Sharon Contreras
Period:6
12-10-15
Mr. Hays
Book Title: The Outsiders

Terminology: Booze- Alcohol Heater- Gun Fuzz- Police
Main Characters are all in a gang(Greasers): Ponyboy Curtis (a fourteen year old teen
that wishes he can look tougher but his long locks of light brown hair and greenish-gray eyes
preserves his innocent, yet childish face.) Darryl Curtis ( Ponyboy’s oldest brother with ice blue
eyes who became very strict with Pony after their parents died and was unable to take advantage
of his scholarship for collage because he had to hold two jobs to support his two kid brothers,
while showing off his biceps at the same time.) Sodapop Curtis ( the kind of movie star
handsome, the kind that people stop on the street to watch go by and he was not only the middle
sibling of Darry and Pony but he often came in the middle of their arguments. Appearance wise
he was not as tall and muscular as Darry although he has a compassionate heart.) Two-Bit
Mathews (the oldest of the gang and a wisecracker if the bunch, especially when he was always
smarting off the cops in order to put some color into their dull lives. He is famous for being a
six-foot tall man that has a black-handled switchblade.) Dallas Winston- Dally ( Had an elfish
face, with high cheek bones and a pointed chin, small, sharp animal teeth, and ears like a lynx.
He is most recognized as a seventeen year old with blue eyes filled with hatred for the world ever
since he gotten arrested in New York at the age of ten.) Johnny Cade- Johnny Cake (the second
youngest of the gang with a shocking age of sixteen has an outline as a little dark puppy that has
been kicked around by his drunk father or screamed at by his conceded mother who hardly has
time for him. He is just as observant as Ponyboy, which allows them to be close friends,
particularly when his father usually beats him out of the house.) Cherry Valance (a female soc
who in the beginning of the book is portrayed as high standard but soon digs Ponyboy from his
perspectives that Socs can see the sunset on the South side really good, as well as greasers see it
on the North side. She is vital to the plot when she aids the criminal situation with Johnny and
Ponyboy)
Author: S.E. Hinton
Story Setting: Oklahoma in the City Life, where there are several gangs called Greasers and
there are the rich teens called Socs who are always trying to start a rivalry between Greasers.
The Greasers were illustrated as possibly intelligent, but poor and posses a background of
Sharon Contreras
Period:6
12-10-15
Mr. Hays
dysfunctional families. Socs were rich by inheritance and most waste their parent’s money on
booze along with hardly any education being performed in school.
Summary: Enter Ponyboy’s world in which there are two types of people. You could either be
a Soc and get away with anything, or if you weren’t lucky you could be a Greaser that takes
every risk in life. Being on the wild side of things Ponyboy can always rely on his loyal brothers
Darry and Soda, and Johnny and their gang. Hanging out at Darry’s house, where they made
their own rules, or rumbling with the Socs formed the unbreakable bond between the main
characters. Until Johnny had to take extreme measures in pulling a knife to defend Ponyboy’s
life, and had to murder a soc named Bob, which is Cherry Valances boyfriend. Johnny and
Ponyboy were on the run, but they could not escape the violence that trailed them behind.
Main Events: Sodapop has a closer relationship with Ponyboy than Darry does because they
both feel the same way on different subjects. In chapter 1, towards the ending Sodapop reveals
that he has a girlfriend named Sandy who is not a Soc, but average class. Soda plans on
marrying her when she graduates from high school because he admits to Pony in his sleep that he
is in love with her. Pony is the narrator in the story and luckily guides the reader through any
missing pieces in the plot, one of which is the fact that Sodapop is a high school dropout because
he claims he is simply stupid and only passed gym along with auto mechanics. However, Pony
knew he would be sent into a boys home if it were not for Sodapop helping Darry pay the bills
on their old house. Soon after Ponyboy had to ask Soda how it feels to be in love since he is at
that stage in his life where he is beginning to experience a crush on Cherry Valance. “Hmmmm.
