The Outsiders (film) Literary Elements

Francis Ford Coppola

C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon

Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Diane Lane, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez

Teen, Coming-of-Age, Drama, Adaptation

English

N/A

March 25, 1983

Gray Frederickson, Fred Roos

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Ponyboy Curtis is the protagonist and the film is shown through his eyes. At the start of the film, he begins writing the story in a school composition book, and titles the page "The Outsiders," revealing that he is the film's narrator, and it is from his point of view that we will see the events of the narrative.

The tone is dramatic and gritty. While there are some light-hearted and romantic moments in the film, drama and violence are never far off.

Protagonist: Ponyboy and the Greasers; Antagonist: Bob and the Socs

The major conflict is the gang rivalry and tension between the Greasers and the Socs. Then later, the major conflict becomes Johnny's murder of Bob and his and Ponyboy's escape from the law.

The climax occurs when Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dallas save a group of children from the burning church, thus becoming local heroes.

Johnny's contempt for Bob is foreshadowed by his always noticing Bob's rings when they run into him. Bob slashed Johnny's face with the rings and he wants desperately to get even, which eventually results in him killing Bob.

Leading up to the rumble, Darry worries that Ponyboy ought not to come, but Ponyboy suggests that it will be okay because there won't be weapons. This foreshadows the fact that while the rumble is without weapons, the ultimate shoot-out between Dallas and the cops is on its way.

Dallas' run-in with the cops and misunderstanding with the gun is foreshadowed when he tells Ponyboy and Johnny about the gun he bought for protection and he worries that someone might have seen it in the Dairy Queen parking lot.

Much of the response to violence and turmoil is understated by the characters, who have grown tough and hard by virtue of having had such difficult lives, and wanting to project an aura of toughness.

Many of the camera angles depicted the social dynamics between the boys in innovative ways. The action is shown in silhouette in the golden light of the sun at many points throughout the film.

Ponyboy has memorized Robert Frost's poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay," which becomes a thematic centerpiece of the film.

The central paradox in the film is that good people are capable of bad things, that many of the characters are driven to violence by their circumstances. Additionally, bad things happen to good people, as Johnny meets a tragic fate in spite of having a kind nature and attempting to do what is right.

N/A