The_outsiders Essay, Research Paper

The Outsiders

Author: S. E Hinton Publishing Company: Puffin books

Copyright Date: 1967 Number of Pages: 180

Price: $5.99 ISBN: 0-14-038572-X

In a small town a gang made up of seven people are called ?Greasers?. Ponyboy, the main character in this story is different from the others in his gang. Ponyboy?s brothers, Garry and Sodapop, support their family because their parents died in a car accident when Ponyboy was very young. The Greaser?s are at a constant war with the Socs, or the Socials, the richer west side kids. One night Ponyboy finds himself asleep in a vacant lot with his friend Johnny. As Ponyboy realizes what time it is he runs home and gets hit by his over protective brother, Garry, because it was past his curfew. Ponyboy and Johnny run off to the park and meet some Socs who are drunk and looking for a good fight. One of the Socs almost drowns Ponyboy so, Johnny pulls out his switch blade and stabs Bob, one of the Socs and accidentally kills him. After realizing what they have done Ponyboy and Johnny go to Dallas Winston. He tells them to go to the abandoned church. He gives them a gun and $50 for supplies. When Dallas goes to check in with two boys are as pail as a ghost and almost starving. He takes them to Dairy Queen and the boys eat like pigs. While driving back to the church they see it is on fire. A group of school children are trapped inside. The boys go in the flaming church and save the terrified children. Ponyboy makes it out of the church okay but Dallas and Johnny aren?t as fortunate. In a few weeks Dallas will be all right but Johnny will never be able to walk again, if he survives.

I feel that this is an adventurous novel that every teen should read. There is not a dull part in this book and it really points out the facts of being part of a gang. I could barely put down this page turner. When my mom first told me about this book I thought it sounded really dumb. I mean who would name their kids Sodapop and Ponyboy? Once I got into it I understood the reasoning of their names and the gang. I give this book an A+ and recommend it to anyone who want to read a great novel.