Imagine living in the slums of Tulsa, Oklahoma with no parents and only two older brothers. Especially under these circumstances, a person begins to wonder about a lot of different things. Your life is so questionable that you are forced to carry a switchblade in your back pocket at all times. Life is dangerous, but there is no way to change it.
This is what life was like for Ponyboy Curtis. He and his brothers live their lives this way in The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.
In this story, Ponyboy is a member of a Chicago gang, which includes his brothers and their friends. They are known as Greasers. The book begins with a simple walk from the movie theatre to the Curtis residence. This seems like a simple task for any normal person. For Ponyboy, this was a bigger feat. On his way home, he was attacked by a group of city slickers, otherwise known as Socs, from across town. They beat him badly and left him for dead. The rest of the gang found him shortly after, and once they found out what happened, the fight was on.
These rich folk took their girlfriends to a drive-in movie. Ponyboy and two of his friends were sitting in the lower seating area by themselves. The girls were getting annoyed because their boyfriends were drinking and acting dumb, so they proceeded to walk down and sit by Ponyboy and his friends. This made the other guys jealous, and they wanted more revenge. That night, Ponyboy went home and got in a verbal fight with his brother. Ponyboy and his closest friend, Johnny, who was very quiet and shy, left and began walking. This drunken group of boys followed them to a park, chased them, and then attacked them. One of the Socs was holding Ponyboy’s head under water and he was about to drown. Out of defense, Johnny stabbed one of the men and he reeled over and fell to the ground bleeding very badly. The two boys knew it was bad so they fled and left the Soc lying in a pool of blood. They went and picked up some supplies and money from another friend and fled. They were gone for a while and stayed in an abandoned church. They dyed Ponyboy’s dark brown hair to blond. They then went in to town to get more supplies to live on.
They returned to the church with their friend and found it on fire. There was a group of children visiting the old church when they returned, and while the children were in it, it started on fire. The boys saved the children’s lives, but Johnny was badly injured. From there on out, every move was an adventure.
The book had very good pace and kept my attention. Throughout the story, many of the characters were changed. Ponyboy went from a straight “A” student to a slack off that didn’t care much about school. In a way, this is what helped him mature, because he got a new perspective on his life. His oldest brother seemed very harsh and controlling, but by the end, Ponyboy realized that he was just trying to be a good caregiver. This was a good learning experience for their whole family, and it made all of their relationships better.
This book is great for action-packed, suspense-filled, mysterious pace. The excitement level is high from beginning to end. Every move makes you wonder what will happen next. The book also includes a lot of information from the 1960’s era that some people do not know about. Life in big cities is partially revealed from a lower-class perspective that will be uncomprehensible to some people.
I enjoyed this book very much. As I stated earlier, this book is full of suspense. The storyline is very consistent and holds the reader’s attention very well. Anyone that reads this book is sure to be impacted by the testimony and reality of the life and living conditions of these boys. It is an excellent example of a fiction story bringing out real life situations. The book is really brought to life throughout every scene. If you enjoy bits of history being brought out through suspense and thrill in the midst of this book, you will definitely love this book.
