The Outsiders

|Related Text Overview: Novel |
|Title of novel |The Outsiders |
|Author |S.E. Hinton |
|Date published |1967 |
|Brief Overview: what is the composer’s purpose? |The composer’s purpose in writing the novel was to explore the themes of belonging, family and |
| |isolation and also the social pressures placed on young people during the 1960’s. S.E. Hinton |
| |wrote the book when she was 16, she wrote the book for young people to relate to, as there were|
| |no such books like this at the time. |
|Who would the audience for the novel be and why? |The novel identifies and discusses issues that affect young adults and is written in a style |
| |that would appeal to younger readers. The books author was a 16-year-old girl, writing from a |
| |14 year old boy’s perspective. She was growing up at the time that the book is set so the |
| |language used is |
| |appealing to young adults. |
|How does the novel link to the concept of Belonging? |The need to belonging is a fundamental need within each of us, and plays a major role in |
| |society. “The Outsiders” by S.E.Hinton conveys the need for belonging and the desire to be |
| |accepted by society. |
|Does the novel explore Belonging? Explain briefly – two or |“The Outsiders” highlights that the need for belonging is obvious in everyone, and that even |
|three sentences |those who belong to a gang or group may still feel isolated. This concept is explored through |
| |the archetypal structure of the gangs represented clearly in the novel that the audience is |
| |able to relate to. The clear hierarchy and their fierce loyalty and dependency present between |
| |the two gangs. |
|What contexts does the novel engage with; provide a brief |The rivalry between both gangs has a strong presence in the novel; this helps in highlighting |
|explanation of each that is relevant (at least three from |the commonness throughout society for gangs. The need within humanity is to belong and by being|
|social, cultural political, historical, religious, gender or|a member of a gang you are included and are now a part of something. The book also exposes the |
|intellectual) |problems that people face at school purely from their background. Ponyboy attends school, |
| |unlike the majority of the Greasers and is prejudiced because of this. There is almost an |
| |unwritten rule that Socs and Greasers don’t talk. How society sees them prevents them |
| |acknowledging each other unless it is in a negative way. So it is a shock when Johnny Cade |
| |(referred to as just “Johnny” throughout scaffold) and Pony become friends with Cherry and |
| |Marcia. |
| | |
| | |
| |The audience gains an understanding for the inherent need to fell accepted within all of |
| |humanity when Ponyboy realizes the similarities between both of the gangs. |
| | |
| |Hinton has also presented a strong “tribal element” within each of the gangs; both gangs are |
| |male centered, territorial and both resort to violence. The book was written from the |
| |perspective of fourteen year old, Ponyboy, and follows his life over a short course of time. |
| |The book mainly features male characters, there are however a few females that are included in |
| |the text like Cherry Valance. The tribal nature of the gangs also highlights the reliance that |
| |each of the members has on the gang and it’s support for them. |
|How does the novel argue or explore ideas about Belonging? |Hinton uses simple language to appeal to young readers. When writing the book she was only 16 |
|What language techniques including alliteration, repetition,|so this language was she vocabulary, the way she spoke to people. The text contains many |
|rhetorical questions, metaphors, similes etc are used to |literary devices and language techniques. |
|explore or highlight the concept of Belonging? | |
| |The title of the novel “The Outsiders”, itself indicates straight away a sense of alienation |
| |and isolation. |
| | |
| |The book is narrated by the main character, Ponyboy, and provides insight into the hardships |
| |and benefits that come with being a part of a gang. The way in which the book is narrated |
| |makes it a epistolary novel, meaning that the book is more of a journal then a book and at the |
| |end of the book Ponyboy discusses how he would tell his story, how he could tell the rest of |
| |the world his journey. He starts off with “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…” |
| |(Pg. 180) This quote is how the novel starts; Hinton has created a loop in the story where one |
| |can go back and read the book over again in a continuous loop. |
| | |
| |“When I see a movie with someone, it’s kind of uncomfortable, like having someone read your |
| |book over your shoulder.” (Pg. 2) Ponyboy is a member of the Greasers yet feels as though he |
| |is not a part at all. He enjoys his own company and doesn’t particularly like sharing his |
