Who Is S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders?

The Novel The Outsiders ,by S.E Hinton, follows the life of a family in the 1960s withered by death. The story follows a fourteen year old boy by the name of Ponyboy and his two brothers — Darrel (Darry), who is 20, and Sodapop, who is 16. Their parents have passed away in a car accident, leaving them to fend for themselves in the changing world around them. The boys are ‘Greasers’, a term that refers to young men from the poor East Side of town. The Greasers' rivals are the Socs, which is short for Socials, who are the "West-side rich kids."

The Outsiders has been labeled very appealing because it is written by a teenager about teenagers. The story is told in the first-person point of view, with the narrator being a 14-year-old boy named Ponyboy. This story depicts and deals with issues that are very close to the hearts of teens in the 1960s. There are no adult figures prominent throughout the novel, because during this age most parents weren't around; This novel is set in the 1960s

in Oklahoma. The time period of the story allows the reader to see the popular musicians, television shows, and models of cars of this era.
The novel is built around the class division between the Socs, and the Greasers. The teens of the story have a feeling of belonging to a gang, which instantly provides for them an extended family. Furthermore, that family automatically understands them, which is very different from the family into which Ponyboy was born, or in this case taken away from. The gang membership also provides a feeling of acceptance. You are not an outsider; you are on the inside with at least one group.
A recurring theme that runs throughout the story is that, “Life isn't fair”. The idea that life isn't fair is based entirely on one's perspective. Whether life is unfair or not to the Greasers or to the Socs, is a question that is recurring in the novel. Injustice is hardly ever seen equally in everyone’s eyes. Hinton does an incredible job with her diction by painting verbal pictures. Her use of contrasting colors when describing settings not only gives impressions, but also adds depth to the story. Teens often see a situation as either right or wrong, however, life is never that simple. Using a variety of colors, Hinton allows the reader to visualize the various settings and then blend them together to show that there is a middle ground present. This literary technique allows the reader to visualize the story and embody the intensity of the feelings that runs strong in teens.
The novel also addressed many serious topics that were present in the 1960s.

Cigarette smoking, like many serious health issues, is treated in the novel as part of everyday life. The Surgeon General's report of 1964 linking cigarette smoking to cancer had just been released and the details were not widely recognized, and understood. The author was aware that inevitably, some teenagers experiment with smoking. The importance, or lack of it, was highlighted when the main character, Ponyboy, who is only 14, is surprised when an adult tells him that he shouldn't be smoking. Suicide is another serious issue that is not glossed over in The Outsiders. One of the main characters had often contemplated suicide, and it was not until he is dying from other injuries that he regrets ever considering suicide as an option. Hinton tries to impress upon readers that teenagers may not have the perspective to understand that life is short enough already and they have so much to see and do in the

future.

Hinton allows readers to take an active role in this story. She effectively utilizes foreshadowing and almost challenges the reader to anticipate to what is coming next. This technique works well because it does not distract readers from the story's action; it encourages critical thought and increases anticipation. The fact that this story ends with the same line that it opens with creates a full circle. This twist prompts the reader to read the book again, this time discovering that the outcome is within Ponyboy all of the time, it just literally needs to be spelled out for us, the reader.