It’s real nice.” (Sodapop on page 26) Johnny has history with Bob and his fellow Socs, because
Johnny would usually get beat up by them due to his frail appearance and for amusement
purposes to the Socs. Before the criminal incident Ponyboy slept smoking with Johnny at the
vacant lot in the middle of the night, while longing for a better life on the country side and away
from the city. As Darry and Sodapop were worried and desperate to know where Ponyboy had
been. When Pony entered his house Darry gave him an alarming lecture as Sodapop had tried to
defend his mistake was not intentional, yet Darry has been currently undergoing stress from
paying the bills, thus not controlling his temper as he slapped Ponyboy with rage based on his
mistakes. Pony dashed from the front gate of the house and caught up with Johnny who usually
stays in the vacant lot because of his parents never pay attention to his whereabouts and are
constantly having a quarrel. Johnny jogged after Ponyboy as he was heading to the park, “Got a
cigarette Johnny Cake? I’m scared. It was Darry he hit me. I do not know what happened, but I
could not have him hollering at me. He didn’t use to be like that, we use to get along okay. Now
he just can’t stand me and probably send me to a boys home if it weren’t for Soda stopping him
to, he would’ve even be in college right now if it weren’t for me.” (Ponyboy balling out as he
spoke to Johnny) “I walk in my own house, and nobody says anything. I walk out, nobody
notices. At least you got Soda; it ain’t the same when you have your own folks that care about
you.” (Johnny replies to Pony) Events that follow are Johnny killing Bob as he drowned
Ponyboy in the fountain water, and both Johnny and Pony feared that the cops would arrest them.
Sharon Contreras
Period:6
12-10-15
Mr. Hays
They had to scurry along to Dally’s house because he is an expert in working his way around the
cops. “I thought New York was the only place I would get caught up in a murder wrap. Here’s a
heater and a hideout in an abandoned church on the country side of Oklahoma. You need to take
a train to get there!” (Dallas)
Story Conclusion: Ponyboy and Johnny stay at their hideout for weeks, they were feeding
off baloney sandwiches, and cigarettes until Dally came back with any news on the fuzz in the
city. Johnny convinced Ponyboy to cut his hair and bleach it blonde so that they would not fit in
the cops profile pictures. Their bond grew stronger as they gazed upon countless sunsets and let
their honesty pour out to one another. Fortunately, Dally came back with a letter from Sodapop
for Ponyboy stating that Darry is awful sorry he hit him, and that Cherry Valance is willing to
testify for why Johnny had done the deed in self-defense. Dally advises Johnny that he should
stay in the hideout because he has no idea what a few weeks in jail can do to him, this should
give the readers an effect of concerned brother-like emotions. A blazing cigarette left behind in
the hide out never crossed one of the boys minds as they returned from Dairy Queen to spot the
whole church lit up with innocent children trapped inside. Ponyboy and Johnny had their guilt
overpower them and this resulted in them hopping through the burnt windows trying to save the
children. Dally has no feelings for children but he did for Johnny and was furious at Ponyboy
for leading Johnny in there. Johnny was last seen with a smile on his face when he first
experienced being a hero instead of a lost hood, before he injured his spine when Dally was too
late to pull him out of the fire and the roof caved in on him. There was a rumble of Soc between
Grease and it was a fair fight that involved no weapons. Every one of the members were injured
but not as severely as Johnny had been from the fire and was stuck in the hospital when his final
words to Pony was “STAY GOLD PONYBOY”. Johnny died and soon after, Dallas died from
several gunshots of police officers, which was in essence of suicide from the loss of a brotherlike friend. The book concludes with Soda running away from home due to being in the middle
of him and his brother’s frequent arguments and Sandy wrote a letter to breaking up with him
because she was pregnant with another man’s child. “Sometimes I need to get out guys. Pony...
Darry could of put you in a boys home and worked his way through college. You need to go to
school Pony, don’t be like me. I’m happy working at the gas station... I know you wouldn’t like
doing something like that. Darry you got stop yelling at everything little thing he does and
making me choose sides between you two. We’re all we have left now... If we split now, we’ll
all end up like Dally, and I mean before he died... We’re brothers.” (Sodapop)
One Fact: The entire book is written in first-person narrative through Ponyboy’s eyes.
Readers will be able to tell this book was written by a female in some descriptions of the main
characters, such as Sodapop. The members of the gang constantly consume chocolate cake
throughout the book.
Sharon Contreras
Period:6
12-10-15
Mr. Hays
One Opinion: Hopefully you will consider reading this astounding book to see how this poem
correlates with it.
~ 𝑅𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑡