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Ian Kruse
Mrs. Henry
ELA/Reading 1/5
8 December 2016
The Outsider Essay
Outsider: A person not belonging to a particular group, set, party, etc. Insider: A person who is
a member of a group, organization, society, etc. S.E. Hinton uses moral criticism in her writing to
make it entertaining. Hinton also uses psychological and archetypal criticisms in her book, The
Outsiders. In The Outsiders, its about a rivalry between Greasers and Socs, or Outsiders vs
Insiders. The Greasers, or Outsiders, are a group of friends that stick together and help each other
whenever needed. The Socs, or Insiders, are also a group of friends but they are more of the jock
group, they like to start trouble and mess around with the Greasers. In S.E. Hintons, The
Outsiders, Johnny must make many moral decisions and without knowing it, Johnny is learning
life lessons.
Authors use violence to make their book interesting. S.E. Hinton uses violence to make her
book, The Outsiders, a well-written book. An example of violence is when Johnny killed Bob,
I killed him he said slowly, I killed that boy. Bob the handsome Soc, was lying there in the
moonlight, doubled up and still. (51). Johnny killing Bob was a lesson to be learned. Johnny
killed Bob because it is the right thing to do and now he knows how much power he is capable of
doing. Violence isn't the only way to make a book or story a good book. Authors can use action
scenes to make their book entertaining. S.E. Hinton also uses action scenes in her writing to
make the audience interested about what is going to happen next. Another example from the
book is when Ponyboy ran away with Johnny, We crouched in the weeds beside the railroad
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tracks, listening to the whistle grow louder. The train slowed to a screaming halt. Now
whispered Johnny. We ran and pulled ourselves into the open boxcar.(56). Johnny making the
decision to run away with Ponyboy changed the Greasers life because now there is a rumble and
Johnny didn't want to face the consequences. In this paragraph, Johnny must make two decisions
based off of saving his friend and facing the consequences of killing Bob.
Authors use physical features and facial expression to tell the audience what the character is
thinking. Hinton uses Johnnys facial expressions to help the reader understand what Johnny is
thinking right that moment, I caught a quick look at his face; it was red-marked from falling
embers and sweat-streaked, but he grinned at me. He wasnt scared either. That was the one time
I can think of when I saw him without that defeated, suspicious look in his eyes. He looked like
he was having the time of his life.(82). Johnny making the decision to go into the burning
church was moral because he thought of others before himself which is a lesson to be learned.
Other than facial and physical features, authors use fights and violence to make their audience
interested. S.E. Hinton included the rumble between the Greasers and the Socs to make her book
a well-written book, Tim Shepard and company were already waiting at the vacant lot, along
with a gang from Burmly, one of the suburbs.(120). Johnny making the decision to kill Bob was
the biggest decision to make in The Outsiders, because the rumble and any of the events that hurt
himself or hurt others would not have happened. The lesson that Johnny learned was that anyone
can make a difference. In this paragraph I stated two decisions that Johnny must make, one is
good and one is bad.
Johnny has made four decisions that change his life and without knowing it, he is
learning life lessons. Authors can use violence to make their audience interested in their book.
Authors can also use action scenes to make their book an eye-catcher. Authors can also use
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physical features and facial expressions to inform the audience about what a character is thinking
at that moment. Johnny has been known as the, A little dark puppy that has been kicked too
many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers, youll have Johnny(13), but after a couple of
decisions, Johnny is the most powerful person in the Greasers.
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Work Cited
"[Link] - The World's Favorite Online Dictionary!" [Link]. N.p., n.d. Web. 12
Dec. 2016
Gillespie, Tim. Doing Literary Criticism: Helping Students Engage with Challenging Texts.
Portland, ME.: Stenhouse, 2010. Accessed December 12 2016
Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders. Dell Publishing, 1989
