Relationship Between Dary And Ponyboy In The Outsiders

Ponyboy’s relationship with his brother Darry, in chapter one of “The Outsiders”, can be described as protective, yet difficult to continuously maintain. Throughout the first chapter, Ponyboy constantly feels as if he can never please Darry, and is annoyed with his overbearing role in their relationship. Ponyboy expresses this through their communication and the comparison between him and his second oldest brother, Sodapop. For example, after Darry criticizes Ponyboy for not thinking enough about his safety and bringing a weapon, Ponyboy gives examples of scenarios in which the things he did were never enough to satisfy him. “He would have hollered at me for carrying a blade if I had carried one. If I brought home B’s he wanted A’s, and if

I got A’s he wanted to make sure they stayed A’s. If I was playing football, I should be in studying, and if I was reading, I should be out playing football” (Hinton, 13). This demonstrates how their relationship has a lot to do with protectiveness, through showing how Darry continuously wants the best from Ponyboy.

He wants Ponyboy to grow up working hard, playing hard, and keeping himself safe, even if he wants this all at the same time. Meanwhile, Ponyboy doesn’t fully understand his well-being as one of Darry’s utmost concerns, and feel as if his demands are unfair and cannot be fulfilled. This supports the fact that through these misunderstandings, both brothers need to communicate better in order to maintain their relationship. Additionally, after Ponyboy expresses how difficult it is to please Darry, he mentions how it was rare for him to criticize his brother Sodapop, and that even if he expressed annoyance towards Sodapop’s oppositions, Darry would listen to him anyway. After Darry condemns Ponyboy for not thinking enough and Soda sticks up for him, Ponyboy says, “Soda always takes up for me. Darry said impatiently, ‘When I want my kid brother to tell me what to do with my other kid brother, I’ll ask you- kid brother.’ But he laid off me. He always does when Sodapop tells him

to. Most of the time” (Hinton, 13) This shows how, even though Darry called Soda his “kid brother”, he still sees him as less of a little brother than he does Ponyboy; otherwise he would not have had listened to Soda and continue to scold him.

As a result of this, he trusts and respects Soda more, making him only feel the true need to look out for and discipline Ponyboy. Furthermore, once the three brothers get home, Ponyboy needs to be reminded that Darry means well in order to think about how much they really care for each other. Sodapop says, “Listen, kiddo, when Darry hollers at you… he don’t mean nothin. He’s just got more worries than somebody his age ought to. Don’t take him serious… you dig, Pony? Don’t let him bug you. He’s really proud of you ‘cause you’re so brainy. It’s just because you’re the baby- I mean, he loves you a lot. Savvy?’”...” Soda was wrong for once, I thought. Darry doesn’t love anyone or anything, except maybe Soda. I didn’t hardly think of him as being human. I don’t care, I lied to myself, I don’t care about him either. Soda’s enough, and I’d have him until I got out of school. I don’t care about

Darry. But I was still lying and I knew it. I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me” (Hinton, 17-18) This expresses how, despite how Ponyboy shows annoyance towards Darry’s domineering personality and high expectations, Darry acts this way because he wants to preserve Ponyboy’s intelligence and prosperity for the future. Though Darry is hard on Ponyboy, and Ponyboy feels the need to lie to himself about caring for Darry, rendering a difficult relationship, they do, in fact care for and love each other.
Moreover, I can connect this to the dynamic of my relationship with my older sister and younger brother. First of all, though both me and my older sister are hard on my brother because we care for his well-being, my older sister is especially critical and observant of him, his actions, and his attitude, to the point where they get so annoyed by each other they can’t even sit next to one another. Even though this is sometimes caused by the normal “oldest sister attitude” and bossiness, this is also occasionally caused by her concern for his future, disguised as over-judgemental comments. She will quickly snap at him for not responding with proper manners to our parents, and constantly give her input when he’s talking about his personal problems. It’s not that I don’t do this from time to time, but something things will just get so out of hand and unrelated, that I’ll be there to try and cheer my brother up and tell my sister to calm down, even though she has constantly communicated that my suggestions are unappreciated. This is similar to Darry, Sodapop, and Ponyboy’s complex relationship because while Darry is the main source of discipline and demands towards Ponyboy, Sodapop is the sibling in charge of trying to make Ponyboy feel better. Meanwhile, my older sister is the one who usually condemns my brother, and I’m the one who usually feels the need to comfort him and show my sister that sometimes the things she does are out of proportion. She occasionally criticizes him out of care and protection, even if she is not fully aware of it herself, and my brother, as a result, feels as if he is rarely able to do things properly. This means that satisfaction within their relationship is difficult to maintain unless both of them are in good moods and take things lightly.