Erylin Campos In the novel The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, a young boy named Ponyboy faces a problem of being taken away from his two brothers, one who is his legal guardian. If he is taken away he will be put into the foster system. His parents are dead, so he does not want to be separated from his only living family, his two brothers Sodapop and Darry, and his gang called the Greasers. He needs to stay with his brothers because his gang is like his family, his brothers can support him financially, and he does not want to lose the closest thing he has to a family. Ponyboy does not want to be taken away from his family, but he might question the love his older brother has for him because, “He's as hard as a rock and about as human...he thinks I'm a pain in the neck. He likes Soda--everybody likes Soda--but he can't stand me (42).” This shows that Ponyboy thinks his eldest brother does not care about him. Ponyboy is bothered by this, but he knows that he could not stand being apart from his only family, given that he already lost both his mom and dad. This is why he should stay with his brothers, in a loving home where he feels safe and taken cared of. Ponyboy counts his gang as his family and cares …show more content…
about them. He will always stick with them no matter what happens. “You take up for you buddies, no matter what they do. When you‘re a gang, you stick up for the members. If you don‘t stick up for them, stick together, make like brothers, it isn‘t a gang any more. It‘s a pack. A snarling, distrustful, bickering pack like the Socs (26).” This indicates that Ponyboy is loyal to the Greasers, and that he will always support them. He knows they would do the same for him, so they stick together like a family. “Our one rule, besides Stick together, is Don‘t get caught (29).” This explains that any time a member of the gang is in trouble, more will always come and help. Whether they are in danger or just trying to run away from the police, each Greaser will always help the other the best they can. The Greasers are a big family and will stop at nothing to protect their own, if one is hurting, they are all hurting. Darry and Sodapop, Ponyboy’s older brothers, work their hardest to support him. They go out of their way to give Ponyboy a life where money is not an issue. “Darry didn‘t deserve to work like an old man when he was only twenty... he didn‘t have time between jobs (16).” This suggests that Darry is always working and has to down time. He wants to earn enough money to keep a balanced life for him and his brothers. “With your brains and grade you could get a scholarship, and we could put you through college(173).” Sodapop and Darry want to give Ponyboy the life they never had. They know he is intelligent and want him to have a successful life. Ponyboy’s two brothers will continue to try and make a living until they are financially stable. Ponyboy’s parents are dead, so his gang and brothers are his only family.
He loves them dearly and could not possibly part with them. “‘We‘re all we got left. We ought to be able to stick together against everything. If we don‘t have each other, we don‘t have anything (176).” This shows that they all come from a neglectful background, but still manage to care for each other like a real family. The whole gang knows that they will always be there for one another.“I had taken the long way around, but I was finally home. To stay (99).” This explains that Ponyboy is feels safe at home with his two brothers and knows they will care for him. This also conveys that it does not matter where he is, as long as he is with his brothers, he will always feel at
home. In this book, Ponyboy struggles to stay out of trouble enough to stay with his two brothers. He loves them and his gang, the Greasers. He will not rest until it is safe to say that he can keep living with them, because they could not live without each other.
Book Report On The Outsiders Character Analysis: Ponyboy Curtis - Ponyboy is a fourteen-year-old member of a gang called the Greasers. His parents died in a car accident, so he lives alone with his two older brothers, Darry and Soda. He is a good student and athlete, but most people at school consider him a vagrant like his Greaser friends. Sodapop Curtis - Soda is Pony's handsome, charming older brother. He dropped out of school to work at a gas station, and does not share his brothers' interest in studying and sports.
In the story the The Outsiders the two characters Johnny and Dally have many similarities and one is that the gang is their family. The gang is Dally’s family because after he dies the judge asks Darry if Dally was a good friend of theirs and Darry says’”yes sir”’(168). Darry said that Dally was a good friend of theirs. When the judge asked Sodapop and the rest of the gang they said the same exact thing. Similarly,in the beginning of Ponyboy says that the gang is Johnny's only family. “If it hadn’t been for the gang, Johnny would never have known what love and
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.
Ponyboy has good grades and he likes to be on the track team and that keeps him in good health. In the end Ponyboy realizes that Darry cared about him as much as Sodapop. Darry is rough on Ponyboy because he want’s the best for him. Clearly Ponyboy does good in school and likes to do track and this keeps him in shape. All in all Ponyboy should stay with Darry because Darry tries too hard to keep Ponyboy in school so that he would have a better life. Darry has high expectations for Ponyboy and these expectations keep Ponyboy with good grades. Ponyboy also does track and this keeps him healthy and in shape. Ponyboy might be a star track runner. This is why Ponyboy should stay with
Showing that Ponyboy was very inexperienced and thought Mickey Mouse Sodas horse was just like Soda and they were brothers.Thirdly, we see how some actions Ponyboy’s gang does help show the need for childhood innocence like when pony says,” Darrel, who we call Darry, works too long and hard to be interested in a story or drawing a picture,” (Hinton 3). Darry is only 20 and he has a job working on roofs he works so hard so he can care for his brothers Soda and Ponyboy he has no time to be a kid himself he is working like a man when he is only a child.While some believe the main theme is brotherly love I argue its preserving childhood innocence. While this is a good point, because Ponyboy’s group definitely sticks up for one another in a brotherly fashion, it lays a strong foundation for preserving childhood innocence. Jonny had never been a coward he was a good man in a rumble, (Hinton 34) this shows how has Johnny loses his innocence, he becomes fearful of the Soc’s and begins to carry a switchblade to keep his gang safe, you might think this shows brotherly love, but it also shows preserving childhood innocence because when Johnny got used to being targeted by the Soc’s he lost his innocence, that’s why he would carry stuff like switch blades to keep him and others safe from the Soc’s. While the Greasers grew up they lost more and more of their innocence to rumbles and hatred of the Soc’s.
