Individual Text Feature: "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton

            For my final research project, I will be working with S.E. Hinton’s debut novel: The Outsiders. The Outsiders is one of the most famous adolescent novels to date and is considered to be a classic amongst many readers and scholars (in terms of YA literature). The novel takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the 1960s and covers the life and hardships of a teenage “Greaser” named Ponyboy Curtis.

            The novel opens with Ponyboy addressing an audience about an instance where he was harassed and followed by members of a social group/class called the “Socs.” Ponyboy explains how Socs are rich, elitist, and suburban. He then goes on to claim that they discriminate/hate all Greasers and that the Greasers, in return, hate them back. This becomes further evident throughout the novel as further conflict arises between the two groups, causing one of Ponyboy’s good friends, Johnny Cade, to kill a Soc in self-defense. Ponyboy and Johnny Cade flee from the scene and end up living together in an abandoned church. While out one afternoon, with another Greaser friend of theirs, Dallas “Dally” Winston, the church catches fire with a few children stuck inside. Johnny Cade and Ponyboy manage to save the children, but Johnny Cade gets severely burned in the process. Eventually, the tension from Johnny Cade’s injuries and death of the Soc lead to a final “rumble” between the two groups. The Greasers win, but their victory is short-lived.

Immediately following the fight, Ponyboy and Dally head over to the hospital to tell the Johnny Cade the news, only to find that Johnny Cade’s condition has worsened. Johnny Cade tries telling the two that the fighting was useless, confusing both Dally and Ponyboy. Johnny Cade then tells Ponyboy to “stay gold,” an allusion to a Robert Frost poem referenced earlier in the novel, before dying.

Distressed from the death of Johnny Cade, Dally commits a twisted form of suicide, leaving the Greasers devastated and hurt. After some time from both of their deaths, Ponyboy decides to reflect on his entire experience by writing a paper for his English teacher. He opens his introduction with the first line featured in the beginning of the book.

The Outsiders is richly concerned with various themes commonly featured in YA literature, including freedom, power/punishment, class, death/decay, violence, and even the questioning of societal structures. The novel focuses on feelings of alienation and “otherness” as well, which, again, are common in adolescent literature. However, despite encompassing many adolescent qualms and issues, The Outsiders is incredibly silent on issues of race. In fact, the issue of race is not mentioned at all throughout the novel. Originally published in 1967, the novel was written during a time period where the Civil Rights Movement was at an all-time high and people of color were heavily persecuted against. With this in mind, it becomes questionable as to why The Outsiders avoids this subject and does not touch on it at all, considering the fact that people of color face adolescence differently (and especially did during 1960s America). Instead, the novel focuses on the mistreatment of the Greasers and how they were discriminated against.

Additionally, the novel is completely silent on issues concerning women in any sort of way. I myself found this especially odd since the novel was published by a 19 year-old woman. Almost all of the main characters were men, including all of the Greasers. The absence of female characters is rather astounding. Some of the rare moments where women were addressed were when Ponyboy spoke to, or thought of, an acquaintance called Cherry Valence. She, however, was not depicted in a positive light; at the end of the novel, Cherry ends up choosing to remain loyal to her social status, as a Soc, instead of being Ponyboy’s friend. In fact, in one chapter, Cherry even asks Ponyboy to not be offended if she were to ignore him while they were at school.

Lastly, the novel makes no discussion or mention of sexuality, which is rather atypical of YA literature. Sexuality, or curiosity/exploration of sexuality, is a frequently found theme in adolescent novels. However, the novel does not tap into it by any means and simply focuses on the other aforementioned issues of class, “otherness,” power, and death. While Ponyboy does feel attracted to Cherry, this attraction is never further developed and does not provide any sort of further insight on his sexuality. In fact, Cherry was, more than anything, used by Hinton to bring a sort of symbolic conciliation between the Socs and Greasers. This conscious choice by S.E. Hinton is rather intriguing and questionable.

With all of this in mind, I would like to focus my final project on approaching one of these themes and trying to explain how the absence of them is attempting to comment on something larger. I am, however, leaning more towards exploring the issue of race. If I were to look into how the absence of racial issues in the novel, I would argue and research how it was done in order to focus on the issue of class. Though, to be fair, Hinton’s use of Greasers and Socs throughout the novel could be applied to discuss race. In fact, the distinct separation and problems between the two almost seems to imply that Greasers were of a different “race” than the Socs. (This could also be implied through the term itself; the term “Greaser” was originally a derogatory racial term used to describe Mexicans in the 19^th century.) But since class and race tend to be heavily tied in together, I would more than likely look into that and how it affects The Outsiders as an adolescent text. I would also like to look into how this “marginalization” of the Greasers is still, in some ways, privileged (considering the fact that they are all white); the coming-of-age journey in the novel would have been entirely different for Ponyboy if he weren’t white.

Something else I have been considering to explore for my final project is the theme of power that is prevalent throughout the text. This theme, unlike the themes of race, women issues, and sexuality, is heavily mentioned and central/integral to the text. The power dynamics between the Socs and Greasers are important to understanding the tension between the two. To add, the novel almost seems to condemn having too much power; without a solid institution, sound home life, and parents, both Johnny Cade and Ponyboy’s power of freedom causes them to get hurt (as well as others) and even kills Johnny Cade. The ending of the novel seems to imply that too much power is dangerous, which will lead to punishment. This happens to also follow with our class’ reoccurring question of “disturbing the universe” and if such a thing is even possible. Seeing as adolescent literature is concerned with power and repression, I think this could be a better route to follow through if my other topics do not have enough backbone to structure this final project. There is much to discuss with this novel, so I am still attempting to solidify and narrow down my area of study.