The Outsiders

The Outsiders
By S. E. Hinton
Reviewed by Sydney



Even though some times are tough, people can learn from them and Ponyboy has learned that throughout the book. He has witnessed the loss of his two closest friends and the tears of his friends and family. Also, Ponyboy has witnessed the death of someone in his rival gang, the Socials. Throughout the conflicts, Ponyboy understands that everyone has problems, that the Socials are people that have feelings too, and that love can be shown and take many forms.

 Ponyboy first learns that Greasers and Socs both have problems. They are both disrespected and judged, Greasers and Socs have expectations; if they don’t follow them they are soft. “Greasers can’t walk alone too much or they’ll get jumped…” They are mistreated, misunderstood, misinterpreted, and sometimes judged by society. Socs have some of the same types of problems since their expectations are set high. Sometimes Socs are forced to go with the group; also Socs hate others because others hate them.

“You would have saved those kids if you had been there,” I said. “You’d have saved them the same as we did.”
“Thanks grease,” he said trying to grin. Then he stopped, “I didn’t mean that. I meant, thanks, kid,”
“My name’s Ponyboy,” I said. “Nice talking to you Randy.”

Ponyboy finally understands how labeling can cause hatred, fighting, rivalry, division, and killing. Ponyboy realizes that stereotyping and giving someone a label is wrong. He realizes that all the conflict and fighting between Greasers and Socs is bad and meaningless and that a place without conflict and division between people is a better place to be.

Ponyboy learns that even through tough times, everyone, including Greasers and Socials, has problems. Ponyboy Curtis learned that even love and care can take many forms. Ponyboy has been through some tough situations and has still learned many valuable lessons. Although no one would like to go through challenging events, people can still learn from those hard experiences.

The Outsiders was a really good book and it was really action-packed. Reading the book, I clearly understood what was going on in the story, Everything in the book was so well explained and detailed. After ending the book I still felt interested in Ponyboy’s life. I saw things from a different perspective, from Ponyboy’s way of life, living in a gang, being labeled as violent, and being judged by society.