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
His parents died when he was young. He was nurtured by his older brothers. Pony has to struggle at the bottom of the social ladder. Like the people around him, he has to fight, steal and scare little kids. However, Pony remained a pure heart, a golden heart. He only fights when he has to defend himself. He kept his heart of sympathy, understanding of others and think for the others. Like in when the church was burned, he understands the situation of the teacher and children. So he risked his life to safe the kids. The most straight forward example and conclusion of Pony’s good heart is the word of Johnny, “Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold…” Moreover, Ponyboy is a thinker. He can think for the opposite side of his gang, the Socs. Although the Socs almost drowned him, he can still understand the Socs and didn’t be blinded by the hate. He in the chaos and impulsive world can see through the surface of the conflict and see the core of the world that people are the same. That is really amazing and Ponyboy does have the board mind of a hero.
Ponyboy doesn’t act like any regular greaser who is tough and likes to pick fights. Ponyboy cares about other people and will do things to benefit others. “I didn’t know what he was talking about, so I just went on picking up the glass from the bottle end and put it in the trash can. I didn’t want anyone to get a flat tire.” (pg. 172) Instead of leaving the
“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 Outsiders it is given that through faith and devotion to one another Ponyboy and the gang use their close friendship in troublesome situations for instance when Johnny tells Ponyboy “i had to” he does this as an act of loyalty to Ponyboy to show him that he can trust him no matter what situation they are in.Most of the story is told from first person or Ponies perspective which shows us without exception every aspect of the story. When Johnny dies at the end of the book Ponyboy only then realizes the importance of him, and the gangs need for someone like Johnny to give them a sense of purpose after mentioning “we couldn't get along without him . We needed Johnny as much as he needed the gang.” Throughout all of Ponyboys hardships Johnny was always there to support him even when Ponyboy wanted to run away after darry slapped him, he never asked any questions.To keep a strong friendship you need to stay loyal to one another just as much as Ponyboy and his brothers stay loyal to each other after stating in chapter twelve “If we don’t have each other, we don’t have anything.” Through passionate tone used by Sodapop throughout this quote we are shown that after everything they have been through that they trust each other and that staying together is all
He is told “you’re too young” to be smoking by Jerry. Ponyboy doesn’t realise that he’s too young because he’s use to seeing all of his peers smoking, provoking him to think that it’s normal. Another example would be that all his mates had a reason to fight in the rumble, this caused him to wonde why he fought in the first place if it wasn’t for self defense. Sometimes the problem with having a peer group, can be that those around the individual can start to cause peer pressure.
Dally helped Johnny and Ponyboy run away by giving them supplies and directions on where to hide. Dally said, “The gun’s loaded. For Pete’s sake, Johnny don’t point the thing at me. Here’s fifty bucks. That’s all I could get. Dally is willing to give Johnny and Ponyboy everything he has to help them from getting caught. Loyalty is shown throughout each member of the Greasers. Darry is checking up on Ponyboy, to make sure his okay after Johnny died. “Are you all right, Ponyboy” (6)? The are always there for each other no matter what. Throughout the Outsiders, the Greasers shows that loyalty is always within them. While some may say the Greasers are never there for each other. The truth is that, they are in every part of the
Ponyboy Curtis struggles growing up as a poor youth with his two brothers. One night while he is out with Johnny, Ponyboy is attacked by the Socs. Johnny ends up killing one of the Socs. They both flee from the scene before the news gets out. They are caught in a fire and Johnny and Ponyboy become heroes for saving some children. The story has a tragic end for Johnny but Ponyboy realises that he is fortunate, having family and friends that love him
Throughout life individuals face many challenges testing their values and personality one situation at a time. In the evocative novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton themes of growing up and innocence are shown. Ponyboy is not your average 14 year old he is part of a gang known to many as the Greasers. He encounters many situations testing his values and beliefs. Having lost both his parents recently he and his brothers stick together like a true family but this relationship is tested when Darry hits Ponyboy. He also experiences the loss several close friends in a very short period of time. Throughout this novel, Ponyboy encounters many life changing experiences that prove he is a dynamic character.
This started to happen when he was in the church trying to hide away from the police because of the murder of one of the Soc’s. “I was trembling, and it wasn’t all from cold” (Hilton p.57). This shows that Ponyboy was scared, starting to break, and noticed that maybe this “hard bad boy” life isn't for him. Ponyboy put more and more thought about what it takes to be a greaser, which made him realize that maybe the gang life wasn’t good for him. “We were good fighters and could play cool, but we were sensitive and that isn’t a good way to be when you’re a greaser” (Hinton, p.88). Ponyboy is expressing that it is hard to be as strong as the other boys and sometimes he just couldn't or he couldn't be ok with what they were doing. “It drives my brother Darry nuts when I do stuff like that, ‘cause I’m supposed to be smart’ I make good grades and have a high IQ and everything, but I don't use my head” (Hinton, p.4). Ponyboy knows he has the potential to be something else and while being in hiding in the church it helps him realize that if he really wanted to he could be whatever he puts his mind