Tag Archives: American Dream

The American Dream Reconsidered: The Outsiders (1967)

By Kai-Arne Zimny

Image cred­it: https://www.flickr.com/photos/theeerin/3319626950

14-year-old orphan Pony­boy Cur­tis lives with his old­er broth­ers Dar­ry and Sodapop in a city some­where in Amer­i­ca. They are part of a greas­er gang which means they smoke, they fight, they swear. The author was only 16 when her nov­el The Out­siders hit the book­shelves and dis­turbed America’s sense of decen­cy. After­wards, Susan Eloise Hinton’s life was nev­er the same, and the atten­tive read­er might won­der if the oppo­nents of The Out­siders feared some­thing more than improp­er manners.

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