The Outsiders Essay, Research Paper

The title of the story is The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton wrote it. Dell Publishing published the book. The main characters include Ponyboy, Darry, Soadapop, Dally Winston, Johnny, Cherry, Two-Bit, and Marcia.

This story is about a guy names Ponyboy who is a greaser , a member of a group of lower-class youths who wear their hair long and greasy, wear jeans and ripped-up T-shirt, and are at odds with the rich-kid bullies known as the Socs , shorter name for socials. One day, as Ponyboy is walking home from a movie, he is jumper and beaten by a gang of Socs. At the last minute, his gang of greasers (including his brothers Darry and Sodapop, who raised Ponyboy now that their parents are dead,) the hardened hood Dally Winston, innocent Johnny, and wise-cracking Two-Bit see what s going on and save him. The next night, Ponyboy and Johnny go to a movie with Dally. There they sit behind some attractive Socs girls and dally hits on the obnoxiously. After Johnny tells him to stop, Johnny and Ponyboy sit with the girls, Cherry and Marcia, and Ponyboy and cherry discover to their mutual surprise that they have a great deal in common. Two-bit appears, and the three greasers walk the Socs girls back to Two-Bit s house so that he can drive them home. On the way, the run into Bob and randy, the girls drunken boyfriends, and the girls agree to leave with them in order to prevent a fight between the Socs and the greasers.

Ponyboy is very late getting him, and his brother Darry gets very mad. Sick of being bossed around by his brother, Ponyboy yells at him, and out of rage, Darry hits Ponyboy across the face. Then Ponyboy runs out the door, finds Johnny, and goes to the park. There, however, the two young greasers run into randy and bob, with a huge group of their Socs friends. One of the Socs friends hold pony boy s head under a cold water fountain, and Ponyboy blacks out. When he comes to, he is lying on the ground next to Johnny. The bloody corps of bob is next to them. To save Ponyboy, Johnny had to kill bob.

Terrified and confused, the two greasers hurry to find Dally, the one person the think can help them. Dally sends them with a gun and some money to an abandoned church near Windrixvill, where they hide out for a week, they cut their hair to disguise their appearances. After a week, dally comes to check on them, and says that since bob died, the Socs and the greasers have become worse then ever, a giant rumble is to be held the next night to settle the matters once and for all. Cherry feels responsible for the whole problem, acted as a spy for the greasers. Johnny surprises Dally by declaring his intention to go back to Tulsa and turn himself in. Dally drives them back, but as they leave, the notice that the church has caught on fire and it had a large group of schoolchildren inside. Ponyboy and Johnny rush inside the church to save the children. Just when they get the last child through the window, the roof caves in and Ponyboy blacks out again.

This time when Ponyboy wakes up he s in an ambulance. IN the hospital he is told he only has minor burns and bruises, dally is also not badly hurt. Johnny on the other hand broke his back and is in critical condition. Darry and Sodapop go to get Ponyboy. Ponyboy has to attend a hearing where a judge will decide whether to let him stay with Darry or send him to a boy s home.

Ponyboy and Two-Bit go to get a coke, where they run into Randy. Randy tells them that he is sick of all the fighting, and that he does not plan to go to the rumble. At the hospital, Johnny seems weak. Dally is stronger, and asks for Two-Bit s black-handled switchblade. ON the way home, Two-Bit and Ponyboy see cherry. She refuses to visit Johnny because he killed Bob, and Ponyboy calls her a traitor.

At the rumble, the greasers defend the Socs. Dally shows up just in time to fight, having used Two-Bit s switchblade to get himself out of the hospital. Ponyboy and Darry hurry back to see Johnny where they find out he is dying. As he dies Dally loses his self-control and runs out of the room. Johnny dies. Dally robs a grocery store and was being hunted by the cops. The greaser hurry to help him but end up showing up to late and Dally gets shot by the cops. Ponyboy then passes out again.

When he wakes up he is in his bed at home. He has had a concussion from a kick he sustained at the rumble, and been delirious in bed for several days. When he gets better he attends a hearing, where he is acquitted from any involvement in bobs death and allowed to remain at home with Darry. Sodapop asks them not to fight. Ponyboy decides not to fight with Darry.

I thought this book was ok. I thought it would be more interesting than it was but it wasn t bad. I would recommend it to some of my friends if they ask me what I thought they should read.