Review: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
“Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold…”
Hands down, this is one of my favorite books.
From the back cover of a previous edition:
Ponyboy can count on his brothers. And on his friends. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up “greasers” like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect – until the night someone takes things too far.
I first read this book about Ponyboy, his brothers and the gang, in middle school, on my own, so I didn’t have anyone to talk to about it back then. I also attended a private Catholic school, so even if I had read it in class, I wouldn’t have been able to talk about the queer subtext I get out of it lol. I read it again in high school when I was around the characters’ ages, and the story hit me harder. Again in college, when I finally had the vocabulary and life experiences to explain what I felt when reading this story, made this book one of my lifelong favorites.
My friend @badreligiontina has heard me talk about it often enough that my obsession with it has become an inside joke, haha. But it’s no joke how important this story of tough, emotional boys is to me, and how it shaped my understanding of the world. The Outsiders is everything I like about stories, and as such, has influenced my interest in writing and reading similar types of characters. As a reader, I love Ponyboy and the whole gang. They are real to me in a way that I can look beyond the initial story at the characters presented, and see the potential deeper levels to them.
The subtext is what I really enjoy about this story, specifically the subtext surrounding Johnny and Dally. Not gonna lie, I super ship Jally. I think there’s a lot of subtext to support that reading, or at least a queer reading of the characters. I’ve seen it since I was twelve years old when I didn’t know how to describe the relationship I saw between them.
And although the text can be heavy-handed at a times, comparing the Greasers and Socs and the same sunset blah blah, yes we get it. People are still people, and everyone has troubles. It’s a great message. But not at all what I care about when reading this book. What makes me care is the love these gang of tough boys share for each other, being a family for one another. It’s absolutely my favorite aspect and what drives my love of the found/chosen family trope even today.
This is a modern classic that I definitely recommend people read at least once in their lives. And if you want to talk to me about The Outsiders or subtext or Jally subtext specifically, send me a message, I would love to hear from you! And if you’re interested, I’ll be starting a blog series outlining queer subtext relating to Johnny and Dally later this month.
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