The Three Deaths in Hinton's The Outsiders

Three Deaths in Hinton’s The Outsiders A lot of themes can be found in many noteworthy literary pieces. A lot dwell on romance, history, tragedy, love, etc. But some go for a much darker take on the creation of the story. One of the most prominent themes in these types of literature is dying. A lot of stories have been written that revolved around death. One of the most well-known is The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Opening The story of The Outsiders revolved around the life of the main character Ponyboy Curtis. The storyline is condensed into detailing the life of Ponyboy into two weeks. The story shows how Ponyboy felt isolated from the rest, with no sense of belongingness. This confusion has led him to struggle in choosing right or wrong. Ponyboy was left in the care of his brother Darrel with his other brother Sodapop. During this time, Pony lived in the East side of town, the poor side, with a group known as greasers. In the opposing end lived the West-side Socs, Socials who are the cream of the crop in society. The story opens with a scene where a gang of Socs beats and threatens Pony on his way home. His greaser friends happen to come upon this and drives the Socs away. However, this confrontation serves to prepare the readers for more conflicts to come between the two groups. Bob’s Death Following the first encounter, Pony with friends Dallas and Johnny went to a drive-in movie. In this scene, the friends meet two ladies, Cherry and Marcia, who are also there with their Soc boyfriends. Dallas decides to antagonize the ladies so out of good will, Johnny and Pony with their other friend Two-Bit Matthews decide to step-in. The boys attempt to accompany the two home, but they are met by the girl’s Soc boyfriends leading to another fight attempt. After this, Pony and Johnny meet Bob Sheldon and his friend Randy Adderson, both Socs. The two Socs attempts to drown Pony, where he eventually passes out. Johnny sees this and as retaliation, pulls out his switchblade. This confrontation preludes to a much darker end where Johnny kills Bob. Pony the wakes and sees Bob dead. The aftermath of this event leads Pony and Johnny to seek refuge with their friend Dallas who helps them escape. Johnny’s Death Thanks to Cherry’s testimonial, Johnny now has a chance to clear his name. He decides to turn himself in but before that, they went back to their church hideout first. The scene gi...