The Outsiders is first and foremost a bildungsroman, a novel of the formation and maturation of a youthful central character. The novel is, of course, primarily the story of Ponyboy, the narrator. He is made to undergo several of the most intensive and disturbing weeks of his life during the course of the book, and his new sense of life and realization of the full impact of what has happened to him is a major motif in the book. Ponyboy is good in English (when he wants to be), even though this is not a value for his gang.

He reads a number of pieces of literature, and in one important moment during the time in which he and Johnny are "hiding out" after killing a Soc, Ponyboy recites verbatim from memory Robert Frost's poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay." Through acts such as these (he amuses...