1. S. E. Hinton - The Outsiders
book report
Christian Klein

2. S. E. Hinton - biography/book
Susan Eloise Hinton was born in the in Tulsa, Oklahoma
began her first book “The Outsiders” in the age of 15, going to college
she lived in a society with hard conflicts between rich and poor youth;
that’s also what her books are about:
the youth’s lives and its problems
some books:
The Outsiders; That was Then, This Is Now; Rumble Fish; Tex; Taming the Star Runner; Big David, Little David; Puppy Sister; Hawkes Habor

3. characters - the greasers (G)
poor [greasy: fettig, ölig; greasy hair]
no education in school (mostly)
already hoods in early age (no real family, sb telling them what to do...; maybe lost their parents)
live by rubbing department stores,...
the youth feel as one big family
different groups (1); fights between each other sometimes, but no fights intern
(1): - unorganised group, which the most characters mentioned in the story belong to
- organized: pe Tim Shephard’s gang
fights often without weapons

4. characters - the socs (S)(=socials)
rich [socs = socials]
drive blue mustangs
normally go to school
feel themselves being better as the greasers - jump on them
not mentioned if there are different groups
are very brutal, fight with weapons
try not to look sentimental in face of others
sophisticated; while greasers are emotional

5. characters + problematic
takes place in Oklahoma, too
conflict:socs (west) greasers (east)
both groups have their problems in live, but don’t see those of the other one
many fights
living together not possible ?
chapter 2: relation between 2 soc’s girls and 2 greaser’s boys; ...
if you lean to respect each other, living together is easily possible
in fact: greasers and socs are human beings
but the groups differ by money privileges

6. characters - Ponyboy Curtis (G)
I narrator; 14 years old
2 brothers: Darry + Soda;
lost their parents after a car accident and are afraid of being separated and send to orphanages (Waisenhaus)
likes movies and books
very sentimental; likes sunsets
the only greaser going to school; got put up a year in grade school
but sometimes he doesn’t use his head in gets in trouble because of it

7. characters - Darry Curtis (G)
older brother of Ponyboy ’s
is six-feet-two, broad-shouldered, muscular, cold looking eyes
looks older than 20
works hard for the “Curtis-family” (2 hard jobs), like its father
wants to show his muscles
Pony things, Darry doesn’t understand him and doesn’t like him; tensions

8. characters - Soda Curtis (G)
handsomer than anyone else; funny
movie-star kind of handsome; attracts the girls
not as tall as Darry, slimmer (schlank), sensitive face, laughing eyes
seems always to be happy
can look reckless (leichtsinnig) and thoughtful at the same time
is a dropout in school; but Pony can’t believe it because Soda’s so lovely and doesn’t behave smartly

9. characters - Steve Randle (G)
17 years old
tall, lean, cocky (keck, dreist),smart
Sodas best buddy since grade school
speciality: cars (steeling them, but also knows all about cars)
works with Soda in a gas station
most customers of town: because Steve is so good with cars or bcse Soda attracts the girls?
doesn’t like Pony; Pony only likes him because he’s Sodas best buddy

10. characters - Two-Bit Mathews (G)
the oldest in the gang
wisecracker (witzig-reder)
6 feet, stocky in build, very proud of his long rusty-colored side-burns (Kotletten)
has a wide grin, aslways makes funny remarks, live is one big joke to him; you couldn’t shut up him; always smarts off the cops
liked fights, blondes, school (?!?, was still a junior at 18, just went there for kicks)
Pony likes him real well because he mades everybody in the gang laugh

11. characters - Dallas Winston (G)
called Dally
elfish face, high cheekbones, animal teeth, ears like a lynx (Luchs)
didn’t like haircuts or oil,...
his eyes= blue blazing ice, cold with hatred of the whole world
already was arrested with 10 years, turned hard and lost feelings by being in prison several times
was as wild as the boys in the downtown outfits, like Tim Shephard’s gang
You don’t tell him what to do (except Johnny)

