The Outsiders Character Analysis Essay

The Outsiders S.E. Hinton is about two gangs, the Socs and Greasers, who do not get along and are fighting each other as well as society. Both of the gangs are judged by their appearance, social status, and where they are from. One character that stands out in the story is Ponyboy because he is dynamic with many sides to his personality, and he is the protagonist of the story. Ponyboy can be described as sensitive, smart, and brave.
Ponyboy was described as sensitive and emotional for many reasons. One example is when Ponyboy, Darry, and Soda find out that Johnny may die. On page 102, Ponyboy says, “I was trembling. A pain was growing in my throat, and I wanted to cry, but greasers don’t cry in front of strangers.” Clearly, this shows that Ponyboy is emotional when it comes to losing people close to him. Another example is when he picks up the pieces of glass from the bottle he broke, to threaten the Socs. On page 171, Two-Bit tells Ponyboy that he is not like the rest of the Greasers, he isn’t hard or tough. Therefore, it shows that Ponyboy is caring and not as mean and hard as the rest of the Greasers. From these examples, it is clear that Pony is sensitive and softer than the rest of the gang.
This character can also be

described as smart. This is apparent when at the beginning of the book, Ponyboy talks about his good grades and how he enjoys and does well in school. On page 4, it says Ponyboy has good grades and has a high IQ. This shows that Ponyboy is intelligent and works hard in school. Another example is when Darry tells Ponyboy that he can go to college. On page 173, Darry tells Ponyboy, with his brains and good grades, he could get a scholarship and go to college, which is rare for Greasers. Getting good grades shows that Ponyboy is intelligent and has the potential to go to college. As you can see, Ponyboy is very smart and has the potential to go somewhere, be someone, be whoever he wanted, just like Johnny encouraged him to do.
The final and most important description of Ponyboy is that he is brave and heroic. In one instance, Ponyboy goes into a burning church to save children. On page 95, Jerry Wood refers to Pony, Johnny, and Dally as, “I think you were sent straight from heaven. Or area you just professional heroes?” It is apparent that Ponyboy put his life at risk to save the children, and it was a heroic deed. In another event at the end of the story, Ponyboy defends himself by threatening three Socs who accused him of killing Bob. On page 171, it says Ponyboy busted the end of his bottle and said, “You get back into your car or you’ll get split.” Therefore, Ponyboy was brave enough to stand up to the Socs and scared them away. So it is clear that throughout the book, Ponyboy becomes brave in defense of himself and his friends.
In the novel The Outsiders, Ponyboy can be described as sensitive, smart, and brave.

One example of Ponyboy being sensitive would be when he picks up the pieces of the broken glass so that no one would get a flat tire. This character can also be described as smart when Darry tells him how intelligent he is and that he has the brains to get a scholarship and go to college. Finally, this character can be considered brave when he risks his life to save the children stuck in the burning church. In this book, Ponyboy learns to deal with the right and wrong of society. He grows up and was judged by his appearance and social status, but at the end of the book, the two gangs overcome their differences to realize they are more alike than they

think.