The Romantic Elements In S.E. Hinton's Young Adult Novels

In 1970s, an American young adult novelist, S. E. Hinton saw the publication of The Outsiders, That Was Then, This Is Now, Rumble Fish, and Tex in succession which aroused great social attention at that time. Unavoidably, her groundbreaking writing features of New Realism have become the hot topic to literature researchers. However, among their researches and studies, the romantic elements embodied in these new realistic novels haven't been given enough attention. In this thesis, I will explore the romantic elements through a study of the above-mentioned novels. First of all, a brief introduction to the author—S. E. Hinton and her four novels will be presented. Besides, the writing techniques of New Realism in young adult literature will be introduced concisely. On the basis of understanding the texts, the romantic colors in new realistic young adult literature will be interpreted to bring a new viewpoint on understanding Hinton and her novels.The main body consists of three parts and approaches the topic from three different angles. The first part starts with the subject matter of the works. Though in the books Hinton displays various real problems young adults were facing after WWII, on these adolescents still remains the wish to stay gold and to yearn for goodness. The discussion concentrates on how the romantic elements are blended into these new realistic stories. The second part continues with the characters in the novels. This part will discuss how the characters with romantic colors are portrayed in Hinton's writings. Taking the literary style as the point of departure, the third part further probes into the embodiment of romantic factors in her works.The conclusion of this thesis is a brief summary of the main idea that is the romantic colors blended into Hinton's new realistic novels.