing life from a different perspective at the time it was published. Ponyboy Curtis is our main character, our hero. Living with his brother Darry as the man of the house ever sense the death of his parents, Ponyboy, being only 14 years old, began to understand just how hard surviving in the world is. Not only are they struggling to get by, but social workers are threatening to put Pony and his brother Soda in a boys home, thinking that Darry would not be a suitable parent for each of them. With that thought bugging in his mind, Ponyboy had to make sure he kept his nose clean. In addition, they just happen to be aligned with a gang, The Greasers. The Greasers were the punks and hoods of society, poor, but with a strong brotherly bond.   Often they were mugging others that roam through their territory and caused mild mischief, but with the cops strongly cracking down. Ponyboy was not like most of them though. The young Greaser liked to read, write, and draw, but most of all, think and watch the sunset. He was the most sensitive one out of them all. Yet, they had somehow managed to spark a fierce hatred with another gang, The Socs. The Socs were the exact opposite of the Greasers. Rich, Selfish, and almost never were help responsible for their actions. This infuriated the Greasers, often causing many brawls to occur. However, one day, things went too far. Johnny, a Greaser with a strong relationship to Ponyboy,...