How an Outsider Must Feel

As I stated before in talking about Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, it is a very important requirement for adolescent literature to touch on subjects in which teenagers can relate to. If we stop to look back at the very first book we read for L376, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, we can see that Hinton includes very real life topics that kids face every day throughout her novel. The characters in The Outsiders have to face the death of their loved ones and of their friends, violence between them and the Socs, feelings of being alone or an “outsider,” and a general feeling of not knowing who they are as people. Hinton also does a good job of something mentioned in the article, “In Search of Literature for the Twenty-First Century” written by Elaine Murphy. Murphy suggests that adolecent “literature must contribute to a dismantling of false sterotypes and offer balance by presenting diverse views of a topic” (Murphy 110). Hinton fulfills this suggestion very well because she is representing a group of teenage boys that would often times not be misrepresented by their stereotype of being a “greaser” or a “hood.” In Hinton’s question and answer portion of her book at the end, she even recalls the day that she finally saw a group of her friends “as everyone else sees them” (Hinton 183) which is why she wrote the book—to show the falsehood of the stereotype her friends held. At the opening of the book, Ponyboy talks about what “greasers” are like, and then he stops to say, “I only mean that most greasers do thing slike that” (Hinton, 3). Throughout the rest of the book, Hinton gradually proves this statement—that Ponyboy’s group of friends are not always like “greasers.” There is more to them than that even though most people do not think so.

The Outsiders most definitely falls into the category of being a problem novel. The biggest reason why is because instead of having a “happily-ever-after” ending, it is replaced by a much more disturbing ending with the death of Johnny and Dally. It was meant to provoke thought, not provide answers. Hinton was also not shy about portraying violence in her book which was previously not done so much. Having the greasers, in particularly Ponyboy, face the trama that was presented in the book allowed them to grow and start to heal.

Finally, as an avid adult reader of adolescent literature, I would recommend this book for anyone interested in adolescent literature regarding the themes Hinton has included. I would also encourage teachers all over the nation to teach this book. I personally read The Outsiders for the first time in my eighth grade English class, and I loved it. I had always felt like somewhat of an outsider as a teenager myself, and this book was the first I had read that dealt with that issue so it was very easy to relate to it, and I feel like many other young adults would feel the same.

Works Cited

Hinton, S. E.. The Outsiders. New York City, NY: Penguin Putname Books for Young Readers,

1967. 3, 183. Print.

Murphy, Elaine. "In Search of Literature for the Twenty-First Century." English Journal. (2001):

110. Print.