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.
