The book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a fantastic book. This blog post will be about the second half of the book and how Ponyboy changed and how it shaped him. In the first half of the book, Hinton talked about his struggles and how it effected him and changed him. He gone through changes through his experiences and through determination to achieve a goal. He never gave up on his goal and always had confidence in what he was trying to achieve. Even though his gang and his brothers influenced him in many bad ways, he still found the light in the end. He found the correct path and shined through the darkness.
I think Ponyboy changed mainly in two ways. He changed from "false" to "correct" view and the other big change was a greater sense of identity. He wanted to find who he was as a person and what his true identity was. He tried to do this through his actions but was still not really secure. One example is how he saved kids from a burning building. This shows that he was nice and not selfish. He didn't want to copy others, he wanted to develop his own personality and identity. With his experience throughout the book, he finally found out who he was as a person and who he wanted to be. In the beginning, he wasn't sure about his identity but during the end, he had 100% contorl of his destiny and found out his true identtity. I think Ponyboy changed from "false" to "correct" view because in the beginning, he had a false and bad influence by his brothers which changed what he wanted to become. They cursed, killed, and did drugs. But during the end, he changed and decided that he didn't want to be influenced by his brothers anymore which gave him the correct view. Through experience and dramatic incidents, Ponyboy changed.
After Ponyboy changed, he had many responsibilities and different tasks which kept his life busy. When the book ended, Ponyboy was still a child. Although he was still a child. I thought he was becoming an adult and changing. He decided to help others through his experience in the gang and decided to write a story about his experience. Ponyboy didn't really get privileges but he did have more responsibilities. His brother expects him to do well in school and not get into any more gang fights. Ponyboy wanted others to experience what he had gone through and prevent it from happening from others by writing his story and his point of view. I think that this shows Ponyboy's true identity and how nice he really was. He did what he wanted to do and not copy what others were doing. He hated the Socs but was humble with them in the end and he really described how he felt about their gang. He realized that you could achieve anything you wanted as long as you put your mind to it and have confidence in yourself.
I think the author was trying to say that childhood is a stage where you're not really mature yet and you tend to do things because other people do it. I think she was trying to say that as you move along, you will realize your own identity and follow your own path. I also think that she was trying to say that in childhood, kids make mistakes and it's okay as long as you change your mistakes through your childhood. I also think that it's okay to make mistakes as long as you realize your mistakes and correct them. She was also trying to say that adulthood is a stage where you have to take responsibility for actions you have done and take responsibility in everything you do. If you make a mistake, it is hard for someone to forgive you. It's not like you're three or four and you have an excuse to make mistakes. It is also hard to correct your mistake in adulthood since there are many things going on in your life and are causing you to think everyday.
In conclusion, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a fabulous book and tells a great story about a young boy's struggles and his journey to find his identity. He changes and shines through the darkness even though he is influenced in many bad ways by his gang and brothers. He is also teased because of how he looks and his background. This book has many great details that help tell the story. I really loved the end because it was the book inside the book. In the end, Ponyboy wrote his story exactly as how the story started which is very unique. After all, S.E. Hinton wrote this story based off of real life experiences. The ending showed how Ponyboy wanted to help others and how he wanted to change the way people thought about others. It was well plotted and I really enjoyed it. This would be a book that I would recommend to others and to my friends, especially friends that are struggling with identity problems.
