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Literature And Society
Literature And Society
Literature And Society
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The Outsiders-How Ponyboy changes
Ponyboy Curtis probably changes more throughout the book than any other character. Ponyboy is a good student at the start of the story and tries his best to stay out of trouble. Aside from the death of his parents, Ponyboy has suffered less than most of the other characters. His older brother, Darry, tries to protect him from the gang violence with the Socs, and he comes down on Ponyboy after he is jumped by a Soc gang while walking alone. Darry rarely allows Pony to go out on school days, in order to for Ponyboy to have a bright future, unlike most of the other greasers.
However, the attack by the Socs in the park leaves a Soc dead, and Pony and Johnny decide to leave town and hide out in an abandoned church.
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His friends worry that he has grown hard and they hope that he will return to his old self. In the end, when it appears that he may have to repeat a year of high school, his English teacher allows him extra time to complete an essay. Pony decides to tell his story, of The Outsiders.
Throughout the book, Ponyboy gains a new look on life and becomes understanding to Darry's situation. At the beginning of the story, Ponyboy thinks that his older brother does not truly care about him and feels that the Soc gang members live perfect lives. As the story continues, Ponyboy becomes friends with Cherry, a Soc and learns that Socs have their own struggles. Following the church fire, Ponyboy realizes that Darry does love him and is concerned about his future. As Ponyboy matures, he views the members of the gang differently. Johnny has a significant impact on Ponyboy's thinking, and Ponyboy realizes that other Greasers are complicated people with good things about them, despite acting tough all the time. Ponyboy learns to look up to Dally for his courage and loyalty, as well as Johnny for his intelligence and judgement. Sodapop also helps Ponyboy reflect upon his actions and encourages him to get along with Darry. Ponyboy ends up maturing into a understanding, thoughtful person by the end of the
He is smart, and gets good grades in school. This is purposefully mentioned several times within the story, and people tend to be surprised to learn that he is a Greaser. In addition, some Greasers are nicer than people tend to think. When the church burned down, Ponyboy and Johnny run in to save the children without a second thought. They acted with selflessness, putting the safety of the children above their own. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, Ponyboy is asked if he and Johnny are "professional heroes". He responds by telling the entire story of how they're Greasers and Johnny is wanted for murder, shocking the man in the ambulance. It is difficult for him to believe that a group of Greasers would do something so heroic. Johnny dies as a direct result of their actions, but neither Ponyboy nor Johnny regretted what they
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
With his long greasy hair and baggy worn out clothes he looked likes a bad kid, but the way he talked and the way he thought it was a whole different person inside of him. The Outsiders is about two rival gangs that fight and go through so much stuff to just to call the territory their own. It is the Socs versus Greasers. They always have their back up because you can't trust anyone, but at the end of the day is all the rubbles and fighting worth it? Ponyboy one of the greasers has a big character change during the book. In the beginning of the book Ponyboy was getting jumped by the Socs and he was acting all tough and defending himself, in the middle of the book he starts to break while he is in the church, and when the kids were stuck in
When one of the Socs tries to drown Pony, he goes unconscious and when he wakes up, he sees that Johnny has killed one of the Socs. The two boys decide to go to their friend Dally; he gives them money and directions to a church in the country. There they hide out for a long week, and after it Dally comes to find them. After eating, they return to the church and see that it has caught fire. A group of children are stuck in the burning building.
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.
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
Ponyboy is the weakest Greaser.My thesis statement is that pony boy is supposed to be the weakest Greaser in the beginning but towards the end he is stronger and more of a leder.I chose this character because he is mechend the most so i know a lot about him .ponyboy is smart because he is in high school but he is only 14 years old and he likes to read books.S.E HINTON p.g23.Pony boy is brave beause when pony boy and
“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,
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
After the church fire Ponyboy comes to the realization of many things. Two-Bit and Ponyboy are eating at a restaurant known as Tasty Freeze when Randy asks to speak with him. Ponyboy tells Randy, ¨Maybe you would have done the same thing, maybe a friend of yours wouldn’t have. It’s the individual¨(115). He finds out that you cannot define someone based on of they are part of the Socs or the greasers. Furthermore, he finds out that every one is a individual and that means that just because he is a part of a certain group it does not mean that they are all going to react or perceive a situation in the same exact way. In addition, he say this to Randy because when there was a fire in the church Dally was not willing to risk his life to save someone else's when Johnny and Ponyboy were more than willing to help the kids. This shows event shows how all Greasers and Socs are not the same. In the beginning of the novel Ponyboy believed Darry disliked him and thought he was a nuisance. However, later on at the hospital Ponyboy tells Darry, “I’m sorry” (98). Ponyboy’s words expose how he feels bad for thinking Darry disliked him all along when in truth he loved him more than words could describe. He realizes that Darry fears losing another family member that is why he is so overprotective of Ponyboy. Hence, proving Ponyboy is clearly a dynamic character.
the beginning of the book chapter 1 Ponyboy went to the movies alone on the way home some greasers jump him and in the right moment his group members save him from getting beat.
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
By looking at the incidents happened around Ponyboy and the changes of Ponyboy’s attitudes towards reality, we can see that Ponyboy has matured and learned the essence of solving problems, which most readers don’t see; this is important because it reveals the relationship between dreams and reality, that is cocooning from the world is not going to solve any problems, instead, only through facing the reality could we regain lost courage and break the obstacles.
Determination and a strong connection with the natural world can uphold a person's sense of hope. Throughout the book The Outsiders it is demonstrated that through being confronted with arduous situations Ponyboy and the gang using determination and courage establish a sense of hope through each other. As shown in “no rival gangs only socs and you can't win against them no matter how hard you try” it displays that Ponyboy at the opening of the story does not believe anything can change therefore he has disbelief in hope. However after encountering two socials Cherry and Marcia they
Typically, greasers are depicted as people similar to hoods, as Ponyboy states, "Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while" (Hinton 4). Yet, even though Ponyboy is a greaser, he avoids getting into trouble for the sake of staying together with his family. He explains that, "I don't mean I do things like that... Since Mom and Dad were killed in an auto wreck, the three of us get to stay together only as long as we behave. So Soda and I stay out of trouble as much as we can, and we're careful not to get caught when we can't" (Hinton 4). Alternatively, Pony also enjoys activities such as reading and watching movies. Even simpler things, such as sunsets and clouds, are something he found beauty and enjoyment in. This sets him apart from the greasers because according to Pony, he states that, "And nobody in our gang digs movies and books the way I do" (Hinton 3). Since nobody other than Ponyboy himself shares the enjoyment of these particular pastimes, which is drastically different from pursuits such as shoplifting and fighting in rumbles, Ponyboy is divergent from the standard attributes of the greasers. Therefore, Ponyboy is a thoughtful and dreamy individual who holds different interests and aspirations than the