The Outsiders, Week 4

Welcome to Week 4 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Outsiders.

What did you think of the ending? Was it the ending that you wanted? Did you walk away from the book feeling sad? 

This section starts with the rumble. I think the fight went like I imagined it would. I didn't think that Ponyboy would be able to use his switch. And, I thought he would probably get beaten up. But, I was glad that the Greasers won. They seemed to deserve it more than the Socs. It was shocking to go from the high of winning the fight to the low of losing Johnny in the span of just a couple of pages. Did you feel like that was an abrupt jump? Had you expected Johnny to make a recovery? I didn't really expect him to make it out of the hospital. His injuries were just too severe. 

I was surprised by Dallas's reaction to Johnny's death. I didn't expect him to be so upset about it--at least, I didn't expect him to be so upset that he would brandish an empty gun to get the police to shoot and kill him. I was shocked by that. What did you think of that scene? Could you have guessed that something like that would happen? That scene made me sick to my stomach. It was just so sad. Again, Ponyboy passes out, so we don't really get to see all of the action. He passed out a lot in the story. I guess that helped to keep some of the violence off of the page, but it was a little odd that it happened so much. What did you think of all of his fainting episodes? 

I'm glad that the brothers get to stay together. That was one positive, hopeful thing from this section. What do you think is going to happen to all of them? The end seems to hint that Ponyboy is going to end up ok, even though he's a mess right now and is slacking at school and track. What kind of life do you think waits for each of the boys? Do you think the violence is over? Do you think they all learned anything through Johnny's and Dallas's deaths? Do you think any of the boys would be able to leave town and live bigger lives somewhere else? 

Did you enjoy reading this book? If you liked this book and would like to read and watch similar titles, check out this list I created. Make sure to let me know if you check out anything on the list!

Before you go, chekc out the clip below where cast member from the movie version, Ralph Macchio, talks about The Outsiders. Let me know what you think of the clip in the comments!

Thanks for following along this month! I hope you'll join us again next month as we read Coraline by Neil Gaiman. I hope to hear from you in the comments!