Character Analysis

Ponyboy is fourteen years old and is the youngest of his friends. He has light-brown almost red hair and grayish-green eyes. His hair is way longer than a lot of boys, and he is just trying to fit in with the rest of the crowd. He lost his parents when he was young, and now lives with his two brothers; Sodapop, most would describe him as the charming ladies man that every girl loves and the person every guy wants to be, and Darry, the tough muscular Greaser that really deserves to be a Soc. I've choose Ponyboy because I like the way he stands up for his family, and how he isn't just the average Greaser. He is not querulous at all, but should Ponyboy really belong with the Greasers, or is his true calling with the Socs?
To start, in the beginning chapters of the novel Ponyboy is described as a young Greaser that is just trying to make it through each day. So that if he does happen to make it through high school, he can get out of the city and travel to find his own place in the country. You can definitely see the want that Ponyboy has to finish school so that he can reach his goal of moving on to bigger and better things. A few chapters later, you see another example of how Ponyboy is youngest in the group, and is pretty defenseless against real danger. "How'd you like that haircut to begin just below the chin?" Says a pack of Socs when they jumped Ponyboy one evening. Johnny, another one of the boys, has always been abused as a child and knows how it feels to be bullied. He would never hurt a fly, but has to cross the line once one of his friend's lives is on the line. "You know what a Soc is? White trash with Mustangs and maradas." Ponyboy said to show the frustration he has when he is picked on once again by three Socs. The Socs jump him and try to drown him until Johnny puts his own life on the line to save Ponyboy.

To continue, throughout the novel Ponyboy really grows up and realizes that maybe he won't have to live this life of being a hoodlum anymore. When Ponyboy and Johnny accidentally burn down an old church that little school children are having a picnic in, everything goes chaotic because they know they could be taking away helpless little lives. Both are audacious enough to jump in and save each individual child from the blazing heat, and in return are declared as heroes. Also, when the rumble was about to begin, Ponyboy starts to wonder why he fights if nothing good comes in return. And as the fight is about to start, Darry starts to reconsider Ponyboy fighting, but then Ponyboy says, "I'll be alright. I'll get hold of a little one, okay?" which makes Darry say yes. He then asks each member of his group why they fight, and in return they each give him a response for why. But when Ponyboy asks himself the same question, he can't seem to find the answer. This is a great change for him to be growing up because it shows he has a good outlook on how his own life is going to turn out. He doesn't want to be in pointless brawls, and he doesn't want to have to rely on his brothers to do everything for him.

Near the end of the novel, Ponyboy really finds out who he is. He really takes a better look of what's going on in the world around him, and really starts to mature by watching out for people other than himself. One good example would have to be when Ponyboy looks out for Johnny when Johnny kills Bob, the Soc, in order to save Ponyboy's life. Ponyboy is grateful and runs away with Johnny so that they both won't get caught by the police. Another example would be when he helps out his group by fighting in the rumble against the Socs. Even though he didn't want to, he still did because he knew that they needed him in order to win. This has been a great change because now more people can feel like they can depend on Ponyboy and that he's maturing into a great man that everyone knows he can be.

To conclude, I'd have to say that I feel bad for Ponyboy in some ways, but in other ways I don't feel bad for him. For Ponyboy to have to live in such a bad environment where everyone is either fighting, smoking or dropping out of school, must be hard to be around since all of those things are very deleterious. Here in the suburbs we sometimes take for granite how lucky we are to live in such a spectacular place with our families. But for other people like Ponyboy, Darry and Sodapop, they aren't so lucky. When you might think of family you probably think of your intermediate family, your mom, dad, sister or brother. But for these three, all they have is each other. Reading The Outsiders really makes you appreciate everything you have, and it makes you stop complaining about everything you don't.