The Outsiders - Essay

Intro:

The novel “The Outsiders” is a deep adventure story about family, gangs and friendship. The main character Ponyboy grows and changes throughout the story, showing the ups and downs of his life and the events within it.

Sexxy 1:

Ponyboy is a very loyal person, and sticks by his gang, because he loves them and they are like family to him. This is seen in many different parts of the novel, such as how he ran away with Johnny after Bob was killed. This helps us see that Ponyboy cares about his friends and will do anything to help them, and stick by them in times of need. The author, S.E Hinton wrote this to show that within a gang, loyalty is key and being able to support your friends when they need you is an important quality to have. Loyalty is shown also, when at the end of the novel, Cherry doesn’t go to visit Johnny because he was the one that killed Bob, and she still loved him and stayed true to him by defending his death, saying he was a good guy, and was different, weaknesses aside.

Sexxy 2:

Ponyboy was a dreamer. He always saw the brighter side of things and thought deeply about life. He had a lot of street smarts and picked up on things that most others wouldn’t. We see this when he is talking to Cherry, and he asks her “Do you see the sunset good on your side?”, reminding her that they were equal, both still human even if they lived entirely different lifestyles. Another example is when he is with Johnny and they are watching the morning gold silvery mist and admiring it. He recites a poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”. He has memorised the poem and thought about its meaning, and shares it with Johnny. S.E Hinton writes this to help us understand Ponyboys character better and see that he is a thinker and a dreamer. It also shows us he cares and is interested in the world, where the Socs probably don’t stop and think about the similarities.

Sexxy 3:

Ponyboy receives more confidence after running away with Johnny and after the experiences he had before. He becomes braver, and we see this when they arrive with Dally at the church, and its burning. He runs in to save the kids, and Johnny follows after him. He risks his life to save the kids, and so does Johnny, even though it comes with grave consequences. The bravery was shown when he runs into a burning church, which would be a scary situation, but he overcomes his fear quickly and ends up saving lives. The author does this to help us see the development of Ponyboy, and how being part of a gang can toughen someone up, giving them confidence, and how not all gang members are bad. There are good gang members who can be heros as well. A common theme within other novels and films is where the supposedly ‘bad’ character or antagonist can change throughout the story and end up helping. This shows us that not all people that are looked down upon and labelled as bad, and poor, are actually bad people because things can change and most of the time its assumption of others that think they are higher up and better.

Sexxy 4:

Another character aspect of Ponyboy is that he is caring. He helps his friends out, ran away with Johnny, never gave up on fighting for them and he went to visit Johnny in hospital. This shows us he is sensitive and cares about others and his friends, that he is selfless. It helps us understand his character better, and helps us realise he is a good person even though he gets wrapped up into bad things and is part of gang, the morals are still right and he isn’t a low life Greaser, but has proper values and respects other people, even if he makes bad choices. This can be compared to a lot of real life situations, where a good innocent kid can be lead astray or make bad decisions, get mixed up in drama but deep down they have a kind heart and are caring people.

Conclusion:

Overall, “The Outsiders” was a good book to read, as it shows insight into gang life, values of family and friendship and is a very captivating novel to be enjoyed by anyone.