Book Report
Title: The Outsiders
Author: S.E. Hinton
180 Pages
Copyright S.E. Hinton, 1967
Puffin Books, 1997
Hardcover Edition
Main Characters: Ponyboy Michael Curtis, Dallas Winston, Sodapop Patrick Curtis, Darrel ’Darry’ Curtis, Keith “Two-Bit” Mathews, Johnny Cade, Cherry Valance, and Steve Randle.
Setting: Time, Mid-1960s.Place,Tusla,Oklahoma
The Outsiders is about a 14-year-old boy named Ponyboy Curtis. This book tells the story of Ponyboy and his struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes that he is an outsider. He lives with his two older brothers Sodapop and Darry, since they lost both of their parents in a car accident. They are all members of a Greaser gang that means they are considered hoods or juvenile delinquents by society. The greasers’ main problem is getting jumped by their rivals are the Socs, short for Socials who are the West Side rich kids. The other members of the Greaser gang are Johnny Cade, Dally Winston, Two-Bit Mathews, and Steve Randle. The day after Ponyboy gets jumped by a Socs, he meets Cherry who is a Soc. She surprises Ponyboy by being unlike any of the other Socs he has ever met, kind and ordinary not acting like she is above him. Later, in an incident. Johnny panickedly stabs a Soc to death when he tries to drown Ponyboy. The pair run along with Dallas, who supplies them wit the money they need. Eventually, they reunite with Soda, Darry, and the rest of the gang after they are forced to go to the hospital after nearly dying to save children from a burning church. Later, at the planned “rumble” Ponyboy gets kicked in the head, leading to a concussion later on. Afterwards, after seeing Johnny in the hospital, Dally is overwhelmed and runs off, eventually committing to suicide. Ponyboy faints after which he eventually comes to terms with Johnny’s death and talks to Randy, a Soc and realizes that they are not all that bad. When Ponyboy returns to school, he writes a theme about the recent events...