The Outsiders

Banned Book Report

The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton was written in 1967. This novel tells the story of the conflict between two different social groups, the greasers and the socs. The socs were the socials who lived in the rich part of town, and the greasers were the lower class youths. This novel tackles issues such as violence, class conflict, and prejudice. The novel takes place in the early sixties. The Outsiders examines how two different groups compete, and unite for survival, which is often justified with violence. Hinton's publishers decided that she should publish the novel under the name S.E. Hinton. They were worried that readers would not respect a females perspective on violence, and that is why they chose the non-gender author name of S.E. Hinton. Books have been challenged and banned for years. Censorship is the one factor that negates our true freedom of speech and expression that is part of our constitutional rights. The first amendment states that congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The first amendment has never been followed correctly due to censorship, challenging, and the banning of books. People challenge books because they think they are protecting the youth and society. The Outsiders was banned due to the excessive amount of violence and profanity used. The two different gangs participated in violent scenes throughout the novel. This made some censor advocates outraged, and different groups challenged the novel at different times. Not only was the book challenged for violence and offensive language, it was also challenged for the fact that most of the main characters came from broken homes. Although this book was challenged numerous times, it was never banned. A challenge that was never passed came from Elenor, West Virginia's George Washington Middle School. The school challenged the book due to the gang references and the gang fights. Most of the arguments the Elenor residents made were that the reading level of the book was for young adults, and violence and profanity was used at the same time. Hinton's reasoning for using violence and profanity was that she wanted readers to understand the social conflict between the rich popular kids and the outsider underprivileged kids. She showed that even though two different social groups with hatred for each other, still shared some of the same qualities such as fear, love, and sorrow. She also wanted readers to understand that conflicts are not always peachy, and sometimes violence is used. That is just the reality of life and it happens all of the time. Young readers who were exposed to this type of violence had a better understanding for it and were informed for the better. That is why this great novel might be challenged, but will never be banned.