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| Edition: | Viking Juvenile (Hardcover) |
| Author: | S. E. Hinton |
| Published: | September 2007 |
| Pages: | 192 |
| ISBN 10: | 0670062510 |
| New: | $9.10 (38) |
| Used: | $6.01 (19) |
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The Outsiders is a novel by S. E. Hinton, first published in 1967 by Viking Press. Hinton was 15 when she began writing the novel and 16 when it was published. The themes of the book, friendship, and coming of age, are portrayed by following two rival groups, the Greasers and the Socs (pronounced "soashes" by the author, short for Socials), who are separated by their social economic status.
It is ranked on the American Library Association's top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990 and 38th on their 1990-1999 list. The book was challenged in South Milwaukee because of its portrayal of violence, language, drug and alcohol abuse, underage smoking, and the fact that "virtually all the characters were from broken homes".
A film version was produced in 1983.
Plot
The Greasers and Socs,(pronounced soashes), are two neighborhood groups who are always fighting over anything they do. One day, a greaser named Ponyboy is jumped (attacked) by a group of Socs as he's exiting a movie theater. He is saved in time by his gang of Greasers. Later, Ponyboy and his friend Johnny go to the drive-in with Dally, another one of their gang members. They meet two Soc girls who had left their boyfriends because they were drunk. Ponyboy gets to know one of them, Cherry Valance, very well. After the movies, Ponyboy and Johnny walk to a lot and fall asleep looking at the stars and the moon. They wake up hours later and Ponyboy rushes home to explain what had happened with his brothers, Darrel(Darry)and Sodapop(Soda). Darrel was extremely worried about Ponyboy's disappearance, scared that the Socs had hurt him and is outraged that he fell asleep. In a moment of uncontrolled fury, he slaps Ponyboy, who runs out of the house, shocked, because no one ever hits any one else in the Curtis family. He goes to Johnny in the vacant lot and wakes him with the intention of running away, but eventually decides to just walk around the park to cool off before returning home. As they arrive, a blue Ford Mustang pulls up near them and five drunk Socs jump out. Two of the Socs are the boyfriends of the girls that Ponyboy and Johnny picked up. Bob, their leader and Cherry's boyfriend, lets one of his goons try to drown Ponyboy to teach him a lesson. Seeing that the Socs have a knife, and recognizing Bob as one of the same boys who had already beaten him senseless once before, a terrified Johnny stabs Bob to death, scaring the other four Socs away. Believing they have committed murder, (though in reality they probably would not have been charged, as it was a textbook case of self-defense) Ponyboy and Johnny turn to Dally for help because Dally was a hood who grew up in NewYork City and has seen things like this happen before. Dally tells them of a hideout place: an abandoned church out of town near Windrixville on Jay Mountain; he also gives them instructions, $50, and a heater (hand gun).
The two get to the church, and Johnny buys a copy of Gone with the Wind to have Ponyboy read to him to help pass time. During the week at the church, Johnny becomes interested in a poem by Robert Frost that Ponyboy recites to him. Johnny also buys baloney, bread, as well as materials for a haircut and bleach to make them less identifiable. They hide out for four and a half days before Dally comes to find Johnny and Ponyboy. Dally explains that there will be a big fight (rumble) between the Greasers and the Socs because of Bob's death. The trio pass the abandoned church again as they are leaving and find it on fire. They learn that a group of schoolchildren on a picnic are trapped inside, and Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dally go to rescue them. They successfully rescue all the children, but Johnny is badly injured, and is unable to participate in the rumble.
After the rumble, which the Greasers win, Dally and Ponyboy go to the hospital to visit Johnny. Johnny dies of his injuries after hearing about the Greasers' victory. His last words were "Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold". Dally breaks down after Johnny dies, his will to live gone, because Johnny was the only thing in the world that he loved and cared for. He robs a store, gets the fuzz chasing after him, and calls the gang to hide him. However, they are too late, arriving just in time to see Dally pull out his unloaded heater (gun) and get shot under a streetlight in a successful suicide by cop attempt.
Due to the shock of two deaths and a kick in the head during the rumble as well as many other minor illnesses, Ponyboy faints. He is carried back home to his bed by Darrel. Soon afterward, he goes into a state of delusions, one of which is the belief that he, not Johnny, had killed Bob. However, he discovers a note Johnny wrote to him in his copy of Gone with the Wind, explaining what 'Nothing Gold Can Stay' meant. Johnny explains that Robert Frost means that a person is gold when they're a kid. He states that everything seems new to a child, and it is dawn. When the child becomes used to something, it turns to day. Johnny also says that the way Ponyboy "digs" about sunsets is gold because the idea is not familiar to others. He is able to begin the healing process when a judge rules that he may stay together with his big brothers, whose love and devotion to him he has gained a new appreciation for.
The book ends with Ponyboy writing about all the events that happened to him for an English assignment starting with the book's opening/ending line: When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home...
