The Outsiders is a coming-of-age novel by S.E. Hinton published in 1967 by Viking Press. The book details the conflict between two rival gangs of White Americans divided by their socioeconomic status: the working-class “Greasers” and the upper-middle-class “Socs” (pronounced /ˈsoʊʃɪz/—short for Socials). The story is told in first-person perspective by teenage protagonist Ponyboy Curtis, and takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1965, although this is never explicitly stated in the book.
Hinton began writing the novel when she was 15 and wrote the bulk of it when she was 16 and a junior in high school. She was 18 when the book was published. She released the work using her initials rather than her feminine given names (Susan Eloise) so that her gender would not lead male book reviewers to dismiss the work.
A film adaptation was produced in 1983 by Francis Ford Coppola, and a short-lived television series appeared in 1990, picking up where the movie left off. A dramatic stage adaptation was written by Christopher Sergel and published in 1990. A stage musical adaptation of the same name will premiere on Broadway in 2024.
Ponyboy Curtis, a fourteen-year-old boy who is a member of a “gang of greasers”, is leaving a movie theater when he is jumped by “Socs”, the greasers’ rival gang. Several greasers, including Ponyboy’s two older brothers—the paternal Darry and the popular Sodapop—come to his rescue. The next night, Ponyboy and two greaser friends, the hardened Dally and the quiet Johnny, meet Cherry and Marcia, a pair of Soc girls, at a drive-in movie theater. Cherry scorns Dally’s rude advances, but Ponyboy speaks civilly with Cherry, emotionally connecting with a Soc for the first time in his life.
Afterward, Ponyboy, Johnny, and their wisecracking friend Two-Bit begin to walk Cherry and Marcia home, when they are stopped by Cherry’s boyfriend Bob, who badly beat up Johnny a few months back. Bob and the greasers exchange taunts, but Cherry prevents a fight by willingly leaving with Bob. Ponyboy gets home at two in the morning, enraging Darry until he suddenly slaps Ponyboy. Pony runs out the door and meets up with Johnny, expressing his anger at Darry’s increasing coldness in the wake of his parents’ recent deaths in a car crash.
Running away from home, Ponyboy and Johnny wander into a park, where Bob and four other Socs surround them. After some heated talk, Ponyboy spits at the Socs, prompting them to attempt to drown him in a nearby fountain, but Johnny stabs Bob, killing him and dispersing the rest. Terrified as to what to do next, Ponyboy and Johnny rush to find Dally, who gives them money and a loaded firearm, directing them to hide in an abandoned church in Windrixville. During their stay there, Pony cuts and dyes his hair as a disguise, reads Gone with the Wind to Johnny, and, upon viewing a beautiful sunrise, recites the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost.
Days later, Dally comes to check on them, revealing that violence between the greasers and Socs has escalated since Bob’s death into all-out city-wide warfare, with Cherry acting out of guilt as a spy for the greasers. Johnny decides to turn himself in and Dally agrees to take the boys back home. As they attempt to leave, they notice the church has caught fire and several local schoolchildren have become trapped inside. The greasers run inside the burning church to save the children, but Ponyboy is rendered unconscious by the fumes. At the hospital he discovers that he and Dally are not badly injured, but a piece of the church roof fell on Johnny and broke his back. Sodapop and Darry come to the hospital; Darry breaks down and cries. Ponyboy then realizes that Darry cares about him, and is only hard on him because he loves him and cares about his future.
The following morning the newspapers declare Pony and Johnny heroes, but Johnny will be charged with manslaughter for Bob’s death. Two-Bit tells them that the greaser–Soc rivalry is to be settled in a final rumble. Ponyboy and Two-Bit are approached by a Soc named Randy, Bob’s best friend, who expresses remorse for his involvement in the gang war, lacks confidence about the rumble ending the feud, and says he will not participate.
Later, Ponyboy visits Johnny at the hospital, where he is in critical condition. On their way home, Pony spots Cherry and they talk. Cherry says she is unwilling to visit Johnny in the hospital because he killed her boyfriend. Pony calls her a traitor, but after she explains herself they end on good terms. After escaping the hospital, Dally shows up just in time for the rumble. The greasers win the fight. Afterward, Pony and Dally hurry back to the hospital to see Johnny, but he dies moments later and a maniacal Dally runs out of the room. Pony returns home that night feeling confused and disoriented. Dally calls the house to say that he has robbed a store and is running from the police. The greasers find Dally deliberately pointing an unloaded firearm at the police, causing them to shoot and kill him. Overwhelmed, Ponyboy faints and is sick in bed for many days due to the resulting concussion from the rumble. When the hearing finally comes, the judge frees Ponyboy from responsibility for Bob’s death and allows Pony to remain at home with Darry and Sodapop.
