The Outsiders

    In S.E. Hinton’s young adult novel The Outsiders, set in the middle of a feud between the Greaser and the Social “gangs” in Tulsa, Oklahoma, young Ponyboy Curtis gets involved in a gang rivalry, yet ends up becoming more empathetic towards those who he once thought of as enemies. I had read Hinton’s That Was Then, This is Now before, and I thought that this book was similar in theme and characterization to The Outsiders. Both books, for example, center around intelligent young boys  involved with rough crowds comprised of characters of varying degrees of delinquency. These main characters, however, manage to stay afloat in their surroundings thanks to their use of intelligence and common sense.
    Also, I thought that the way Hinton addressed the ending of the novel was revealing about student psychology in terms of traumatic experience, especially revealing for us future teachers: After Ponyboy loses two of his friends, he becomes withdrawn from his brothers, and his formerly good grades in school begin to take a plunge as a result of not being able to concentrate. Furthermore, Ponyboy’s teacher assigns him a paper with a topic of Ponyboy’s own choice, knowing that this assignment would help him sort through his  feelings and ideas, thus helping give him a sense of closure. I could envision trying this technique in a real classroom setting with a student who appears to be having trouble outside of the classroom, and who appears to need a way to vent their feelings and frustrations. Writing, after all, can be very cathartic.
    Another aspect of the book I consider worth discussing is the amount of age-inappropriate actions that take place. Ponyboy, though 14 years old, smokes cigarettes and gets into gang brawls. He also hangs out with convicted criminals. Clearly he is not the perfect young adult role model. However, he does use his head well and tends to avoid trouble whenever possible. I feel that this was ultimately a more productive characterization of the main protagonist than if Ponyboy were “too good” and therefore unable to relate to the reader. After all, I think that providing Ponyboy with some personal areas that could be improved upon gives the  reader a chance to think about what Ponyboy is doing wrong, perhaps providing a way that the reader can be self critical regarding their own actions. Furthermore, the fact that Ponyboy is also surrounded by a crew of characters of different degrees of delinquency also provides the reader with a reference for the actions that take place in the book and what kind of results one might expect from these behaviors. In Dally’s case, for example, his recklessness lead to his early “downfall.”
    Of course, Ponyboy analyzes the personalities of each of these characters, including their faults, as well as their hidden strengths. Perhaps the most poignant example is how he comes to empathize with the Socs as a result of this consideration of others’ lives. This is a repeated theme throughout the book, and I think a valuable lesson to take from it. We all need people who we can be honest with, and who will listen and understand us. Mostly, these people are family members, but not always. Johnny, Danny, Bob all have absent familial relationships, and each of these characters suffered as a result of this emptiness in their lives. Other times, friends can provide this sort of support, but even then sometimes things get overlooked as us humans tend get preoccupied with our own lives. In summary, then, The Outsiders provides a valuable lesson in the importance of empathy in our lives and how this may prevent some from feeling like outsiders themselves, thus increasing the likelihood that they will seek help rather than take brash actions into their own hands.