The Outsiders is a fictional novel written about the conflict between two gangs, The Socs (which is slang for Socials) and the Greasers. The stereotype revolving around the greasers are that they are lower-class members and are deprived of fancy cars, clothes, and food while the Socs are known for their posh lifestyle, wealthy families, and complacent personalities towards others. The name the Greasers is symbolic of the Greaser’s hair. This book is written from the point of view of the protagonist, Ponyboy, who lives with his two brothers, Darry and Sodapop alone due to the passing of their parents. The death of their parents had a detrimental impact on their lives, but primarily Ponyboy. This distraction caused his grades to plummet, and to be involved in fights that could put his life at risk. Dally and Johnny are two of their closest friends and are also a part of the Greasers. Soon after, Ponyboy and Johnny pick up two of the Soc’s girls at the drive in theater, infuriating two of the Soc’s, Bob and Randy. These four shortly had a second encounter at the park, where Ponyboy was being drowned by the two boys, Johnny couldn’t just watch his friend die in front of his own eyes, so he grabbed his switchblade and stabbed Bob. The rest of them ran off. Johnny was officially a criminal. This caused his name to surface. A plethora of news reports were written causing the town to believe he was a miscreant who wanted unnecessary attention. They ran over to Dally’s house where they grabbed essential items and ran off to a rural, old church.
This book would be appealing to anyone who finds interest in friendships and drama as there is frequent conflict between the two groups. Coming from someone who hates reading, this is a book that was given three weeks to read from school, that I finished in one. As Ponyboy is 14, I find it interesting to compare our lives, how he copes without parents and more. Anyone in high school would likely be able to relate and understand how hard it must be to be living without a proper guardian.
Many hidden meanings are disguised throughout the book. On the front cover, there are 4 combs with one being a different colour to the others. This signifies The Outsider. Which in the end, after Johnny dies while saving kids from a church fire they caused, which also cleared his name and he died a hero, and Dally getting shot by the cops after having a mental breakdown and robbing a grocery store, leaving Ponyboy the only friend left standing.
As the book goes on, Ponyboy continues to unravel the true identities of many of the people he knows, even finding out Randy’s true innocent personality later in the text. But in the end, the book gleams the spotlight on the epicenter of the novel, the death of one of the lower-class members, Johnny. The story steadily declined from here, soon losing one of his friends and entering a state of utter depression.
