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.
