When Does The Outsiders Start?

The Outsiders is a 1967 novel by S.E. Hinton. The novel is set in Oklahoma in the 1960s, when social class differences were much more prominent than they are today. The story is told from the perspective of 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis, a member of a gang called the Greasers. The Greasers are a lower-class group who are constantly in conflict with a rival gang, the Socs (short for Socials). One night, Ponyboy and his friend Johnny are attacked by a group of Socs; one of the attackers dies after being stabbed by Johnny in self-defense. Johnny and Ponyboy run away until they find an abandoned church where they can hide out for several days while being hunted down by police officers; during this time, Ponyboy begins to see things differently than he did before getting involved with gangs as well as learns how to let go of his anger towards society. The boys eventually turn themselves in and Ponyboy finds himself on trial for murder; he is released after a witness steps forward to say that it was actually him who killed the attacker. After spending time in jail, Ponyboy returns home to find his mother has remarried and that his brother Darry has dropped out of school and is spending time with a gang. Ponyboy decides to join the military in order to escape his troubled life at home. The Outsiders was adapted into a 1983 film and a 1990 television series.