The Characters In The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton

“Things gotta get better, I figured. They couldn’t get worse. I was wrong.” thought Ponyboy (Hinton 52). Do not judge a book by its cover is the theme for The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, which takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the mid-1960s. This book is about rival gangs (Socs and Greasers) whose conflicts lead to Johnny killing Bob, Ponyboy and Johnny running away, a fire in the church, the boys becoming heroes, the Greasers winning a rumble, and Johnny dying. In retaliation Dally dies, in spite of all this the brothers get to stay together and Ponyboy writes the novel The Outsiders. Ponyboy stands out in this story because his parents died in a car crash when he was very young alongside the fact that he has to live with his two older brothers. Ponyboy has to stay under control so he is not forced to be go away to a boys’ home. Ponyboy is round as well as static meaning he shows many sides to his personality and he does not change throughout the story. A few of Ponyboy’s personality traits are scared, emotional, as well as respectful.

In one scenario, Ponyboy shows his emotional side near the end of the book in the Greasers’ lot to relate to Cherry. Ponyboy says, “You can see it {the sunset} good from the East side, too” (Hinton 130). This makes it apparent that Ponyboy has strong emotions when he lets Cherry know that both groups are stereotyped also that no matter what group you are in you cannot buy everything, some things are owned equally. Another example of Ponyboy proving he has emotion is at the moment when Johnny dies in the hospital; he writes in the novel that he is agonized by Johnny’s death. Ponyboy thinks, “I thought in agony: He’s dead already. We’re too late” (Hinton 148). With this, we can tell Ponyboy really loves Johnny because he proves he has strong feelings for him, it also foreshadows that he will be much traumatized when Johnny does die. Ponyboy is perceived as emotional for these