Ponyboy returns to school, but his grades drop. Although he is failing English, his teacher, Mr. Syme, says he will pass him if he writes a decent theme. In the copy of Gone with the Wind that Johnny gave him before dying, Ponyboy finds a letter from Johnny describing how he will die proudly after saving the kids from the fire. Johnny also urges Ponyboy to “stay gold”. Ponyboy decides to write his English assignment about the recent events, and begins his essay with the opening line of the novel: “When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outsiders_(novel)
《局外人》（The Outsiders）是 S.E. Hinton 的成长小说，1967 年由维京出版社出版。书中详细描述了两个以社会经济地位划分的美国白人敌对帮派之间的冲突：工人阶级的 “Greasers “和中上层阶级的 “Socs”（发音为 /ˈsoʊʃɪz/-Socials的缩写）。故事以青少年主人公小马哥-柯蒂斯（Ponyboy Curtis）的第一人称视角展开，发生在 1965 年的俄克拉荷马州塔尔萨（Tulsa），尽管书中从未明确说明。
辛顿 15 岁时开始写作这部小说，16 岁读高三时写完了大部分内容。该书出版时她 18 岁。她在发表这部作品时使用的是自己名字的首字母缩写，而不是她女性化的名字（苏珊-埃洛伊丝），这样就不会因为她的性别而导致男性书评人对这部作品不屑一顾。
1983 年，弗朗西斯-福特-科波拉（Francis Ford Coppola）制作了一部改编电影，1990 年又推出了一部短命的电视连续剧，延续了电影的剧情。克里斯托弗-塞格尔（Christopher Sergel）改编的戏剧舞台剧于 1990 年出版。同名改编舞台音乐剧将于 2024 年在百老汇首演。
小马哥-柯蒂斯（Ponyboy Curtis）是一个 14 岁的男孩，他是 “油腻人帮派 “的成员。几个油腻男孩，包括小马哥的两个哥哥–父亲达里和受欢迎的索达波普–来救他。第二天晚上，小马哥和两个油腻人朋友–硬朗的达利和沉默寡言的约翰尼–在一家汽车电影院里遇到了一对 Soc 女孩切瑞和玛西娅。樱桃对达利粗鲁的挑逗不屑一顾，但小马哥却和樱桃说起了文明话，这是他人生中第一次与苏格兰人建立情感联系。
之后，小马哥、约翰尼和他们的俏皮朋友 Two-Bit 开始送切利和玛西娅回家，这时他们被切利的男朋友鲍勃拦住了，鲍勃几个月前曾狠狠地揍了约翰尼一顿。鲍勃和油腻人互相奚落，但樱桃却心甘情愿地和鲍勃离开，避免了一场争吵。小马哥凌晨两点回到家，激怒了达利，直到他突然扇了小马哥一巴掌。小马跑出家门，与约翰尼碰面，表达了他对达利在父母最近因车祸去世后变得越来越冷漠的愤怒。
小马哥和强尼离家出走，来到一个公园，鲍勃和其他四个苏格兰人围住了他们。经过一番激烈的争吵后，小马哥向苏格兰人吐口水，促使他们试图将他淹死在附近的喷泉里，但约翰尼刺死了鲍勃，并驱散了其他人。小马哥和强尼吓坏了，不知道下一步该怎么办，他们急忙去找达利，达利给了他们钱和一把上了膛的枪，指示他们躲进温德瑞克斯维尔一座废弃的教堂里。在那里，小马剪掉自己的头发并染了色，作为伪装；他给强尼读《飘》；当看到美丽的日出时，他朗诵了罗伯特-弗罗斯特的诗歌《金子留不住》。
几天后，达利来看望他们，透露自从鲍勃死后，油腻人和苏格兰人之间的暴力升级为全城范围内的战争，切瑞出于愧疚充当了油腻人的间谍。约翰尼决定自首，达利同意带孩子们回家。当他们试图离开时，发现教堂着火了，几名当地小学生被困在里面。油腻人跑进着火的教堂去救孩子们，但小马哥却被烟熏得失去了知觉。在医院里，他发现自己和达利的伤势并不严重，但教堂屋顶上的一块石头砸在了约翰尼身上，砸断了他的后背。索达泼普和戴利来到医院，戴利崩溃大哭。小马哥这才意识到戴利很关心他，只是因为爱他和关心他的未来才对他这么严厉。
第二天早上，报纸宣布小马和强尼是英雄，但强尼将因鲍勃的死被控过失杀人罪。二比特告诉他们，”油腻人 “和 “社会 “之间的争斗将在最后的隆隆声中解决。小马哥和二比特遇到了鲍勃最好的朋友兰迪，他对自己卷入帮派战争表示悔恨，对结束恩怨的隆隆声缺乏信心，并表示自己不会参加。
后来，小马哥去医院探望病危的约翰尼。在回家的路上，小马发现了 Cherry，他们聊了起来。Cherry 说她不愿意去医院看望约翰尼，因为他杀了她的男朋友。Pony 说她是叛徒，但在她解释之后，两人和好如初。逃出医院后，达利及时出现在隆隆声中。油腻人赢得了比赛。之后，小马和达利匆忙赶回医院看望约翰尼，但约翰尼很快就死了，癫狂的达利跑出了病房。当晚，小马回到家里，感到迷惑不解。达利打电话到家里，说他抢劫了一家商店，正在躲避警察。油腻人发现达利故意用一把没有子弹的枪指着警察，导致警察开枪打死了他。小马哥不知所措，晕倒在地，由于隆隆声造成的脑震荡，他在床上病了很多天。听证会终于开庭了，法官免除了小马哥对鲍勃之死的责任，允许小马哥和戴利、索达泼留在家里。
小马哥回到了学校，但他的成绩却下降了。虽然他的英语不及格，但他的老师西姆先生说，如果他能写出一个像样的主题，他就会让他及格。在约翰尼临死前给他的那本《飘》中，小马宝莉发现了约翰尼的一封信，信中描述了他从大火中救出孩子们后将如何光荣地死去。约翰尼还叮嘱小马哥要 “保持金子般的品质”。小马哥决定就最近发生的事情写一篇英语作业，并以小说开头的一句话作为作文的开头： “当我从电影院的黑暗中走到明亮的阳光下时，我脑子里只有两件事： 保罗-纽曼和搭车回家”。
陳旭@perth 