The Outsiders - a Documentation of Its Popularity - Essay Example

The Outsiders - a Documentation of Its Popularity INTRODUCTION Reading is one of the basic skills honed in children. Parents and teachers utilize a variety of children’s books to encourage frequent reading. As far as one remembers, there were colorful, vividly illustrated books which taught kids to start from recognizing letters, to words, to phases, sentences and paragraphs. What started as learning tools, eventually lead to hobbies, interests and long time love for reading. Most of the children’s books, classified as fiction, are clearly and concisely defined as “literary narratives, collectively, with imaginary characters or events, specifically novels and short stories. Imaginary. False. S. E. Hinton became famous for young adult fiction depicting realistic events which exemplify the social situations or conditions of her time. Hinton’s insatiable quest for appropriate young adult literature provided the impetus for writing at a young age of 15. The unexpected remarkable reviews of The Outsiders drastically catapulted her writing career. Does her contradiction and bold defiance of the bounds of literary fiction accepted as an effective medium for contemporary writing and in fact contributed to the popularity of her books? It is the aim of this paper to determine the factors which lead to the popularity of The Outsiders, as one of the most famous novels of S.E. Hinton. The extent of its popularity would likewise be determined. THE AUTHOR The author of The Outsiders is known as S.E. Hinton (as she is frequently referred to and is considered her public name) and was born on July 22, 1948 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Hipple par. 4). She enjoyed reading and horseback riding, two unconventional hobbies for a growing child. She attended Will Rogers High School, “where, in her junior year, she began writing The Outsiders, the riveting story of gang rivalry that would launch her career as a writer”. (Hipple par. 6). According to Hinton, the social situation at her school inspired a great deal of The Outsiders, to wit: “I wrote The Outsiders because I (1) like to write (2) was mad about the social situation in my high school where everyone got in their little group and wouldn't make friends outside it and (3) I wanted to read it. There was no realistic fiction being written about teenagers when I was in high school--everything was "Mary-Jane Goes to The Prom".” (S.E. Hinton.com FAQ par. 19) S.E. Hinton boasts of seven bestselling novels (The Outsiders (1967), That Was Then, This Is Now (1971), Rumble Fish (1975), Tex (1979), Taming the Star Runner (1988), Puppy Sister (1995) and Hawkes Harbor (2004)), three classified as omnibus of novels (Outsiders / Rumble Fish / That Was Then, This Is Now (1995), An S.E. Hinton Collection (2001), and Some of Tim's Stories (2007)), one picture book (Big David, Little David (1995)), and one upcoming omnibus of a novel Some of Tim’s Stories in paperback which consists of “fourteen original stories depicting adults trapped in lives of missed connections and opportunities”. (Fantastic Fiction 2009) From among her seven novels, four were made into movies depicting the appeal of their themes to the masses. Most of her themes center on loyalty, transformation accorded through age, identity search and abandonment. (Hipple par. 11) She was able to depict real life situations written in the point of view of the audience in context. Peck averred in his book review written in New York Times, “The Outsiders” shocked readers with its frank depictions of adolescents smoking, drinking and “rumbling”. Although other pop culture offerings had dealt with themes – most notably “Rebel Without a Cause” and “West Side Story” – their intended audience was adult. By contrast, “The Outsiders” was a story “for teenagers, about teenagers, written by a teenager”. (Peck par. 1). However, the success of The Outsiders was measured by Hinton in terms of its ability to bring back the joys of reading to children. (S.E. Hinton.com Books par. 3) SYNOPSIS OF THE OUTSIDERS The Outsiders is S.E. Hinton’s best selling book. It was published in 1967 by Puffin Books. S.E. Hinton garnered five awards from this book, to wit: “New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Books List, 1967; Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Book Festival Honor Book, 1967; Media and Methods Maxi Award, 1975; ALA Best Young Adult Books, 1975; and Massachusetts Children’s Book Award, 1979”. (S.E. Hinton.com Books par. 4) The Outsiders is a story about two social groups, the socs and the greasers. Ponyboy, the main character is a greaser, who is proud to belong to this group. A violent event involving his friend, Johnny, lead to the death of one of the socs. The learning experience that evolved from this tragedy taught Ponyboy a lesson he would never forget. FACTORS THAT LEAD TO ITS POPULARITY There are several factors that lead to extraordinary popularity of a book over time. The Outsiders gained particular popularity due to several factors, summed up as follows: (1) the artistic and creative quality of the story; (2) the demand it spurred