Essay on the outsiders

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The outsiders
SE Hinton is the author of this novel The Outsiders. She draws us into the novel through using colloquial language that we understand as well as using characters our own age. The novel is full of emotional times as well as violent ones and the themes of the novel are of interest to us. The plot of the novel is full of conflict and tension which keeps us interested and the setting is vague about time and place to appeal to as many people as possible.

The characters in the novel are realistic and complex which helps the readers to relate to them. The main character of the novel is Ponyboy and all of the events are linked to him. The story is told using first person narration so we see and hear the events through Ponyboy’s eyes. This makes the readers feel like they know him and care about what happens to him. The fact that Ponyboy is a teenage boy also makes him easier to relate to as the main audience are teenagers themselves.

The character of Johnny is also a very lovable one as he is one of the bravest characters. He shows this through when he saves all the little children and has to be rushed to hospital after a part of the church falls on him and breaks his back. Johnny is described by Ponyboy as “a little puppy that has been kicked to many times and lost in a crowd of strangers”. Even though he is the one that killed bob he is still very likeable he also shows this through protecting Cherry and Marcia when Dally starts to fool around. He also puts his friends safety in front of his multiple times. After he saves the children and he is in the hospital and says to Ponyboy “listen I don’t mind dying now. It’s worth it. It’s worth saving their kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for. Some of their parents came to hank me I know it was worth it.”

Dallas Winston is one of the most important characters beside Ponyboy and Johnny. We are told at the beginning of the novel that he is a mean and dangerous character. However we learn further in the novel that he becomes a loving and caring person. His favourite person is Johnny as he is the most delicate character. After Johnny kill’s Bob Dally has no hesitation to help him. Johnny’s life is so important to him that he doesn’t think he can live without him. After Johnny dies he goes out on a suicide mission when he holds up a grocery store the fuzz (police) come to the crime scene and he gets shot down. On the other hand Ponyboy deals with the grief over Johnny’s death by pretending Johnny isn’t actually dead. Ponyboy knew dally was dead when he heard the gun fire crack Ponyboy says please not him... I knew he would be dead because Dallas Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted.

Cherry Valance is a girl from the west side of the town and is known as a soc. Cherry comes from a very wealthy family and is the girlfriend to Bob. She is the female that we hear the most about in this novel. She is seen to us as a soc and a greaser we are shown this from when she tries to help Ponyboy and Johnny but is shown as a soc because she is from that part of town and is dating a soc as well. When Ponyboy and her meet at the drive in movie she already has the idea that the socs and the greasers are connected like normal human beings.

S.E Hinton uses the conflict in the novel to draw us in to wait how it is going to be figured out. Conflict is very regular in Hinton’s novel, this mainly occurs between the socs and the greasers. The conflict and how it is dealt with draws readers into the novel as we want to know what and how it is going to be resolved. The amount of disputes between the two gangs is fascinating there is never really a moment in the novel that they are not fighting in. The greasers are from the economically struggling east side were the rival gang is from the rich and posh west side of town. These two gangs are locked in tight with war and neither side intends on giving in to this.

Violence is an
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