The Outsiders
Key Facts
full title · The Outsiders
author · S. E. Hinton
type of work · Novel
genre · Coming-of-age; class struggle
language · English
time and place written · 1960s, Tulsa, Oklahoma
date of first publication · 1967
publisher · The Viking Press
narrator · Ponyboy Curtis
point of view · Ponyboy gives a first-person, subjective account of events, explaining how we should interpret events and people in the story.
tone · Youthful; melodramatic; slangy; simplistic
tense · Past
setting (time) · Mid-1960s
setting (place) · Tulsa, Oklahoma
protagonist · Ponyboy
major conflict · Against the background of the clash between the poor greasers and the rich Socs, the greaser Ponyboy struggles to mature.
rising action · Johnny kills a Soc; Johnny and Ponyboy flee; tension mounts between the greasers and Socs.
climax · Johnny’s death, in Chapter 9.
falling action · The greasers win the rumble; Dally dies; Ponyboy recovers from his emotional and physical trauma.
themes · Bridging the gap between rich and poor; honor among the lawless; the treacherousness of male-female interactions
motifs · Literature; eye shape and color; Ponyboy’s losses of consciousness
symbols · Two-Bit’s switchblade; cars; Bob’s rings; greaser hair
foreshadowing · The Socs jump Ponyboy while he walks home alone, previewing their later attack on him and Johnny; Johnny threatens to kill anybody who jumps him again, foreshadowing his murder of Bob.
Eye color important!
by jmm0411, September 02, 2012
Eyes represent the way Ponyboy feels about certain characters! For example Darry has icy blue ices because Ponyboy feels least comfortable with him.
56 out of 81 people found this helpful
0Good Book!
by harrygirl320, September 13, 2012
For once, I actually recommend really reading this book...its pretty interesting
33 out of 67 people found this helpful
0The Outsiders
by Shooby698, May 12, 2013
Sodapop kinda acts like there mom.Darry kinda acts like the dad.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful
0







