The Characteristics of Ponyboy and How They Developed inThe Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

491 Words1 Page

The Characteristics of Ponyboy and How They Developed inThe Outsiders by S. E. Hinton The novel "The Outsiders", by S.E. Hinton was based on a character called Ponyboy. He has long light-brown, almost red hair and greenish-grey eyes. It was normal for him to have long hair because he was classified as a "greaser", a boy on the East Side. The only people he has for a family are his two older brothers and his neighbours, the other greasers. Throughout the book it shows you the development of him becoming more mature and how he handles life's challenges without his parents. Ponyboy was very different from the other greasers. At the movie theater he would like to watch sad films alone so he can cry without being humiliated. When bored Ponyboy would either bizarrely read any books, which laid on the floor or draw pictures. The one quality he hid from the rest of the greasers was enjoying the beauty of a sunset. Does extremely well in school, which is very unlikely for a greaser. For a while he was embarrassed of himself doing...

Show More
Related

  • Character Change In Hinton's The Outsiders

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Stereotypes In S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    He realizes that he had an identity that he can communicate and be like a greaser, but doesn’t devote to the greaser way of life. In the scene, Ponyboy has an advanced way of life that includes both the Soc and greaser style, “Socs are just guys after all...Thing are rough all over.” Ponyboy at this time, understands how a Soc and a Greaser are similar and are of the same kind, human, yet are also different. He establishes an idea that the identity of a person is important because it describes who you are. As a result, Pony learns to look between the lines of people, not just at the extremes. The evidence that supports this is also “On the Sidewalk Bleeding” as I stated before. Andy says, “I’m Andy, he screamed wordlessly, I’m Andy.” When Andy’s death was coming close, the only thing we wanted in the end, was an identity. Similar to Ponyboy who is different from the gang and has a distinct personality. He is disparate because in the gang, Pony was the only one who ever thought about the sky, clouds, and books, which proves him exclusively in the group. This proves that Andy and Ponyboy are different from their gang and have a personality different from the group, and they both actually want to be different and be known not as a Royal or a Greaser, but as Andy and

    Read More

  • The Outsiders Book Report Essay

    507 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book The Outsiders is the realistic story about this between two very different groups in a town in the United States: the poor Greasers from the east side, and the Socs, whitch is what the greasers call the socials, the richer boys from the other side of the town. Ponyboy Curtis is the narrator of the story, a 14-year-old boy who lives with his two older brothers, Darry and Soda. He is a pretty good athlete and student, but is not treated the same as the richer students at his school. Ponyboy uses to have long hair that he greases back, a symbol of being in the outsider gang. He is unhappy with his situation, because Darry is too protective of him and he always has to be afraid of Socs attacking him.

    Read More

  • Dynamic Character In The Outsiders

    224 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Dally and Johnny Similarities and Differences in S.E. Hinton´s Outsiders

    557 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine a life where danger lurks in every corner, and there is no hope for a shooting star to appear. This is how Dally and Johnny,two characters from S.E Hinton’s, The Outsiders, live everyday. One welcomes this trouble while the other cowers away. Dally Winston and Johnny Cade are two characters who although very different, have very similar characteristics.

    Read More

  • Similiaries and Differences in Characters in The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    Can some people so different be so a like? Can some people so alike be so different? Dally and Johnny are those two who are so different, but yet they are similar. In the book S.E. Hinton writes The Outsiders, Johnny Cade and Dally Winston come from two completely different backgrounds, and have completely different scruples. Yet, at the same time they are alike. Dally and Johnny’s parents both repudiate them, making Johnny and Dally mentally tough, and the boys do not value their lives. At the same time though they are different, Dally is stronger than Johnny. Though, Johnny has a soft heart and Dally would not even pay any attention if someone is dying right next to him.

    Read More

  • The Outsiders Reckon A Hero

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • What Causes Juvenile Delinquency In The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton

    1243 Words  | 3 Pages

    In S.E. Hinton’s book, The Outsiders, children born on the wrong side of town grow up to be juvenile, teenage hoods. In this book, these teenage delinquents are the Greasers, whose only "rival" is the Socials, or "Socs," as an abbreviation. The characters within The Outsiders unmistakably choose a remote. lifestyle of juvenile delinquency and crime. Ilanna Sharon Mandel wrote an article called, "What Causes Juvenile Delinquency?" This editorial presents many circumstances that can be applied to the main character, or protagonist, Ponyboy Michael Curtis and his brothers, friends, and neighbors. Their behavior may not always lead them to the right side of the law, but it is the cause of juvenile delinquency that gets them in. trouble.

    Read More

  • Self-Concept In The Outsiders

    1490 Words  | 3 Pages

    He knows that Ponyboy has a chance because he is very smart. How they both reacted to not having parents shaped and effected who they are. “Johnny was high-strung anyway, a nervous wreck from getting belted every time he turned around and from hearing his parents fight all the time(2).” This explains how Johnny was effected by his parents. His parents constantly fighting and beating him made him who he was. A part of him was effected by all the chaos and pain he had to go through every day. “We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we're wilder, too. Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next. 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. I don't mean I do things like that. Darry would kill me if I got into trouble with the police.” Social roles are a part of self-image that makes a person who they are. In the novel Ponyboy explains the groups that the Greasers and Sochs were split into. This

    Read More

  • The Outsiders Character Analysis Essay

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Perseverance And Consequences In The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, follows a horrific part of the life of a boy named Ponyboy Curtis. He is what you might call a Greaser, and has had a rough go at it in his life compared to others. It is difficult, but Ponyboy somehow manages to be himself and has the tenacity to stick through it all. He is in a gang with his friends and family and they are loyal to one another no matter what. A rival gang from the Socs crowd, a richer, more refined group, send him and his pals into a whirlwind of trouble and hurt. This book shows on multiple occasions that perseverance is necessary to get through life .

    Read More

  • The Outsiders

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main character of this book is Ponyboy. Ponyboy was a Greaser he was different from all the others he liked books and movies. Nobody in the Greasers digged books and movies the way Ponyboy did. Ponyboy was fourteen years old and he had two brothers that he lived with his older brother Darrel who they call Darry and his second older brother Sodapop who was sixteen going on seventeen. Ponyboy only live with his brothers because they mother and father was killed in a car accident. Ponyboy wanted to be like a movie star Paul Newman he wished he looked like him. Ponyboy always thought his brother Darry never cared about him or anything else. Ponyboy had a friend Jonny. Johnny was a Greaser too but he was the softest one but after he got jumped that changed he always carried a switchblade on him.

    Read More

  • Ponyboy Is A Hero Essay

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Outsiders In The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton

    1174 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ponyboy talks about him as having ", an elfish face with high cheekbones and a pointed chin, small, sharp animal teeth, and ears like a lynx. His hair was so blond, and he didn't like haircuts, or hair oil either, so it fell over his forehead in wisps and kicked out in the back in tufts and curled behind his ears and along the nape of his neck. His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world. “He works as a jockey, and funnily doesn't rig his races; it's "the only thing Dally did honestly." Even though he is only seventeen years old, "the fight for self-preservation had hardened him beyond caring." He set the stereotype for the greasers its scary to the others how scary he is. In the events when Johnny killed Bob dally helped out the boys and gifted them one handgun and $100. Ponyboy realizes the truth after Johnny's death. When he tries to make sense of Dally's reaction to Johnny's death, it dawns on him, "Johnny was the only thing that Dally

    Read More

  • Ponyboy's Attitudes Toward Reality In The Outsiders

    494 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Characteristics of Ponyboy and How They Developed inThe Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

Open Document