The Outsiders: Family, Friendship, and Social Differences in S.E. Hinton's Novel, Exercises of Theatre

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The Outsiders

To be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. --ee cummings

Setting

▪ (^) Oklahoma ▪ (^) 1960’s ▪ (^) West Side vs. East Side of Town ▪ (^) the drive-in theatre ▪ (^) the lot ▪ (^) the church at Windrixville ▪ (^) the Curtis house ▪ (^) the hospital

Ponyboy Curtis

■ (^) narrator ■ (^) good student ■ (^) fourteen years old ■ (^) likes watching sunsets and reading ( Gone with the Wind, Great Expectations , “Nothing Gold Can Stay”) ■ (^) Greaser ■ (^) sensitive ■ (^) Darry says Pony lacks common sense-- doesn’t always “use his head”

Johnny Cade

■ (^) the “pet” of the gang ■ (^) sixteen years old ■ (^) physically small ■ (^) lives in an abusive household ■ (^) has been jumped by the Socs before and now carries a blade with him ■ (^) Dally is his hero ■ (^) stabs and kills Bob

Minor Characters

■ Sodapop Curtis

■ Darrel “Darry” Curtis

■ Sherry “Cherry” Valance

■ Bob

■ Randy

Sodapop

■ older brother

■ works at gas station

■ handsome

■ carefree

Cherry Valance

■ (^) Bob’s girlfriend ■ (^) cheerleader ■ (^) has red hair ■ (^) says she could fall in love with Dally ■ (^) acts as a spy for the Greasers ■ (^) says she will probably not talk to Pony if she sees him at school--he says he understands ■ (^) likes to look at sunsets too

Bob Sheldon

■ a Soc

■ Cherry’s boyfriend

■ has beaten up Johnny Cade before the

novel starts

■ wears rings on his fingers; this is how

Johnny knows Bob is the Soc who beat

him up

■ is stabbed by Johnny

Themes

(Be able to explain and support these)

■ FAMILY

■ FRIENDSHIP

■ SOCIAL DIFFERENCES

■ VIOLENCE/GANG RIVALRY/

SENSELESSNESS OF VIOLENCE

■ BEING AN “OUTSIDER” / TRYING TO

FIT IN

Conflicts

■ (^) Man vs. Man (Ponyboy vs. Darry; Greasers vs. Socs; Johnny vs. Bob) ■ (^) Man vs. Society (Socs vs. Greasers) ■ (^) Man vs. Himself (Dally vs. himself; Ponyboy vs. himself) ■ (^) Man vs. Nature (the boys vs. the fire)

Ponyboy’s Literary World

■ (^) “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is the poem that Pony and Johnny talk about at the church. The poem means that nothing good can last forever. Just as the golden times in the poem come to an end, so too must their time at the church. ■ (^) To Johnny, it means to appreciate the things one finds amazing when one is young. He wants Pony (and, sadly, Dally) to look for sunsets and the good things in life.

The Ending of the Novel

■ What makes it unique?

■ What does it show us about the way

Ponyboy has dealt with all the events

that have happened to him?

Allusions

(Be able to define allusion) ■ (^) Paul Newman ■ (^) Dairy Queen ■ (^) Corvette/Corvair ■ (^) Hank Williams ■ (^) madras plaid ■ (^) drive-in theatre ■ (^) Gone with the Wind ■ (^) “Nothing Gold Can Stay”