Pony's Changes In The Outsiders Life

In S. E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders, the protagonist, Ponyboy Curtis, is a fourteen-year-old orphaned teenager from a poor family. He lives with his two older brothers, Sodapop and Darry, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where there are two main social classes; the greasers and the Socs. Ponyboy, his brothers, and their friends Two-Bit Mathews, Johnny Cade, Dallas Winston, and Steve Randle are all part of a greaser gang. The Socs are “the jet set, the West side rich kids” (2) who jump greasers and have beer blasts for fun. Ponyboy does not like the Socs - he thinks they get all the breaks and they are all stuck up. His opinion on the Socs changes when he talks to Cherry, Marcia, and later, Randy. Pony learns that the Socs and the greasers really are not that different; he learns to be independent and think for himself; and he learns that he can be himself and still fit in with the greasers.
Throughout the novel, Ponyboy’s brother Darry tells him that he needs to use his head more and think for himself. Pony’s friends and family are more of an influence in Pony’s life than Pony himself. Being known as “‘...Soda’s kid brother…’” (42) in the gang, Pony is not forced to make his own decisions very often so he has no practice in doing so. When the

abandoned church in Windrixville burns down with the children inside, Pony makes the choice to go inside and rescue the children along with Johnny. At the end of the novel, Pony begins writing a theme for his teacher, Mr. Syme, using his own ideas and creativity. Without his big brothers or other friends to think for him, Ponyboy must use his own judgement and he starts to become an independent young man who can be himself and still fit in.
Ponyboy enjoys several things greasers typically do not: he likes movies, music, books, art, track, and school. He also does not generally partake in things that a lot of greasers participate in such as shoplifting, carjacking, and fighting. Although he is different from the other greasers, they still love and accept him for who he is. Pony’s brothers love him, even if he does ludicrous things like running away to a different town - he learns this when he is in the hospital and is in a bear hug with Soda and sees Darry cry. He may not particularly fit in with the greasers, but he definitely could not be a Soc; not only is he too poor, but the rest of the Socs would not accept him albeit they have an abundance of similarities.
The greasers and the Socs are pegged for their differences, but they have a plethora of similarities.

Some similarities include the fact that Ponyboy and Cherry, a Soc, both watch sunsets, proven by, “‘...I’ll bet you watch sunsets, too.’ She was quiet for a minute after I nodded. ‘I used to watch them, too…’”(40); the truth of “‘Things are rough all over”’ (35); and both social groups have parents that don’t take care of them properly - Johnny’s dad beats him, and Bob’s parents think that everything is their fault and they never discipline Bob. Pony ~learns~ that the Socs and greasers are not that different after talking to Randy and coming to the conclusion that “[t]hings were rough all over, but it was better that way”

(118).