What are the advantages and disadvantages of The Outsiders being written from Ponyboy's perspective?

The narration of The Outsiders by Ponyboy presents advantages and disadvantages for the reader. The advantages include the shared experience and insight of Ponyboy. The disadvantages are the single lens perspective and bias from him.

Ponyboy relays his recent adventures and life as a "greaser". Among the many struggles he and his brothers face are attacks from the "Soc's", low income, and few future perspectives. With Ponyboy narrating the story, the reader is drawn into his world and begins to understand the loyalty he feels toward his friends while experiencing the pain of wanting more in life than just living. The insights Ponyboy provides as the story moves along hints at his depth of character, yet reminds us he is still a boy. Ponyboy feels ashamed for crying after being jumped at the beginning of the book showing his emotional side at his young age. Later, he remarks that things are tough all over when Cherry Valence explains the difficulties and pressures the Soc's face.  This shows his depth of understanding of the world.  The perspective of a single person, as part of the story, makes it a very easy book to understand as it progresses along a definite linear storyline.

The disadvantages are the single lens focus and the bias Ponyboy has because he is involved in the story. Ponyboy demonstrates his loyalty to the greaser's and references it many times throughout the book. Despite knowing Johnny was within his rights to self-defense, Ponyboy still takes up with him and escapes to the church. This demonstrates his loyalty, but also shows his bias. During the time the two are at the church, the reader is left with little detail on the thoughts and feelings of the other characters in the story. Ponyboy, as the narrator, cannot give the precious thoughts of his older brothers Daryl or SodaPop even though Ponyboy references their deeper characters. The single lens narration also deprives the reader of the motive of Cherry toward Ponyboy. He presents it as an innocent encounter between two kindled souls, but his bias does not allow for a more complete picture of the relationship.

Ponyboy's narration of the events of his life are aid and hamper the reader.   The ability to experience his reality draws the reader into the story, but his bias leave the reader with an incomplete picture of the reality.  

What tone does Ponyboy use in The Outsiders and what are its main themes?

In the book The Outsiders, Ponyboy, the main character and narrator, has a serious but realistic tone throughout the novel. He does not shy away from telling the facts, or from telling things how they really are, even when he learns information that might change his earlier opinions. An example of this is when he comes to the understanding that the Socs do not have it as easy as it appears. He tells the reader this after he meets with Randy, a Soc who was Bob's friend, when he says, "I remembered Cherry's voice: Things are rough all over. I knew then what she meant" (Hinton 117).

This tone plays into the various themes throughout the novel, such as the theme of class conflict. From the very beginning of the story, when Ponyboy is walking home from the movies and has a run-in with the Socs, to after the rumble, the conflict between the upper-class Socs and the lower-class greasers is always present. What changes throughout the novel is that Ponyboy realizes that although things such as money and prestige within the community are what separate the Socs and the greasers, both groups have problems unique to their situations. Interestingly, Ponyboy never talks about how to resolve this conflict, but only comes to the realization that the best the two groups can do is at least try to come to an understanding to stop the unnecessary fighting, something that both he and others, like Randy, realize.

Intertwined with this theme is Ponyboy's search for himself. Throughout the novel, Ponyboy wonders about himself and if he really fits in with the greaser lifestyle. He comes to realize that he can act tough like a greaser to protect himself, but deep down, he is not a juvenile delinquent like some of the other greasers, and that despite acting tough and everything he has gone through, he is still a good person who tries to do the right thing. This is demonstrated when Ponyboy breaks a bottle to threaten some Socs who bother him at a grocery store. After the whole ordeal, Two-bit warns Ponyboy about getting tough because, Two-bit says, "You're not like the rest of us" (Hinton 171). He is interrupted by Ponyboy cleaning up the glass he broke so no one would "get a flat tire" (Hinton 172), again showing Ponyboy has realized that he can be himself, and try to be a good person who does the right thing, while still fitting in with his friends.

Should The Outsiders be told from Ponyboy's perspective?

To answer this question, it might be helpful to consider other people in The Outsider who could serve as point-of-view characters.

The story could have been told using a third-person point of view, removing the narrator completely; however, third person would eliminate hearing Pony's authentic voice. Therefore, readers would not understand how much he adores Soda, his complex feelings about Darry, or how the entire group protects Johnny. Taking a step back from a more personal narration would likely lessen the impact of Johnny's death and even Dally's choice to draw police gunfire on himself. I would argue that the first-person narration allows for a more intimate, warm development of the many relationships in this book.

If Pony didn't narrate the story, who would be another likely option? Johnny might be an interesting choice since he is so close to Pony, but he dies before the conflict is resolved; it would therefore be difficult to navigate how the trial and the final rumble play out. Darry and Soda might be good choices, but they don't know Johnny like Pony does; readers would therefore miss the entire church fire scene because Darry and Soda aren't present in that conflict. One of the central messages of the book is that we shouldn't judge people by their appearances, and this message would be a bit lost without Pony, Dally, and Johnny's sacrificial efforts in the church fire. Cherry Valance might be a good choice; she sees the world in much the same way Pony does and also faces great loss in the book. Yet part of the appeal of The Outsiders is hearing from a narrator who doesn't live a privileged life and understanding the way being economically disadvantaged influences relationships and behavior.

Pony seems the best choice of narrator. To shift this perspective would create a different story as it would remove many of the insights that are specific to Pony's perspective.