the outsiders literary essay

• The Outsiders

S.E. Hinton

• Literature Notes
• Themes in The Outsiders
• Book Summary
• About The Outsiders
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Character Analysis
• Ponyboy Curtis
• Darry and Sodapop Curtis
• Johnny Cade
• Dallas (Dally) Winston
• Sherri (Cherry) Valance
• Bob Sheldon
• Randy Adderson
• Character Map
• S.E. Hinton Biography
• Critical Essays
• The Movie versus the Book
• Has Society Changed?
• Full Glossary for The Outsiders
• Essay Questions
• Practice Projects
• Cite this Literature Note

Critical Essays Themes in The Outsiders

As the title suggests, The Outsiders is a theme in itself. Looking at life as an outsider and feeling as though one is being treated as an outsider is a matter of perspective or point of view. Someone who always feels like an outsider may conclude that life is unfair.

Adolescence is a time when teenagers may consider themselves to be adults, but in reality teens are still under the control of others. Parents, teachers, and other authority figures are always telling them how to live their lives. This loss of control inevitably leads to the feeling that life isn't fair. For example, Ponyboy knows that he is not safe walking the streets in his own neighborhood. He could be attacked solely because of the way he is dressed; he feels like an outsider in his own town. His feelings of powerlessness and vulnerability lead him to conclude that life is not fair.

Ponyboy sees injustice on a daily basis. His parents are dead, Darry is forced to work two jobs to support the brothers, Soda has dropped out of school, and the greasers are looked upon as "white trash." He explains that the gang warfare is actually warfare between the economic classes. Because he is from the poor, East Side of town, his place in life is unfairly predetermined.

The evolution of the family relationships is a recurrent theme in the novel. Family relationships are strained during the teen years, but in the Curtis family, the right to stay together as a family is a constant struggle. Since the death of their parents, Darry has assumed the responsibility of guardianship for Pony and Soda, and under that pressure he has aged beyond his years. He no longer views the two boys as siblings, but rather as a responsibility. Darry recognizes Ponyboy's potential and has high expectations for him. Ponyboy complains that Darry is a stricter disciplinarian than his father, but by the end of the book he understands Darry's role: "Darry is a good guardian; he makes me study and knows where I am and who I'm with all the time. . . . My father didn't yell at me as much as he does."

Pony struggles with his expectations for Soda. He is self-conscious about the fact that Soda has dropped out of school, and he wants him to finish his education. Soda did not do well in school, did not like school, and is perfectly content to work in a gas station — a job he loves. Soda also believes that he is doing the right thing by helping to support his family. Pony doesn't care about any of those facts; he just wants Soda to go back to school. Gang relationships are included in the theme of family love. Ponyboy's gang members need the support and security that they find in the gang. The home life situations that these boys find themselves in are often abusive. They have turned to the gang for the love and support that should have come from parents.

Johnny is painfully aware of the difference between the gang and a family and through him Pony begins to understand how lucky he is to have caring family members: "I don't know what it was about Johnny — maybe that lost-puppy look and those big scared eyes were what made everyone his big brother. . . . I thought about it for a minute — Darry and Sodapop were my brothers and I loved both of them . . . they were my real brothers, not just sort of adopted ones." Pony's eventual ability to appreciate his family shows his growth.

The third major theme that runs through The Outsiders is the use of colors in a black and white world. Adolescents have a tendency to embrace people and events as absolutes. For example, someone or something is either right or wrong; there can be no middle ground. The characters in The Outsiders are either Socs or greasers. People are either rich or poor, good or bad. Hinton descriptively uses color throughout the book to define and add depth to the characters in their environments.

Early in the book, she associates warm colors with the Socs and cool colors with the greasers. Warmth usually is equated with inside and cool is associated with outside, and the colors reflect the characters' positions in society: The greasers view the Socs as insiders and themselves as outsiders.

Using many descriptive colors, Hinton paints the greasers as outsiders. In her original descriptions of Ponyboy's gang, she uses cool colors: Ponyboy's eyes are greenish-gray, Darry's eyes "are like two pieces of pale blue-green ice," Dally's eyes are "blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred," and Two-Bit Mathews has gray eyes.

Dally is the exception to the rule, "His hair was almost white it was so blond." White contains all of the visible rays of the color spectrum. It is a crossover color that cannot be affiliated with anyone or anything, so it is interesting that Dally, who was "tougher than the rest of us — tougher, colder, meaner," was the one with white/blond hair.

White is also used many times throughout the novel to describe fright, "white as a ghost." The color white symbolizes the internalization that there are no absolutes in the world. To realize that people and events may not be purely right or wrong, good or bad, can be frightening. Dally's white hair exemplifies this concept. Dally appears to be the stereotypical hood: cold, hard, and mean. But he is not that extreme persona. Just like the color white contains all the colors of the spectrum, Dally's character covers a broad spectrum. In addition to his cold, mean image, he is Johnny's hero, he is the one who literally gave Pony the coat off his back, he helped to save the children from the fire, and he was a scared boy who reached out to the Curtis brothers when he most needed help at the end of his life.