12. characters - Johnny Cade (G)
like: “a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers”
the youngest (16 years old), next to Pony
smaller than the rest, a slight build, big black eyes in a dark tanned (braun) face
nervous, suspicious look in his eyes
the gang’s pet, everyone’s kid brother
always is beaten up by his father, ignored by his mother (“when he beats me, he knows at least that ‘m here”)
the gang is his only real family
once beaten by the socs very very hard

13. characters - Cherry (S)
real name: Sherry Valance
read hair ( Cherry)
goes to the same school as Pony; cheerleader
appear in chapter 2: Cherry & Marcia alone in the movies (cause their boyfriends got drunken); Johnny, Pony and Dally come; Dally begins flirting with bad words
knows what she wants; when Dally provoked them, she got offensive and calls her opinion
tells she was afraid to fall in love with Dally
used to like sunsets, too (like Pony)
symbolises the friend-ship Cherry-Pony all book

14. characters - Marcia (S)
Cherry’s friend (in the movies, chapter 2)
doesn’t play a big role in the book; you don’t learn much about her

15. characters - Bob (S) Cherry’s boyfriend gets very brutal being drunken
(Cherry: “I told you, I’m never going out with you while you’re drinking, and I mean it. Too many things could happen while you’re drunk. It’s me or the booze.”)
proud of his big wings, because of which Johnny once was beaten near to death
after the movies, where Cherry and Marcia met Pony and Johnny, he and his friends nearly drowned Pony
Johnny killed him

16. Johnny being beaten lecture of chapter 2, pages 31(middle) to 34(end)
shows:
the family-feeling in this group of greasers
main characterisation of most of these greasers
Johnny’s situation in family/besides greasers
the brutal being of some socs
relation socs - greasers
some characteristics of Cherry’s and Pony’s

17. history - main overview (1)
chapter 1: presentation of problematic and of the main greasers;
Ponyboy gets jumped by socs
2: in the movies: Dallas talks do 2 socs-girls
after he went off, Cherry, Marcia, Pony and Johnny get to know each other better
Pony tells Cherry the history how Johnny got beaten up badly once; she gets white
3: Cherry and Pony speak about differences greasers-socs
first related contact of Bob+Randy with Pony+Johnny (together with Marcia+Cherry)

18. history - main overview (2)
Johnny+Pony get asleep in the parking lot;
when Pony wakes up and goes home fast, he’s beaten by Darry Pony go away with Johnny
4: back in the lot, Bob+friends appear
they nearly drown Pony Johnny kills Bob
they have to flee, not to get caught by police
Dallas helps them (weapon+money)
5: Pony+Johnny hide in a church
after 1 week: Dallas comes to meet them,
they go eating something in Dairy Queen:
Dallas mentions a big rumple socs- greasers, to set an final end to the conflicts

19. history - main overview (3)
6: Johnny wants to go back to police
when Johnny+Pony+Dallas come back from eating to the church, it is burning
little children inside the church Pony+Johnny want to save them get hurt
brought to hospital
7: Pony doesn’t need to stay in hospital
next morning is “all normal”
Two-Bit+Pony go to hospital
meet Randy on the way
9: the rumble (fight) between the socs and greasers

20. characters - Randy (S) Marcia’s boyfriend Bob was his best friend
about 17 years old
is fascinated of Pony and Johnny saving those little children in the burning church;
thinks he wouldn’t have done it
“would never have believed a greaser could pull something like that.”
isn’t going to show at the rumble ( “He was seventeen or so, but he was already old.”)
is tired of all this fighting, because it doesn’t change anything, but only brings problems

21. book - message conflict:socs (west) greasers (east)
both groups have their problems in live, but don’t see those of the other one
living together not possible ?
in fact: greasers and socs are human beings:
there are greasers which escape little children out of a burning church and socs which wouldn’t
greasers, living on streed, are hoods (Rowdys), but socs, being drunken, are also brutal;...
but: if you lean to respect each other, living together is easily possible
but the groups differ by money privileges and also by feelings, habits,...

22. history - in the movies

23. history - how Johnny got jumped on, once

24. history - conflict Ponyboy, Darry

25. history - Bob getting killed

26. history - Pony and Johnny in the church

27. history - the church being burning

28. history - in the hospital

29. history - „why do they love fighting ?“

30. history - the rumble

31. history - Johnny dies

32. history -the end