Middle School Rumble? The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

clsimpson430
Jul 26, 2023
2 min read

Updated: Jul 26, 2023

My Rating: 5 Stars

Ahh, The Outsiders—the one book middle school teachers and students can actually agree is amazing. Why?? For teachers, it has great themes, use of literary devices, and even a Robert Frost poem (!!). For students…come on, it’s gangs. I mean middle school, is basically a big metaphorical rumble, right?

While the premise for The Outsiders can seem a little extra and West-Side-Story-ish with the Greasers vs. the Socs, the feelings in the story are so real. I will never over the fact that S. E. Hinton was only 15 when she wrote it. The themes, the characters, and their feelings are very well developed.

Clearly, very few of us can relate to the Greaser/Soc gang life. But most kids, young adults, and even adults can relate to Ponyboy’s feelings of being stuck in a world with it’s own arbitrary rules that ultimately hold no value outside of its own world.

The characters 100% make this story. You could (and probably did in middle school) do an in-depth study of the individual characters. Each character is so unique and has their own story that mirrors their internal struggle: Sodapop and his horse, Dally and Johnny’s unspoken connection, Ponyboy‘s struggles with Darry, Cherry’s relationship to the Soc's. Hinton uses these individual storylines to portray themes of division, acceptance, loss, childhood innocence, and—most importantly—empathy. After all, things are rough all over.

For a first time read, the storyline of The Outsiders can probably seem kind of bizarre. Things take a drastic turn pretty early on and continue to get crazier throughout the book. But as you keep reading, the feelings in it are painfully realistic. The Greasers feel so much (too much—according to Ponyboy) and have such deep emotional connections to each other that you can't help but become attached to them and sympathize with the struggles that are tragically outside of their control.

The sheer amount of characters may also seem overwhelming if you didn't religiously study them in school. But rereading while knowing all the characters (and their 80s counterparts) makes it so immersive (...and heartbreaking, but we don't need to talk about that yet).

In conclusion: This is such a very touching story that does a great job of using extreme circumstances to help Greasers and Socs alike relate to each other. I would recommend this for all ages. And it will leave you in tears!!! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!!!

Can we all please take a minute to appreciate the 1983 casting???

From left to right: Steve, Sodapop, Ponyboy, Johnny, Dally, Two-Bit, Darry

Synopsis:

No one ever said life was easy. But Ponyboy is pretty sure that he's got things figured out. He knows that he can count on his brothers, Darry and Sodapop. And he knows that he can count on his friends—true friends who would do anything for him, like Johnny and Two-Bit. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up on “greasers” like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect—until the night someone takes things too far.