Compare And Contrast Essay On The Outsiders

“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.” -Ponyboy. (1) Those are the first words of Ponyboys essay, The Outsiders. The Outsiders is an astounding book written in 1967 by S.E.Hinton. Since 1967, The Outsiders have accumulated mass fame with its loveable characters and astounding plotline. Throughout the years multiple Broadway plays and movies have been made on account of The Outsiders. Many people would rather watch the movie rather than read the book but, the book is much more detailed and keeps your attention more than the movie does. This essay I will be comparing the difference in the book to the movie and even though the book and the movie were made by two different people, they still share many similarities with a few hidden difference every here and there.

If you were to read the book,

you would find that a lot of the major events and little details that happen in the book also happen in the movie.

The biggest similarity is that the book and movie are both about the Greaser versus Socs fight with the Greaser gang consisting of Pony, Soda, Darry, Johnny, Dally with Two-Bit and Steve appearing every so often and the Greaser hating Soc’s with Bob, Randy, Cherry, and Marci. “White trash with long hair.” (55) When the Soc’s come to attack Johnny and Pony they call them white trash to signify how much they dislike them. Early on in both the book and the movie Johnny and Pony get jumped by the Socs’ and Johnny ends up killing their leader Bob Sheldon. After Johnny kills Bob he starts shaking and keeps saying, “ I killed him, I killed that boy.” (56) That is a major part of the plot and if that was not included in the movie the entire plot would be different. Another important similarity is when the boys find the burning church and save the kids from the fire. Even though they are risking their lives Pony, Johnny, and Dally run into the

church saving the kids but not all of themselves. Pony ended up with minimal injuries while Dally hurt his arm and Johnny sadly died. Johnny wrote Pont a letter before he died and in that letter it said, “ Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for.” (178) Johnny doesn’t regret saving those kids because he knows that it was the right thing to do and all the kids he saved can now grow up and be happy. Lastly, a major similarity between them is when Johnny and Dally died. After Johnny’s injuries from the fire he goes back to the hospital where end meets his end and says his famous quote, “Stay gold, Ponyboy, Stay Gold.” (148) Shortly after that Dally robs a store and get shot because Johnny was the only thing that he loved and he was taken away. Even though the book and the movie were made by two different people, they still have major similarities.
The differences between the movie and book are very small and don’t add much to the plot line but, some could argue they mean a lot. First off, In the book right away Pony gets jumped by a group of Socs’ while in the movie they never even mention Pony getting jumped. In the book Pony was never jumped and didn’t want to be because of what they had done to Johnny, “... Tasting the blood running through my teeth.” (5) In the book when he was jumped he bit one of the Socs’ hands while they were attacking him in self defense. Even though getting jumped is a big thing, it doesn't add much to the plot overall. Next, when the gang of Greasers go to the movies, the book says that the movie theater was empty except for Cherry and Marci while in the movie the movie theater that the go to is packed full of people. Even though there are many differences between the book and the movie, the differences don’t change the overall story at all.
Even though a movie and a book are two totally different things, the amount of similarities between them overcome the few differences. Overall I would prefer to watch the movie rather than read the book. There are many subtle differences in the movie and book but the plotline in the book and movie are just about the same. The only difference is that the movie is shorter which I prefer. Even though the book is a lot more detailed than the movie, the movie keeps my attention much more which is why I prefer it. The Outsiders is a great story with its loveable characters that keep you wanting to continue on to see what happens next.