The main character Ponyboy opens up and shows who he really is to only a few people. These special people are Cherry Valance and Johnny. One of the major secrets or traits of Ponyboys true self would be sunsets. In particular sunsets are something that both people he opened up to heard about. In Johnny's case, when him and Ponyboy were up in the church outside of town, Ponyboy told him about his love for sunsets. Then later in the book after Johnny dies, Ponyboy reads his letter and in that letter Johnny wrote, “...the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That's gold. Keep that way, it's a good way to be.” Just like Johnny, Cherry Valance was graced with Ponyboys trust and told her about his secret love for sunsets. However unlike Johnny who just listened
to him Cherry actually experienced the sunsets herself and therefore connected with Ponyboy. “She kind of shrugged. "I could just tell. I'll bet you watch sunsets, too." She was quiet for a minute after I nodded. "I used to watch them, too, before I got so busy..." Ponyboys trait about his love for sunsets are only shared with a Johnny and Cherry because he believes they understand him. The people he doesn't share his thoughts with are people he is not close with, like Darry, or people who will think he is a sissy and weak if he does, like tim shepard's gang.
Poney does not want to be in a boys home, due to his parents death all three boys should be in a boys home. He mentions both in the book and the movie he has to be careful with getting into huge trouble because if the cops found him they would put him in a boys home since he has no parent. Cherry is very kind hearted in both the movies she tells Ponyboy about how you can’t assume if one person from this group is like that, then that must mean everyone else there is the same. She finds a way to figure someone out, if they are a certain way it's because of their past because they've gone through tough stuff she says “Things are rough all over”(S.E. Hinton). In both Cherry spills soda on Dally for trying to hit on her and tells him “get lost hood” (S.E. Hinton), but then tells Pony that if she sees Dally she's afraid she will fall for him, because she sees the good in him. Poney boy also talks to Johnny about the poem Nothing Gold Can Stay in both while watching the sunset about losing your innocence and views in life. When Johnny passes away he tells Ponyboy Stay
Ponyboy was a bad kid, he fought against Socs and he even smoked a weed, which is a cigarette. Later on he got into worse trouble and had to hide. He wanted to change and be a different person. While he hid he was scared and frightened and was beginning to think of how he was doing in life, and his thoughts were not very well. After the church incident, he began to change a little.
Her early leafs a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, so dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay,”” (Hinton 77) S.E. Hinton use this to show that you’re innocent when you’re a child and everything is new and when you get used to everything it’s like old. Getting close to the end of the book Johnny is dying so he sends Ponyboy a letter in his book “Gone with the Wind” telling Ponyboy not to change how he acts and not to grow up.Then, at the middle of the story the readers see the difference in characterization in Ponyboy and the rest of his gang after pony said “nobody in our gang digs movies and books the way I do,” (Hinton 3). In these lines, we see how Ponyboy is the only one in their gang that wants to read and doesn’t find it dumb or hard to understand. Ponyboy also said “when I was
By looking at the incidents happened around Ponyboy and the changes of Ponyboy’s attitudes towards reality, we can see that Ponyboy has matured and learned the essence of solving problems, which most readers don’t see; this is important because it reveals the relationship between dreams and reality, that is cocooning from the world is not going to solve any problems, instead, only through facing the reality could we regain lost courage and break the obstacles.
The Protagonist “Ponyboy Curtis”, had Adversity with Darry. He tried his best to explain all the mistakes that he made, and Darry would just start yelling at him, and go completely insane. Ponyboy didn’t want to live with him that way, because his would’ve
...utside world, where you must learn to hate and neglect. Johnny enjoys reading, as he really enjoys reading “Gone with the wind.” Dally meanwhile, is described as not having the “shade of difference that separates a Greaser from a hood” on page fourteen. Dally is rough while Johnny is soft. Dally reflects hatred while Johnny reflects sensitivity. Therefore, when Dally and Johnny both die, Ponyboy feels like he has lost himself, because two major people who had such a big influence on him has left him.
“Since Mom and Dad were killed in an auto wreck, the three of us get to stay together only as long as we behave (2).” This explains why Ponyboy, Dally and Sodapop did not have parents. In the novel, this really effected their life and character. "…It was Darry. He hit me. I don't know what happened, but I couldn't take him hollering at me and hitting me too... He didn't use to be like that... we used to get along okay... before Mom and Dad died. Now he just can't stand me (2)." This shows that not having their parents anymore effected Darry’s character and how he treated Ponyboy, which in return effected how Ponyboy felt about himself in comparison to how he was treated. This illustrates that Ponyboy believes that Darry picks on him all the time. This shows that Darry was like a caring parent in a tough way,
In the Play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry there are two main character’s that many people debate upon to be the protagonist of the play. Those two characters are Mama and Walter. The story is about an African American family living in Chicago in the 1950’s. During this time period race was a large issue in that area. The family consists of three generations, Mama being the mother and grandmother has a lot of responsibilities as what I see her to be as the families anchor. The next generation is Walter his wife Ruth and his sister Beneatha. Walter and Ruth have a song Travis who is ten years old at the time of this play. Mama is the moral supporter of the family and believes that everything has a purpose and that things should be done by design. One of the main events in this play is the life insurance settlement check for ten thousand dollars that Mama receives. This being a large amount of money during that time period creates many arguments between the families about what to do with the money. Walter is the type of guy that believes his family shouldn’t settle like everyone else and believes that they shouldn’t be held back just because they are an African American family living in what is referred to as a “white man’s world”. I believe that Walter is the protagonist of the play for two main reasons, he isn’t a selfish man, he doesn’t feel the family should be limited because they are African American and he has distinct options or plans for the future of his family.
