The Outsiders” takes you through a journey of struggle, violence, and death. It examines the life of a recently orphaned young man born into poverty confronted with the prejudices that he could not change. He struggles with the many conflicts between the lower class and the upper class youths.
The Outsiders focuses on the life of Ponyboy Curtis who has two brothers, Darry and Sodapop, which belong to a group of young people that were called greasers. The Greasers defined as a group of hoodlums with a background of being poor, mean, and violent. Ponyboy’s brother, Darry, stepped in to support his family after their parents died in an automobile accident. Darry was a smart and serious person that worked most of the time, and was very hard on Ponyboy .He often yelled at Ponyboy to do better in school. Soda, the middle brother considered very handsome and likeable, was happy most of the time. The brothers often fought over Ponyboy’s future. They closely associated with two members of the greasers, Dally who was one of the oldest gang members and certainly the toughest, and Johnny who was shyer than Ponyboy. Dally seemed to enjoy being a criminal and thought the law was a joke. Johnny’s parents abused him, so he always seemed scared which made him the pet of the group.
This story has many tragedies. The first tragedy in the story was when the socs jumped Ponyboy, who was walking home from the movies by himself. He was two blocks from home when he saw a red Corvair following him. Ponyboy briefly envisions the time when the socs jumped Johnny. The socs beat Johnny up very badly and made him cry. The Corvair pulled up beside him and five socs got out. One of the socs made a comment about cutting Ponyboy’s hair off. When trying to cut his hair off other members of the greasers showed up. The socs immediately took off running when the saw the greasers.
The next tragedy in the story was takes place when Ponyboy and Johnny were walking Cherry and Marcia home. They met at the drive-in. While walking, a blue Mustang came down the street that belonged to Cherry and Marcia’s boyfriends. They continued to walk down the street and acted normally. The mustang passed them by. The car then came back and spotted them. Their boyfriends, members of the socs, got out the car. The boyfriends did not see the boys but they did see their girlfriends. Johnny noticed that one of the socs jumped him earlier. The socs threaten Ponyboy and Johnny.
Another tragedy in the story happens when Darry slapped Pony. Pony had came home late so Darry started to yell at him. Soda then told Darry to leave Pony alone. Darry then replied to soda” You keep your trap shut! I’m sick and tired of hearin’ you stick up for him.” Pony then responded” you don’t yell at him!” That was when Darry slapped Pony. Pony then ran out the house and sprinted down the street all the way to the lot. Johnny was there and then Johnny and Pony ran away.
The next tragedy was when Johnny killed a soc. The socs jumped Johnny and Pony. A soc tried to drown Ponyboy in the park fountain. Johnny then pulled out his switchblade and stabbed the soc. Johnny then realized he had killed him. After he killed him, he realized that he had to run away. Knowing that Dally was the only one that could help them, they ran to find him. When they found him Dally provided them with fifty dollars, a gun, warm dry clothes for Pony, and a plan that included a safe hiding place. Dally instructed them to hop a train to Windrixville, hike up Jay Mountain, and stay in an abandoned church until he came for them.
The next tragedy in the story was when they went to an abandoned church on Jay Mountain. The tragedy was when the church caught on fire. There were kids trapped inside the church so, Johnny and Pony went in to rescue the kids. They threw the kids out of the window. Pony then hopped out the window. His back was on fire so Dally clubbed him as hard as he could in his back. The hard hit knocked Pony unconscious. Johnny was still in the church, when a piece of lumber from the ceiling fell on his back. The piece of lumber broke Johnny’s back.
The next tragedy in the story was when Johnny died. The injuries sustained from the fire killed Johnny. When Johnny died, Dally and Pony were very sad. The only person Dally had in his life was Johnny. Ponyboy blamed himself for Johnny’s death.
The next tragedy is when Dally died. After Johnny died Dally had went to rob the store. Dally then ran to the lot while the police were chasing him in a cop car. The police then got police car. Dally then pulled out his gun for a bluff. Dally was then shot by the police but that is what Dally wanted, he wanted to die.
After Dally died there was another tragedy Ponyboy became sick. This was a little tragedy more like an obstacle.
These were all the tragedies I found in The Outsiders. There were no comedies that I found in the story. The story was a serious story to me it really was not anything funny about it at all.
In conclusion, I thought this story was good. It had a nice plot and was interesting book. The thing I learned from this book is that you should never take life for granted. I will now repeat the tragedies I saw in this book. Tragedies: When were jumped, when Johnny was jumped, when Darry slapped Pony, when Johnny killed the soc. When the church was caught on fire, when Johnny died, and when dally died.