the outsiders <3

i have to talk about this damn book u guys, I LOVE THE OUTSIDERS SO MUCH.

i read it in eigth grade but didnt pay attention AT ALL. it was a really rough year for me and i was super depressed all the time. 

around the end of eighth grade, i wrote an essay about the theme of friendship in the outsiders and got a 98. then, my mom bought me a copy of the book.

that summer, a terrible TERRIBLE summer, i decided to read and annotate the book. i fell in love INSTANTLY.

the way s.e hinton wrote ponyboys inner monolouge is almost exactly how i think/write. i dont know how to explain it, but i just heard my own voice when i read abt ponyboy.

i know how this will sound, but i'm very aware that i come from a more privileged background (a soc if you will) and so do most of my friends, family, and small community that i live in. i found it very interesting and eye opening to finally hear/see the other side. 

the quote "maybe the two different worlds we lived in werent so different. we saw the same sunset." is genuinely going to be my first tattoo. i feel so embarrassed so say that a book changed my perspective on things, but it did.

i was honestly pretty ignorant before and kind of snobby. i grew up with the mindset of there being a difference in someone raised in a higher class verses a lower class. i cant believe i ever thought that, and i'm now aware of how harmful that thought process is.

(not to shift things darastically, but i also made a tiktok editing account and im still pretty proud of my edits. ilovjohnny on tiktok LOL)

then, in july of 2024, my friend passed away of cancer. i lost another one due to suicide in august. i reread the book around that time and it became even more special to me. johnny cade genuinely is my dream husband- i NEED him.

anyways, i just needed to talk abt it because holy hannah i love this book so much. it hold such an important place in my heart and, not to be melodramatic, helped shaped the person i am today. 

if u like the outsiders PLEASE send a friend request i love u