BOOK REPORT
Hinton, Susan, The Outsiders, New York: Speak, 2008. 180. Print.
RESPONDING TO THE PLOT: (c) Was there a character especially inspiring, depressing or even frightening? Explain why.
The character especially both inspired and depressed me in some ways was Dallas (Dally) Winston. He is a member of the gang called the Greaser and he is well-known as the roughest of the Greasers. He is seemingly strong and rough, but we can read that he is actually timid and always pretending to be strong. He wants someone to be with him at every moment and gets nervous when he is alone. His personality is not mentioned in the novel, but I was able to find it while I was reading it.
I have to admit that his personality resembles mine to some extent. I sometimes pretend to be a good man in front of my parents, friends, teachers or other people around me. For example, I sometimes say that it is good though I don’t think so in my mind or I can say I’m not angry though I’m angry. In Japanese, we call these actions “Tatemae.” Almost all Japanese act “Tatemae” but in my case, I use it too frequently. That means I’ve suppressed my feeling many times. When I was reading this novel and following Dally’s statements and actions, I was able to realize that I was alike Dally in that way. I was depressed when I realized it because it is definitely a terrible personality. From now on, I will try to be honest and express what I feel or what I want to say. I want to thank Dally for having made me realizing my poor personality. In this point, I can say this novel was really educational for me. That’s why I can say that Dally was the character who especially inspired and depressed me.
ANALYZING 7 LITERARY TERMS:
Setting: In Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1965.
Point of view: This story is told by the first person; from the main character, Ponyboy Curtis.
Conflict: Ponyboy, his best friend, Johnny Cade and Dally are members of the Greaser and in conflict with their minds and another gang called the Socs. They have to overcome terrible incidents. Also, the Greaser fights against the Socs for their prides.
Climax: The climax of this story is the rumble between the Greaser and the Socs. Many of them are injured while they are fighting. Finally, the Greaser wins.
Symbol: Tobacco is the symbol of this story. Ponyboy and Johnny are too young to smoke, but they smoke much. They want to show that they are already strong adults, which is one of typical actions that adolescent kids do.
Irony: The irony of this story is that Jonny dies because he got injured when he rescued kids from a burning church. He is honored as a hero who saved kids though he is a member of a gang. Eventually, he dies because of heroic wounds.
Theme: The theme of this story is how young people respond to things around them. The main characters are still adolescent people around 16 years old. They are too sensitive to things around them and cause troubles because they don’t know how to deal with their feelings.
REFLECTING TO THE STORY: (h) What is something you learned from the story?
One day, Ponyboy and Johnny rescued kids from a burning church, but a large piece of burning wood hit Johnny’s back and broke his back. A few days later, Johnny died in front of Ponyboy and Dally in the hospital. The unbearable sorrow over Jonny’s death was so big that Dally ran out of the hospital and soon after that, he robbed a grocery store. Police officers chased him and finally he pulled out an unloaded gun against them only as a bluff. Not knowing this, the police shot him down.
I was able to learn two things from this incident. The first thing is that a sorrow often leads another sorrow. In this novel, Jonny’s death caused Dally’s death. In this real life, many people have already understood the spiral of negative things. Sorrow can change people’s minds especially into bad ones. The bigger the sorrow is the more drastic the change will be. If the mind is changed into the bad way, we can act unexpected things that we can usually avoid. The second thing is that we can find the importance of something when we lose it. In the novel, Johnny was always saying that he wanted to suicide because of his terrible circumstance. After he was hit by a piece of burning wood and badly injured, he realized the importance of health and life. Another example is shown in the novel: Dally realized how he like Johnny just after Johnny died. Before the incident, he couldn’t find the importance of Johnny. Thinking back, I can pick up some “too-late-realizing” about myself though I’m still 19. However, both these two things which I learned from this story can be avoided if we are careful enough. I want to keep my heart strong and deal with sad incidents well.
