The Outsiders Theme Analysis

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Theme is the main message/ emotion of the story. Novels use theme most of all the time so you can really know what the story is about. The Outsiders is a story of some kids who are trying to find their true identity. S.E. Hinton uses innocence as the theme of her novel, The Outsiders The poem Nothing Can Stay Gold, by Robert Frost, States that “Nature's first Green is Gold.” In literal forms this means Spring is beautiful. In metaphoric terms this means Humans are born innocent. When Frost uses gold he is saying innocence. Johnny matches this the best way possible. When the boys won the rumble they went to tell Johnny and he said “Useless… fighting’s no good.” Johnny thinks that fighting has no pride and just makes you get a bad reputation. …show more content…

In metaphoric terms this means Hardships in life. When Frost uses begin to die in fall he means the hardships start coming. Dally is represented by this part because as soon as Johnny died his life flipped around and started to get hard. “Damnit, Johnny…” he begged , slamming one fist against the wall, hammering it to make it obey his will. “Oh, damnit, Johnny, don’t die, please don't die…” He suddenly bolted through the door and down the hall.This just shows how dependent Dally was on Johnny and his friendship, but now he’s going have to struggle to make it without him in his life\ “So Edan sank to grief.” In literal terms this means All growth is dead. Innocence is lost , this is what this means in metaphoric terms. When Robert Frost uses growth is dead and lost, he means that all innocence has been lost forever and it’s hard to regain back. Pony’s innocence and Johnny’s innocence were both lost when they were involved in a murder. “I killed him,” he said softly. “I killed that boy.” Bob, the handsome soc was lying there in the moonlight doubled up and stiff. They lost their innocence by killing someone, what worse way to lose your innocence then to kill someone. As you can see, Hinton uses theme very well in her novel, The Outsiders. Everyone starts with innocence in their lives, but most people lose their innocence, some in silly ways, others in ways you can’t possibly imagine. “The Knowledge That Makes us Cherish Innocence Makes Innocence Unattainable.” - Irving