Lauren Oliver once said, “I guess that’s just part of loving people: You have to give things up. Sometimes you even have to give them up” (Good Reads). This quote connects very well to the play, A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry. The quote conveys the message that if one loves someone, one must give things up. A Raisin in the Sun is about an African-American family living in the south side of Chicago in the 1950s. The Younger family is a lower-class family that has been struggling to make their dreams come true. One of the character’s in the play named Walter Lee has been struggling to make his dreams come true. Walter’s changes that are shown tie to the quote written by Lauren Oliver. The changes that are seen in Walter Lee throughout the book, A Raisin in the Sun, reflects the theme that one must sacrifice something for the love and happiness of one’s family.
In the book A Raisin in the Sun, the time period is set in 1955. A time in America where African Americans still dealt with a constant struggle between them and the rest of the country. It touches on subjects that were very sensitive especially at the time the work was released. Even though the setting of the book was in the north, Lorraine Hansberry seemed to want to show that things weren’t that much better in the north than they were in the south at that time. Segregation was still being implemented in the law system, and there was a missing sense of equality among everyone. It shows that Lorraine Hansberry took what was going on around her environment and portrayed those situations into her work. The three events listed include Rosa Parks
A character named Sherri, who is a Soc and also friends with Ponyboy states “You greasers have a different set of values. You're more emotional. We're sophisticated - cool to the point of not feeling anything. Nothing is real with us." Sherri cannot empathize with Ponyboy because she is not familiar with intense emotions, just like the rest of the Socs. For the Soc, too much emotional investment is too much of a commitment. For the Greasers, that is all they have. They value their brotherhood more than anything. Ponyboy and Sherri open each other up to new worlds and it led to the mutual understanding and respect between the Soc and Greasers. The scene where Sherri and Ponyboy discuss the sunset really bridges the gap. Sherri says she has a great view of the sunset from the south side, and Ponyboy informs her that he can see it as well, but from the north side. The sunset symbolizes connection and unity. It is proof that the Soc and the Greasers, no matter how different they may think they are, share the same sky. Ponyboy states “Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too.” For the first time, he refers to the Soc as “humans” which shows he has a newfound respect for them thanks to Sherri. This scene is a stepping-stone for the Greasers and the Soc and their mutual respect for each other. Ponyboy serves as a gateway for
In The Outsiders, Ponyboy’s strongest value is his identity. He is a Greaser, and is part of a gang that includes his two older brothers. He lives with his brothers and has no parents as they died eight months prior to the narration of the story. He has grown up as a Greaser but he dreams of a different life. He wants to do something more than just being a Greaser. Life as a Greaser doesn’t fit him and he wants to change. He changes for the better and does the right thing. This reaps good results and is seen as a hero. But when he meets Cherry, he sees that other people also want to become more than what they are. Cherry, a girl he meets at a movie, invites him into her world as a Soc; lets him know what life as a Soc is like and how she
One of the many sources, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton exhibits that memories are important in defining a person. Two of the most prominent figures in the book are Johnny and Ponyboy. Ponyboy recalls Johnny’s background information that shaped who he saw as a friend. Ponyboy once said that “I remembered Johnny-his face all cut up and bruised, and I remembered how he had cried when we found him, half-conscious in the corner lot. Johnny had it awful rough at home-it took a lot to make his cry” (Hinton 4). Ponyboy’s considerate companionship with Johnny is all defined by his past. Johnny’s pitiful stature makes Ponyboy a more proactive person. His new protective attitude towards Johnny depicts both of their new identities. The fact is that at home, Johnny’s “…father was always beating him up, and is mother ignore...
A Dream Deferred in A Raisin in the Sun and Harlem In Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, the author reveals a hard-working, honest African-American family struggling to make their dreams come true. Langston Hughes' poem, "Harlem," illustrates what could happen if those dreams never came to fruition. Together, both Hansberry and Hughes show the effects on human beings when a long-awaited dream is thwarted by economic and social hardships. Each of the characters in A Raisin in the Sun has a dream for which they base their whole happiness and livelihood on attaining. However, the character of Lena Younger, or Mama, differs from the other members of her family.
Mama has dreams for her family to rise from poverty and live in a better and bigger place and also for them to continue to grow together as a family. Mama has a plant that she also cares for. She takes care of this plant as if it was one of her own children. Mama's children also have their own dreams and their own plans on how to attain those dreams. The family's competing dreams are emphasized by Hansberry's recurring use of the motif--Mama's plant.