| |feeling or interests with anyone besides his brother, Sodapop and his best friend, Johnny. When|
| |Ponyboy describes the feeling he gets when seeing a movie with another person, the audience is |
| |immediately able to relate, as it is a very simple yet effective comparison. |
| | |
| |This quote highlights how Ponyboy enjoys his own company. He feels as though he is not |
| |particularly a part of the gang, which Ponyboy doesn’t mind. It is not that Pony doesn’t |
| |belong to the Greasers, but finds it hard to find his own place there. |
| | |
| |Hinton wrote “The Outsiders” as a young girl living in the 60s. She wrote the novel using |
| |language that was familiar to her and language that would appeal to young adults like herself. |
| |Slang and Colloquial language are used throughout the book and the audience can easily |
| |interpret the language either from their own knowledge or from a definition given by a |
| |character. “Tuff means cool, sharp – like a tuff-looking Mustang or a tuff record.” (Pg. 12) |
| |This use of the work “Tuff” is an example of slang in the book. The word is used repetitively |
| |throughout the book to describe things that are “cool, sharp…” |
| | |
| |Symbolism is a major technique in the book and the most symbolic object is the Greasers’ hair. |
| |They have is long at the back and full of grease, their namesake. It represents whom they are,|
| |where they come from, it is a huge part of their lives. |
| | |
| |“It was my pride. It was long and silky, just like Soda’s only a little redder. Our hair was |
| |tuff – we didn’t have to use much grease on it. Our hair labeled us greasers, to- it was out |
| |trademark. The one this we were proud of. Maybe we couldn’t have Corvairs or mardras shirts, |
| |but we could have hair.” This quote basically sums up the love the Greaser members have for |
| |their hair and the pride that it gives them. It is also used to categorise them as Greasers, |
| |which defines who they are and where they belong, it gives them an identity, which so many of |
| |them crave. |
|What themes and issues does the novel engage with that |The Outsiders is a novel about friendship, gangs, violence, unfairness and loss, which has a |
|explore or provide insight into the concerns and ideas |large effect on a group of, troubled, alienatened teenagers, the Greasers. Through the novel |
|relating to Belonging in texts? Provide every detail that |the audience is exposed to the importance of friendship and how each of the Greaser members |
|you can; include any techniques that are used to convey the |relies on each other. This proves to the audience that they are ‘all for one and one for all.’ |
|ideas. |Without one the rest of the gang could not survive, they belong to each other. |
| | |
| |Gangs and violence are a huge theme in the book. The gang provides a family to most of the |
| |characters in the novel, but mainly Johnny who is abused by his parents and often talks of |
| |taking his own life. Violence plays a major part in the Greasers’ lives. They are constantly |
| |jumping people or getting jumped, in fights with each other or in fights with the Socs. |
| | |
| |Loss, death and unfairness are a collective of themes that seem |
| |to fit well together in this novel. Ponyboy losses both of his friends, Johnny and Dally in one|
| |night. Both boys were despised by their parents and were both too young to die. The Curtis |
| |brothers lost their parents in a fatal car accident. They all have been exposed to the |
| |unfairness that life throws at each of us. Life is unfair to all the Greasers and it is |
| |something that none of them can do much about. |
| |The Outsiders isn’t just a novel about gangs and violence, there is a strong presence of |
| |belonging and friendship. Ponyboy and Johnny are best friends who share everything with each |
| |other, when Johnny dies, Pony is lost and cannot comprehend why this would happen to such a |
| |good boy. Belonging is the most noticeable theme in the book, the belonging that each of the |
| |gang members has to the gang, the not belonging that they have with their families and the |
| |alienation that they face from society. |
| | |
| |The novel may be catastrophic, but the themes and issues evoked in it provide the audience with|
| |an understanding and an in-depth insight into belonging in gangs and society. |
|What assumptions relevant to Belonging are presented by or |The Outsiders highlights, more than anything else, the need humanity has to belong. Through a |
|in the text? |range of characters and their different needs, connections with the gang and experiences, |
| |Hinton has been able to convey the drive behind man to belong. |
|Identify aspects from your text that link to each of the |The central theme of belonging in The Outsiders is conveyed through a range of characters, |