from its target audience; (3) the number of awards it garnered over time; (4) the number of copies sold; and (5) the prominence of the author. The Outsiders received considerable appeal to the teenagers, who are identified as the target audience for this book. It gained a controversial status on its initial offer due to the reality that S.E. Hinton depicted in this book, despite its fictional nature. Teenagers who got to read this have the following feedback: The teenagers, who first benefited from The Outsiders, were overwhelmed and stunned by Hinton’s novels. Reading made them want to read more. Therefore, this created such a large demand for S.E. Hinton’s book. This is actually the response that any writer would want to elicit from the audience. As quoted from Sutherland’s The Teenager Speaks, here are some quoted responses worth mentioning: “I feel that all teen-agers from all environments should read this novel," writes a fourteen-year-old girl. "It would give people a better understanding of these troubled teen-agers and not judge them by their long hair and odd ways." A boy the same age writes: "In presentation this story seemed very true to life as I know those kinds of circumstances prevail in many N.Y. areas." Another is quoted in its entirety: "Dear S. E. Hinton, I am 10 years old, going into 5th grade, and I LOVE to read. One day, a friend of ours asked me if I wanted to read The Outsiders. I said okay. Even though I'm only 10, & your book was for teen-agers, I think it's the BEST book that I've EVER read! I really enjoyed it! [Signature] (and Believe me, I've read quite a few!)" (Sutherland par. 5) As noted, The Outsiders enabled the author to garner five awards. However, for a contemporary writer who started at a young age, it is not surprising to note that there are numerous honors and awards that she received from her famous novels. To date, Hinton received a total of 19 awards for her four novels. The most distinguished award was the Margaret Alexander Edwards Award in 1988. This award “is given to an author whose books are popular with teenagers.  It is for lifetime achievement.  The one or more titles that are honored must be at least five years old.  The award is administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association and sponsored by School Library Journal”. (Kerby 2007) The roster of awards exemplified Hinton as a genius in the field of young adult fiction: an epitome of success and prominence in literary writing. Finally, The Outsiders sold 9,695,159 copies, according to Publisher’s Weekly, 2001, ranking third from among the top 20 best selling children’s books of all times. (20 Best Selling Children’s Books of All Times 2008). Topping the list was The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey (HC) which has 14,898,341 copies sold, and second was Charlotte's Web by E. B. White (PB) where 9,899,696 copies were considered sold. The strength in S.E. Hinton’s writing emerges from the deep interest she has for literary works that depict real life situations of the times. When one reads her books, the reader feels and empathizes with the characters. The audience conforms to the convictions of the characters and learns through the seriousness and realities of pain, death, and violence. Her books move her audience so much that readers yearn to read some more and therefore accord more opportunities for knowledge. CONCLUSION Hinton has shared her love for reading and writing through the famous novels she has written. Her unselfish pursuit to share her talents for writing is expressed in her concern to write a realistic discourse through an imaginary medium. By creatively defying the confines of fiction through her realistic depiction of the social ills of her time, Hinton had been effective and successful in encouraging the readers to be tuned to her novels. Her roaster of honors and awards attest to the effectiveness of her strategic writing style to capture the hearts and minds of her readers. Of course, of greater significance, S.E. Hinton’s innate possession of a genuine interest, dedication and love for her work enabled her to excel in this highly professional endeavor. All these factors contributed to the popularity of The Outsiders, an extraordinarily superb work of art. Indeed, her contradiction and bold defiance of the bounds of literary fiction is accepted as an effective medium for contemporary writing and in fact contributed to the popularity of her books. Works Cited 20 Best Selling Children’s Books of All Times. (2008). The Editors of Publications International, Ltd. Retrieved on March 31, 2009 from Fantastic Fiction. (2009). S E Hinton. Fantastic Fiction Limited. Lancashire, UK. Retrieved on March 27, 2009 from Hipple, M. (1997). Writers for Young Adults. 3 vols. Ted Hipple, editor. Charles Scribner's Sons. Peck, D. 'The Outsiders': 40 Years Later. New York Times Book Review; Sep 23, 2007; Research Library. pg. 31. S. E. Hinton.com. Frequently Asked Questions. Limemachine Productions. March 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2009 from Sutherland, Z. "The Teen-Ager Speaks," in The Saturday Review (New York), January 27, 1968, p. 34. Read More