The outsiders

The Outsider (English: The Outsiders ) is a novel by Susan E. Hinton from 1967. She wrote this book because there were "two kinds of people" in her class: "Greaser" and "Socs". At the time, she was only 16 years old.

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The book is about two rival gangs from completely different social backgrounds. Ponyboy is the first-person narrator and protagonist who lives in the East Side of Tulsa , Oklahoma and is therefore a greaser (English: grease = 'fat'; it means the pomade that you smear into your hair). Your enemies are the Socials (Socs) who live on the Westside. Due to the social differences and personal enmities, there are often arguments between the Greasers and the Socs. One day there is even a death when a couple of drunken socs try to drown Ponyboy. Bob Sheldon, the main instigator of the Socs, is stabbed to death by Ponyboys friend Johnny, whereupon the other Socs flee.

With the help of Dallas Winston, another greaser, Ponyboy and Johnny manage to escape and they hide in an abandoned wooden church. After five days, Dallas comes to visit. When they return after a snack, the church is on fire. Ponyboy and Johnny notice there are children inside and rush into the burning church to save the children. After the last child is rescued, a flaming beam falls on Johnny's back while Ponyboy is climbing out. Dallas saves Johnny. All three are taken to the hospital, where they are considered heroes.

With Bob's death, the hatred between the Greasers and the Socs is heightened, leading to a big fight that the Greaser eventually win. Johnny, who was hospitalized during the fight, subsequently dies of his injuries. Dallas, who is actually a tough, established character, can't handle the death of the only person he's ever loved, which is why he robs a store as a short-circuit act. In the following chase with the police, he draws an unloaded revolver and lets himself be shot.

Finally, Ponyboy writes an essay about these events in order to deal with them himself.

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Greaser

Ponyboy Curtis is 14 years old and lives with his two older brothers Darry (20) and Sodapop (16); the parents died in a car accident. He is the youngest of the Greasers clique, a reliable and attentive storyteller and likes the pretty Cherry. He has brown, almost red hair and greenish-gray eyes. In the clique he is called "the little one" and as the youngest he is protected and spoiled. Pony loves movies and books, is intelligent, good at school and is generally considered to be a bright head. He wants to be cool, but is still sometimes very childlike and dreamy. According to his big brother Darry, he behaves carelessly and irrationally in everyday life. Despite his young age, he is already a heavy smoker .

Darrel Curtis Jr., called Darry , is 20 years old, 1.85 meters tall, athletic and intelligent. He has dark brown hair, pale blue-green eyes and looks older than he is. He comes across as a tough, cool, and capable realist who works hard to keep the family together. Despite receiving an athletic scholarship , he was unable to go to college after his parents died. He is often overwhelmed with ponyboys upbringing and his role as a family breadwinner.

Sodapop Patrick Curtis is 16 years old, very handsome and a love of girls. He is lively, friendly, popular, and sensitive. Soda dropped out of school and is now working at a gas station . He does not touch alcohol and suffers from the forced separation from his girlfriend Sandy. He does everything for his little brother Pony. He suffers from the constant quarrels of his brothers and feels torn between the two fronts.

Johnny Cade is 16 years old, skinny, southern clique, the second youngest of the gang and pony's best friend. Beaten up by his father and neglected by his mother, he mostly hangs out outside. He is reserved, nervous, suspicious and the special protégé of Dally. Since he was beaten up by four Socs, he has been extremely scared and depressed . He sees the Greaser as his “surrogate family”.

Dallas Winston, called Dally , is 17 years old, has blonde, extremely long hair, is a rodeo cowboy and on the outside the toughest of the greaser. He is unscrupulous, hardened and dangerous, has a big mouth, various criminal records and an extremely bad reputation. Johnny is the only person he lets be said and who he really values.

Steve Randle is 17 years old, vain, naughty and intelligent. Like his best friend Soda, he works at the gas station. He is a car expert - also a specialist in car theft - hates his father and regards Ponyboy as an annoying child.

Keith Matthews, called Two-Bit (i.e. cheap), is 18 years old and still in middle school. He is six feet tall, stocky and proud of his long, rust-red sideburns . With his big grin and the slogans that come to mind in practically every situation, he is the cheeky prankster of the clique. Two-Bit is known as a skilled department store thief and is armed with his "sanctuary", a stolen black snap knife . He often gets drunk, loves brawls, blondes and, strangely enough, school, although he hardly learns anything there.

Tim Shepard has his own gang: dangerous boys from the slums on the outskirts of the city. He's a tough bully and a respected rival of Dally.

The Brumly gang is a criminal gang that Pony describes as "a bunch of future prison brothers."

Socs

Sherri Valance, called Cherry , is 17 years old and looks very attractive with her long red hair. She is proud and quick-witted, is cool and sometimes provocative. She goes to the same high school as Pony, is with Bob, and doesn't like it when he drinks. She hates violence, is interested in the Greaser, is fascinated by Dally and discovers similarities with Pony. She likes Pony and Johnny and wants to mediate between the warring groups. But when Johnny is in the hospital, she does not want to visit him because she cannot forgive him for the murder of Bob.

Marcia is 17 years old and Cherry's girlfriend. She is a little smaller, pretty and has short black hair. Marcia flirts with Two-Bit; the two get along well because they have “the same crazy sense of humor”.

Bob Sheldon is the leader of the Socs in the blue Mustang and Cherry's friend. He is strong, authoritarian and brutal, wearing a leather jacket and heavy rings (with which he seriously injured Johnny). Bob drinks a lot of alcohol and despises all greasers. He is stabbed to death in self-defense by Johnny when he tries to drown Pony in a well.

Randy Anderson is a tall boy with a half-beat haircut and Bob's best friend. In arguments, he tends to act soothingly. After Bob's death, Randy had enough of the senseless violence, withdrew and did not take part in the big street battle. He is very afraid of disappointing his father. Impressed by Pony's heroic deed (saving the children from the burning church), he tries to contact him.

Paul Holden is Darry's former school friend and one of the best players on his football team. The blond, slim boy goes to the street battle against Darry.

David and other nameless Socs in the blue Mustang appear only as recipients of orders and accomplices.

Film adaptations and theater adaptations

The book was in 1983 by Francis Ford Coppola filmed and proved to be a springboard for the careers of young actors like Tom Cruise , Matt Dillon , Rob Lowe , Patrick Swayze and C. Thomas Howell .
In 1990, a television series produced by Coppola followed, which followed the life of the film characters after the end of the film story. The pilot film achieved high audiences; but these fell off quickly, so that the series was canceled after only 13 episodes.
Also in 1990, Christopher Segel wrote a play based on the novel by Susan Hinton.