Comparing Darry And Ponyboy In The Outsiders

The Benefit of Having People Around You: Darry and Ponyboy

Darry and Ponyboy are a couple of characters from the book: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Though Darry and Ponyboy are brothers, they have different personalities, but they do have some similarities. Darry is strict and doesn't show any feelings in the beginning and Ponyboy is smart and brave, but they've been through tough times together. They've experienced the death of their parents and close friends. They're both caring, and defensive about their friends, family, gang and together they help each other get through.
Darry is very different from Ponyboy. He stands 6 feet 2. He has pale blue-green eyes, broad shoulder, dark brown hair, and is muscular. He is strict and has a hard

time showing his feelings. On page 18, Ponyboy says, “ I didn't hardly think of him as being human”. This is what Ponyboy thought of Darry in the beginning of the book. Darry is also very responsible. He gave up his life to work so he could provide for brothers when their parents died. He was also very hard on Ponyboy in the beginning. In the book, Darry always yells at Ponyboy to use his head not just in school, but outside of school as well. “I didnt think! I forgot! That's all I hear out of you! Can’t you think of anything?” (page 50) This is what Darry yells when Ponyboy came in late and scared Darry and Sodapop. Darry is hard on Ponyboy because he is concerned and doesn't want to get caught and get split apart by the authorities.
Ponyboy is empathetic, smart and brave.

He has light-brown hair, green-gray eyes and long hair. He is on the track team, he gets good grades and stays out of trouble. He likes to go to the movies and read books. On page 2 he tells us, “And nobody in our gang digs movies and books the way I do”. Ponyboy and Johnny were brave enough to run into a burning building to save a group of kids they didn't even know. “...so I slammed a big rock through the window and pulled myself in” (page 91). Ponyboy is also empathetic, he tries to understand everyone around him. At the drive-in he has a conversation with Cherry and she says, ¨Things are rough all over¨. Then Ponyboy replies, ¨I believe you...¨ (page 35). He even extends his empathy to Randy near the end. He and Randy had a conversation and afterwards Two-Bit asked, ¨What did he want? What did Mr. Super-Soc have to say?¨ Ponyboy replied, ¨He ain't a Soc, he’s just a guy. He just wanted to talk¨ (page 118).
Darry and Ponyboy do have their differences but they also have many similarities. They are both caring. On page 145, “Then grabbing my shirt he hauled me onto my feet. ‘Come on!’ He half dragged me down the street. ‘We’re goin’ to see Johnny… He was getting worse when I left.” Darry knew Johnny was going to die soon so he dragged Ponyboy to see Johnny at the hospital right after they won the rumble. Darry and Ponyboy are also very defensive of their friends, family, and gang. Ponyboy even tried to admit to Randy that he killed Bob

and not Johnny. They both changed from the help of each other and Soda.
Darry and Pony were born into the same family with different personalities. But even with their differences they found a way to connect. They were helped each other through the tough times and that brought them together. Darry started to loosen up more and Ponyboy learned his lesson. Life is always easier when you're around people who care about you. They were both caring and defensive so they helped each other get through the tough times and they both changed but for the better.