Throughout the book, Pony matures and grows in his ability to see the full spectrum, to stop dividing the world into black and white, good and bad, insiders and outsiders, greasers and Socs. Pony's fascination with sunsets at the beginning of the book and, later, his appreciation of the countryside around the church hideout ("I loved to look at the colors of the fields and the soft shadings of the horizon") symbolize this development of his character. A sub-theme within this story is the power of three. Three is a cardinal number that is common in American literature and folklore, and to find it as a pivotal theme in this story is not surprising. Americans have grown up with stories such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs . The Holy Trinity is a major doctrine of the Christian faith.

The three Curtis brothers working together have the power to save their family. Three greasers working together save the lives of children trapped by fire. And the three rings on the fist of a Soc change Johnny's life forever, and ultimately lead to three deaths: Bob's, Johnny's, and Dally's.

Previous S.E. Hinton Biography

Next The Movie versus the Book

The Outsiders

S. e. hinton, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Ponyboy Curtis , a member of the greasers, a gang of poor East Side kids in Tulsa, leaves a movie theater and begins to walk home alone. A car follows him, and he suspects that it is filled with a bunch of Socs (pronounced "sohsh-es"), members of a rich West Side gang who recently beat up his friend Johnny . The car stops, and several Socs emerge and begin roughing Ponyboy up and try to cut off his hair . Ponyboy's cries for help alert his brothers and fellow greasers, and the Socs flee. Afterward, Ponyboy's older brother Darry , who is also his guardian since their parents' death, scolds him for walking alone.

The next night, Johnny and Ponyboy go to the drive-in with fellow greaser Dally . Despite Dally's unpleasant behavior toward two Soc girls, Ponyboy strikes up a friendship with one of them, whose name is Cherry Valance . Ponyboy tells her about the Socs' attack on Johnny, and she insists that not all Socs are like that. Cherry tells him about some of the problems Socs have, and they find out they share a love of watching sunsets .

The girls and greasers walk out of the drive-in together, and are confronted by a Soc named Bob, who is Cherry's boyfriend, and his friends. Things almost come to blows, but Cherry puts a stop to the confrontation by leaving with Bob. Before going home, Ponyboy talks with Johnny in the vacant lot and falls asleep. He returns home late, and Darry gets so angry that he hits Ponyboy, who runs from the house and goes with Johnny to the park. There, they run into Bob and his Soc friends. The Socs attack, dunking Ponyboy's head into the fountain. Johnny stabs and kills Bob . Dally helps them escape town.

The boys take refuge in an abandoned church in the countryside. There, they cut their hair to disguise themselves and then spend five days talking, smoking cigarettes, and reading from Gone with the Wind . Dally comes to visit them and, on the way back from a restaurant, they find the church in flames. Johnny and Ponyboy run inside to save a group of schoolchildren who have come to the site for a picnic. They save the children but are all injured, including Dally, and are rushed to the hospital. At the hospital, Ponyboy recognizes for the first time how much Darry really cares for him. He also learns that Dally will recover, but Johnny's condition is extremely serious.

The next night is set for a rumble between the greasers and the Socs. Ponyboy talks with Randy , Bob's best friend, who says that he has decided not to fight because after Bob's death he has realized it won't accomplish anything. Ponyboy is not feeling well, and he, too, is skeptical about the purpose of fighting, but he does participate in the rumble, which the greasers win.

Afterwards, Dally and Ponyboy go to visit Johnny in the hospital, where they hear his last words: "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold." In despair over Johnny's death, Dally flees the hospital, robs a grocery store, threatens the police with his unloaded gun, and gets shot dead. Ponyboy, in worse health after the rumble, is unconscious and delirious for several days.

When Ponyboy recovers, the Socs and greasers attend a court hearing. Johnny is vindicated by all witnesses as having acted in self-defense. However, Ponyboy is depressed, his grades begin to suffer, and he almost turns to violence. His English teacher offers him a chance to pass by writing a final essay on the topic of his choice. Ponyboy can't think of a topic, though, and he and Darry fight about his lack of motivation. Sodapop becomes upset, and pleads with the brothers to stop fighting because it is tearing him apart. Ponyboy and Darry agree not to fight anymore.

Back at home that night, Ponyboy examines a copy of Gone with the Wind that Johnny left him. Out of it drops a note, written by Johnny, urging Ponyboy to keep his idealism and never give up hope for a better life. Ponyboy decides to write his essay about his experiences during the last several weeks. With it, he hopes to bring attention to the plight of boys like himself and to honor the memory of the ones who died. The first sentence of the essay is the first sentence of the novel.

