People change a lot throughout a period of time. In the book The Outsiders by S. E Hinton, there is a lot of character change. There are changes in relationships with others as well as with self. People can evolve into almost completely new beings. When you live in a very tough society, such as 1960’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma, people are judging you by the length of your hair, and what side of the railroad tracks you live on. Ponyboy Curtis is a greaser who changes a lot in the book The Outsiders.
Ponyboy Curtis is a fourteen year old living in Tulsa, OK. He lives with his older brothers Sodapop and Darry. Ponyboy is very quiet. He enjoys reading and watching movies. Ponyboy wishes, “ I wish I looked like Paul Newman –he looks tough and I don’t- ” (Hinton- 1) He is small, but has good build for his age. Pony tries to stand up for himself, but is not loud enough to. But, he is a greaser. The socs attack him on the way home from a movie. “It occurred to me that they could kill me. I went wild. I started screaming for Soda, Darry, anyone.
Someone put their hand over my mouth and I bit as hard as I could. ” (Hinton- 5) So Pony can defend himself. He is stuck in a shell, because he really can’t express himself as much as he would like to. But at a drive in movie, Pony meets Cherry and Marcia, two socs. Pony is able to talk to her, really connect. She understands him. He tells her why Johnny is so hurt. He blames all the socs, but Cherry says “We have troubles you greasers never even heard of. Things are rough all over. ” (Hinton- 34) Pony doesn’t really believe her. Ponyboy slowly evolves and can stand up to his brother Darry.
Ponyboy has started to change. He is able to stand up to his brother. Pony comes home late one night. He fell asleep in the lot because he was with Johnny. When he goes home, Darry is furious. When Darry then yells at Soda for sticking up for Pony, Pony yells “You don’t yell at him”! (Hinton- 50)Darry hits Pony and Pony runs away. Pony is asserting his independence. He is slowly but steadily changing himself to be more pushy. At the park, Pony and Johnny find themselves in trouble. When the socs try to drown Pony, a scared Johnny accidentally kills a soc named Bob.
He is Cherry’s boyfriend, and is the lead Soc. They turn to Dally for help, and he tells them to go up to an old church in Windrixville. They arrive there and stay there for one night. They read Gone with the wind and are both forced to cut their hair. Next day, Dally shows up and they go out to lunch. When they come back, they are shocked at what they find. The old church in Windrixville is on fire. Not only is it on fire, but there are kids stuck inside. Ponyboy shows the most courage by following Johnny to save the kids. Johnny gets hit in the back and Pony is burned.
Both end up alive in the hospital, along with Dally who has a broken arm. Soda and Darry come to pick Pony up and Darry starts crying. That’s when Pony realizes that Darry does love him. They go home. Two-Bit and Pony go and hand out in town, visit Johnny (who is in critical condition) and Pony sees Cherry. They talk and when Pony asks if she would like to see Johnny, she says no. She can’t face the boy who killed her boyfriend. Pony says that they don’t need her charity and walks away. He was extremely out of his shell then.
Two-Bit informs Ponyboy that he and Johnny have been declared heroes for rescuing the kids, but Johnny will be charged with manslaughter for Bob's death. He also says that the Greasers and Socs have agreed to settle their turf war with a major rumble. The greasers win the rumble, but are hurt pretty badly. Ponyboy and Dally go visit Johnny after the rumble. He passes away right in front of them, He is whispering “Stay gold” to Ponyboy. Dally can’t take it. He runs away and pretty much tries to commit suicide. It succeeds. Ponyboy faints over all this. He is delirious for a week and when he wakes up, he is sick.
While recovering, he tries to convince himself that Johnny is not dead and that he is the one who killed Bob. Darry wins full custody of Ponyboy and Sodapop. Pony and Darry agree not to fight each other when Soda runs away because of them involving him in an argument. When Ponyboy goes back to school, his grades drop dramatically. Although he is failing English, his teacher says he will pass him if he writes a decent theme. In the copy of Gone with the Wind that Johnny gave him before dying, Ponyboy finds a note from Johnny describing how he will die proudly after saving the kids from he fire. Johnny also urges Ponyboy to 'stay gold,' by which he means to stay the way he is and follow his dreams. Ponyboy Curtis changed a lot in the book the Outsiders by S. E Hinton. He went from being very shy and quiet, to standing up for himself and his loved ones. He came out of his shell. Ponyboy made friends, and lost friends. He is now understands that Darry loves him, even though he is a bit harsh at times. Ponyboy learns that you can see the sunset from both sides of the railroad tracks. -S. E Hinton wrote the Outsiders Greasers
Ponyboy
Curtis: The youngest Curtis brother, 14 years old, gets good grades and runs track. He is the narrator.
•Sodapop Curtis: The middle Curtis brother, 16 years old, a high school dropout who works at a gas station.
•Darrel 'Darry' Curtis: The oldest of the Curtis brothers, he has been caring for his brothers since their parents died in a car crash.
•Dallas 'Dally' Winston: The roughest of the Greasers, who lived on the streets of New York City for three years.
•Keith 'Two-Bit' Mathews: A wise-cracking member of the gang.
•Steve Randle: Sodapop's best friend since grade school.
Johnny Cade: Ponyboy's best friend, 16 years old, lives with his alcoholic and abusive mother and father.
Socs
•Sherri 'Cherry' Valance: Bob's girlfriend, attends the same high school as Ponyboy.
•Marcia: Cherry's best friend. •Bob Sheldon: Cherry's boyfriend, he is stabbed by Johnny.
•Randy Adderson: A friend of Bob's and Marcia's boyfriend.
•David: A member of Bob and Randy's gang, he attempted to drown Ponyboy in the fountain.
Others
•Jerry Wood: The schoolteacher responsible for the children that were in the abandoned church.
•Mr. Syme: Ponyboy's English teacher who assigns him a theme to write.
Author: Wilma Daniels