The Outsiders Essay

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Recommended: Literary analysis the outsiders

Prompt: How does the setting affect the story line (plot) and the character development in the novel The Outsiders?

Directions: Using your note sheets and your outline, develop a four paragraph essay which answers the prompt and uses evidence from the book to analyze the setting.

The world has continually branches people into stereotypes, especially in the book The Outsiders by S.E Hinton where 1960s Oklahoma is seperated into two polar opposite gangs. The setting in The Outsiders is a suburban town in late 1960s Oklahoma. There are two sections of town. The East-Side is where the lower income, less-privileged Greasers live. In the West-Side, rich Socials (or Socs) live. The character development in this books is affected by the setting by assisting to character’s looks, actions, and activities. The …show more content…

“I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman” Ponyboy claims on page 1. During this qoute Ponyboy is thinking and wishing his looks were similar to those of Paul Newman, a popular actor in the 1960s. Therefore, it can be inferred the setting is the 1960s, by the interest he has in this actor. In the book, we learn Greasers don’t and shouldn’t walk home alone for fear of being jumped by Socs. If the characters didn’t live in the East-Side they would be able to walk by themselves and not worry about Socials. The setting is affecting what characters do and don’t do. Ponyboy also states, “My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs, squared off in the back and long at the front and side, but I am a Greaser and most of my neighborerhood rarely bothers to get a haircut” pg1. The way this character looks is also affected by where he lives. Specifically, if someone is a Greaser, their hair is most likely long and greasy. To sum up, setting affects Ponyboy and other characters deveolpment by assisting in establishing who the characters

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