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Critical Insights: The Outsiders

Tags: 3 Introductory Essays 4 Critical Context Essays 10 Critical Readings Current Critical Analysis by Top Literary Scholars Introductory Essay by the Editor Chronology of Author's Life Complete List of Author's Works Publication Dates of Works Detailed Bio of the Editor General Bibliography General Subject Index

This volume celebrates the 50th anniversary of Hinton's groundbreaking novel about teen aged "greasers" by exploring concepts of the Other, the portrait of Ponyboy Curtis as an artist, and The Outsiders as a postmodern work, among other topics. While the novel is often recognized for its maturation themes and its novelty as a young adult work, it also explores ideas such as free will versus determinism and the definition of heroism.

Each  Critical Insights  is divided into four sections:

An Introduction The beginning of the book aims to looks at the title as a whole, including how it was received when it was first published, as well as its 40th and 50th anniversary. "About this Volume" and "On  The Outsiders,"  written by the editor, M. Katherine Grimes, starts of this volume. These essays are followed by an historical background chapter.

Critical Contexts The essays aim to provide a background to the title and author that is an historical, cultural, and biographical foundation for the reader.

Critical Readings These essays utilize common critical approaches to further analyze the author's work. This section starts off with an essay paralleling the narrator, Ponyboy Curtis, with other famous characters such as Huckleberry Finn ( The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,  Mark Twain) and Stephen Daedelus ( The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,  James Joyce). Another essay discusses the characters of  The Outsiders  and how they cope with hardships and relationships among brothers. 

At one point, the reader gets information directly from the author herself, from interview excerpt, on the story behind  The Outsiders,  her descriptions of writing and publishing, her reasons for writing the novel, and her views on the book and the movie decades after they were both released. Readers will find more comparisons to S.E. Hinton's work to others, including poems by Robert Frost, Margaret Mitchell's  Gone with the Wind,  and J.K. Rowling's  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,  and the various themes that occur between  The Outsiders  and the other works.

Each essay is 2,500-5,000 words in length and all essays conclude with a list of "Works Cited," along with endnotes.

All of these speak to the importance of S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders in helping to shape the psyches of American youth and young people from around the world, as well as the necessity for more mature readers to interpret the deeper themes of the novel.

Additional Resources:

• Chronology of  S. E. Hinton’s Life
• Works by  S. E. Hinton
• Bibliography
• About the Editor
• Contributors

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Critical Survey of Young Adult Literature

This comprehensive collection provides thoughtful examination of the Authors, Works, Genres, Themes and Film Adaptations that have contributed to the popularity and success of the young adult genre.

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The Outsiders Themes

• Categories: Social Class The Outsiders

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Words: 472 |

Published: Mar 13, 2024

Words: 472 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Table of contents

Social identity and division, impact of violence, power of empathy.

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The Outsiders: Johnny Cade Literary Analysis

Literary Analysis: Johnny Cade SE Hinton’s novel, The Outsiders conveys the true dilemmas and struggles that all teenage kids go through. One of the inevitable struggles that teenagers go through is dealing with change. From weak and afraid to courageous and bold, Johnny Cade’s personality evolves throughout the novel. His changes separate him from the rest of the characters who remained constant throughout. Johnny undergoes many struggles that made him emotionally and physically unstable.

But with the gang by his side, he learns a lot and rapidly changes the way he thinks. Johnny is depicted as a vulnerable teen, filled with fear. In the beginning of the novel, Johnny is jumped by the Socs, leaving him traumatized. That caused Johnny to carry a just-in-case pocketknife at all times. Johnny feared that where ever he went there always was a chance of getting jumped again. Ponyboy mentions, “He had a nervous, suspicious look in his eyes, and that beating he got from the Socs didn’t help matters,” and even the gang knew that he is a very troubled kid.

Also his family issues didn’t help at all. His dad was abusive and his mom didn’t have a care in the world for Johnny. But as the story progresses the different scenarios changes Johnny. Later in the story, the death of Robert Sheldon constructed a big contribution to the chage of Johnny. “You really killed him, huh, Johnny? ” (57). He unwillingly killed Bob in order to save Ponyboy from drowning. Johnny takes immediate action by leading the way for Ponyboy. He went to Dally, asked for help, and got most things semi-taken care of.

While they were at the church, Johnny took control by taking care of everything, buying food, supplies, and things like cards to kill time. Johnny acting this way was the start of him realizing that there were more important things in life. As the novel draws to a close Johnny chooses to risk his own life to save the kids in the fire. He realized that saving the kids would be better for everyone including himself and he shows his realization by saying, “Listen, I don’t mind dying now. It’s worth it. It’s worth saving those kids,” reassuring Ponyboy that nothing was Ponyboy’s fault almost.

Johnny knew saving those kids was a great choice that he does not have to regret because he knew is he died, he would die gallant. In The Outsiders, the author portrays the rue dilemmas and struggles that all teenagers go through. The dilemmas you go through makes you who you are. Johnny’s change in personality only happened because of the events he experienced. Everyone goes through hard times, and the best thing is to learn from them. Johnny Cade realized the good of life, learning from his past, and just accepting the things that have occurred to him.

Author: Wilma Daniels