Throughout the novel, The Outsiders (1967), the author S.E Hinton utilises her characters to establish constant themes and reader understanding. She has written her characters in a way in which they add depth to the story and give the novel meaning and importance. By using her main characters such as Ponyboy, Johnny and Dally, the author elaborately develops major themes and enhances the reader’s understanding and connection with the novel. A way that the author uses characters is by utilising Ponyboy’s perspective to invigorate the themes of social injustice and social division. The perspective essentially sets the tone of the story, and gives the reader an intimate perception of the protagonist’s experiences. This story is being expressed …show more content…
The way the characters were written adds a layer of authenticity, allowing the reader to acquire an in-depth understanding of the novel itself. S.E. Hinton wrote this novel as a teenager herself, which makes the characters feel raw and sincere. The author reinforces the themes of social division and injustice using her characters Johnny Cade and Dally Winston. In this novel, Johnny acts as the embodiment of the poem, ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay,’ by Robert Frost. When this poem is introduced to Johnny, he has an epiphany and realises that there is life beyond the Greasers and Socs’ social division. In the line, “...don’t be so bugged over being a greaser... There's still lots of good in the world.” (Hinton, 1967, p.g. 189. It is evident that Johnny has changed his mentality and experienced significant character development. During his time at Jay Mountain, Johnny realises how amazing life can be. This poem conveys the message that nothing beautiful can last forever. In this case, Johnny was the remnant of hope in a prejudiced society, but he could never remain innocent because of the society he lived in. Johnny’s death emphasised the theme of social injustice and the impacts of social division, because he was a kindhearted person with unfortunate circumstances. Another example of S.E. Hinton using characters to express themes is through Dally. Johnny’s death heavily impacted Dally, to the point