|syllabus dot points below: |relationships, ideas, places, events and societies. Hinton uses characters such as, Johnny |
| |Cade, Ponyboy Curtis and Bob Sheldon to show the need that humanity has to belong. All three |
|how the concept of belonging is conveyed through the |characters have dysfunctional lives at home yet all are vastly different. |
|representations of people, relationships, ideas, places, | |
|events, and societies that they encounter in the prescribed |Johnny’s parents fight all the time and his father regularly beats and abuses him. Ponyboy’s |
|text and texts of their own choosing related to the Area of |parents died in a car crash, leaving him to live with his two older brothers, Sodapop and |
|Study |Darry. Pony and Darry are in constant skirmish with each other, as Darry has had to take on the|
|assumptions underlying various representations of the |role of a parent for Pony. Bob is a part of the Socs gang and is spoilt by his parents, they |
|concept of belonging |provide him with everything one could ever want or need; yet he has no boundaries. Each of the |
|how the composer’s choice of language modes, forms, features|boys are closer to their friends than their parents and all three of them would rather spend |
|and structures shapes and is shaped by a sense of belonging |time away from home. All of them yearn and crave for the support and love of their parents. |
|their own experiences of belonging, in a variety of contexts| |
| |These three characters all vary in personality, background and experiences, yet all want the |
|the ways in which they perceive the world through texts |same thing, to belong, to have an identity. Yes, all of them belong to their respected gangs, |
|the ways in which exploring the concept and significance of |but each individual desires for a belonging to a family. |
|belonging may broaden and deepen their understanding of | |
|themselves and their world. |The assumptions underlying various representations of the concept of belonging include; that |
| |humanity has a longing to belong, that it is a fundamental need. One’s sense of belonging can |
| |be changed and affected by their surroundings, including family situations, society and |
| |friendships. Johnny’s view of himself is one completely different to the other characters in |
| |the novel. His parents do not love him or make him feel as thought he belongs. This is a clear |
| |example of how one’s surroundings can play a huge part on their identities. |
| | |
| |S.E. Hinton’s choice of language modes, forms, features and structures, shapes and is shaped by|
| |a sense of belonging. She wrote the book from the ages of 15 and 17 and had the book published |
| |by the time she was 18. Her vocabulary was just the same as any other teenager living in the |
| |60s. It was simple, and therefore with this simple language the audience for the book is of the|
| |age of Hinton when she was composing the book. The book uses colloquial language and slang that|
| |young adults are able to understand. |
| | |
| |The book contains many uses of symbolism, including the Greaser’s hair, which Hinton has used |
| |to highlight the use of an object to belong. Without the hair, the greasy, silky hair they |
| |would not be Greasers and would not belong. By using symbolism in the novel the author has been|
| |able to express that the need to belong can make a person’s appearance be viewed in a way that |
| |collects them and makes them belong. |
| | |
| |S.E. Hinton was advised by her publisher to use her initials rather than her given names as |
| |male readers would not take notice to a female writer and her opinions and views. Hinton |
| |herself experiences alienation as a female writer in the industry. She was however able to |
| |publish the book and has become an accredited writer. |
| | |
| |Hinton wrote the book dedicated to “Jimmy”. This is her cousin whom she was inspired by to |
| |write the book, Hinton decided to publish a book to help people comprehend what he had been |
| |through as he was a symbol for the Greaser. |
| | |
| |Hinton’s novel The Outsiders, confronts the audience with a new perception of belonging and the|
| |struggles that gang members go through. The audience is able to understand the importance of |
| |belonging and how without it, one has no life. Belonging is what makes us human; we can belong |
| |to almost anything and in the text the characters belong to gangs. Their lives are not easy |
| |outside the gangs, but when they are with their fellow gang members they belong, they have a |
| |place, they have an identity. |
| | |
| |The text provides a deeper meaning to the audiences meaning of belonging. They grow an |
| |appreciation of belonging and being accepted in society. Ones sense of belonging is based upon |
| |experiences and relationships and can be ever-changing. |