January 2020 Classic of the Month: 'The Outsiders'

How S. E. Hinton's story about a group of unruly teenage boys will pull on your heartstrings.

'The Outsiders' by S. E. Hinton, 180 pages - Instagram @c_reads_books

---

The classic of the month for January 2020 is The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. This is a young-adult turned classic novel that I read for the first time like most people, in eighth grade, and reread about a year ago.

This book is a coming-of-age novel that seems even spectacular when you consider that Hinton was only 15-years-old when she started writing it, with the novel first being published in 1967 when Hinton was just 18.

This is an absolutely beautiful story of love, loss, and honor among a group of teenage boys, all apart of the Greaser gang. Just by the description alone, it is obvious that The Outsiders is or will become one of the most memorable stories you have or will ever read.

The story of Ponyboy Curtis and his friends shows readers a different point of view. Dally and Johnny’s self-sacrifices prove that there is honor among even the most seemingly unruly. The Greasers live to stand up for each other against their enemies, proving that the cast of characters Hinton assembles in her novel, and all the people they represent are much more than their disreputable reputations.

Although their honor sometimes leads the Greasers to violence and criminality, the Greasers are not all bad. Johnny and Ponyboy return to the burning church to save the children trapped inside, and Dally saves the duo, especially Johnny from imminent death.

Dallas Winston is furthermore my absolute favorite character in The Outsiders, not to say that there is not an abundance of amazingly developed and relatable characters interspersed throughout the novel, of course. Dally is a remarkably well-developed and exciting character. He is undeniably crazy, reckless, impulsive, and dangerous, yet also immensely relatable, honorable, loyal and, above all, human.

Dally, besides being my favorite character in The Outsiders, is additionally one of my all-time favorite characters, if not my favorite. The most heartbreaking and emotional section of the book is definitely the sequence beginning with Johnny’s death and ending with Dally’s death. The entire story feels even more remarkable when it is remembered that so much violence, loss, death, love, wisdom, and hope is packed into such a short time frame of merely a month or so.

The Outsiders is moreover especially innovative in the context of the times it was written in. Hinton wrote the story based on a similar situation among rival gangs occurring during her high school experience. She explores themes of socioeconomic class, and bridges the gap between the rich and the poor, or the Socs and the Greasers, mainly through the character of Cherry Valance.

Cherry is a Soc, but proves that there are many similarities between the two rival gangs, and, as Cherry helps Ponyboy realize, “things are rough all over.” And to quote Ponyboy, “Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset.”

The Outsiders is a remarkable story, for numerous reasons. The story is gripping, beautiful, and heartbreaking, making it one of the most memorable books I have ever read. Although The Outsiders is taught in middle schools all over America, it is still a book that I feel deserves extra love, and as many rereads as possible! In the words of Johnny Cade, “Stay gold…”