Outsiders Analysis

1
Outsiders Analysis

• Chapter 4

2
Internal Monologue and Dialect

• One of the distinguishing characteristics of
  Hinton's prose is its effort to faithfully
  replicate a certain way of speaking and writing
  among "tough" youths.
• Ponyboy's role as narrator casts the proceedings
  and colors the language what emerges is a
  specific vernacular.
• At points, his narration borders on stream of
  consciousness.
• In this chapter, the repetition of certain lines
  lends the reader the impression of drifting
  inside Ponyboy's head.
• For example, after Ponyboy realizes Johnny has
  killed Bob, Hinton writes (or Ponyboy thinks)
  "This can't be happening. This can't be
  happening. This can't be..." He is dizzy, so the
  thought trails off.

3
Theme Eyes

• Eyes are prominent in this chapter, and
  especially Johnny's.
• As the five Soc boys approach him and Ponyboy,
  "his eyes were wild-looking, like the eyes of an
  animal in a trap."
• After Bob calls the boys "White trash with long
  hair," Ponyboy notices that Johnny's "eyes were
  smoldering."
• When Ponyboy comes to after almost being drowned,
  he notes Johnny's expression, fresh from Bob's
  kill "his eyes were huger than I'd ever seen
  them.

4
Theme Appearances

• The theme of appearances comes into play when the
  Socs approach Johnny and Ponyboy the two young
  boys try to look tough. "Johnny had a blank,
  tough look on his face - you'd have had to know
  him to see the panic in his eyes. I stared at the
  Socs coolly. Maybe they could scare us to death,
  but we'd never let them have the satisfaction of
  knowing."
• Later, when the boys are going to ask for
  directions to Jay Mountain, Ponyboy sees Johnny
  "as a stranger might see him," and realizes that
  they will never pass for farm boys. He thinks,
  "They'll know we're hoods the minute they see
  us.

5
Theme Dreaming

• Dreaming of the country segues into a
  disappointing reality when the boys jump off the
  train in Windrixville.
• Ponyboy notices that "the clouds were pink and
  meadowlarks were singing," and thinks to himself
  that finally he has arrived in the country.
• But later, as he looks for someone to ask
  directions, he thinks to himself, "I was in the
  country, but I knew I wasn't going to like it as
  much as I'd thought I would.

6
Theme Dreaming/Pretending

• Linked to the theme of dreaming of the country is
  that of pretending, which Ponyboy does to escape
  situations he can't deal with.
• The line between "pretending" and "lying" is
  blurred both come easily to Ponyboy.
• "I can lie so easily that it spooks me
  sometimes," he concedes.
• It's both a boast and a confession, and, indeed,
  a sense of guilt permeates his descriptions of
  his own dreams and his own ruses.

7
Foreshadowing

• The end of the chapter includes a bit of
  foreshadowing, when Ponyboy says that "this
  church gave me a kind of creepy feeling. What do
  you call it? Premonition?"
• Here, with these questions, Hinton uses the
  technique of direct address, when the narrator
  speaks to the reader personally.
• The foreshadowing is self-conscious, since
  Ponyboy makes a point of calling it a
  premonition.