Greater Meanings in The Outsiders: A Theater, a Sunset, and a Novel Annabel Tang 8th Grade

Violence, for Ponyboy Curtis, is everywhere―his life in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma is constantly plagued with gang violence, child abuse, stabbings, shootings, and the constant fear of being ruthlessly attacked or even murdered by an opposing gang. But through the countless and unimaginable terrors that Ponyboy endures every day, his relationships and bonds with his friends and family remain unbreakable and help him persist through his undeniably difficult life. The Outsiders is an engrossing, powerful novel told through the lens of Ponyboy Curtis, a 14-year-old in Oklahoma living in the midst of a rivalry between the Greasers and the Socs, two opposing and often violent gangs. It focuses on Ponyboy’s life experiences as he flees his hometown after one of his gang members and friends, Johnny Cade, kills a member of the opposing gang. The Outsiders demonstrates, through hidden symbols, all of the ups and downs that a young boy faces throughout his life, including things as simple yet important as sunsets, movie theaters, and a book about the Civil War. Throughout her narrative of The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton uses the symbolism of the drive-in movie theater, the sunset, and Gone with the Wind to symbolize Ponyboy’s relations...