The Outsiders: PonyBoy Character Traits

S.E. Hinton is one of the best known American authors. She has written many novels, none of which are as famous as her young adult novel, The Outsiders. This story is novel about a young man’s struggle to survive in a world filled with gangs, violence, and poverty. PonyBoy the narrator is a fourteen year old boy who happens to come from a dangerous neighborhood on the poor side of town. Ponyboy and his poor group of friend are known as the Greasers. The Socs are known as the rich kids from the West side of town. Ponyboy had many violences with the Socs. The Greasers are more than just Ponyboys friends, they are more like a family. In fact two of the groups members were his older brothers. And there brothers were Sodapop and Darry. Darry is the oldest brother out of the two. Darry is also his legal guardian since his parents had recently died in a car accident. The Greasers named themselves the Greasers because of a reference to the gangs signature hairstyle, long and slicked back, with lots of grease.

In the beginning of the story, Ponyboy was a shy young man. When Ponyboy and Sodapop meet new people such ass Cherry and Marsh, Ponyboy is very shy. Ponyboy’s literary interests and academic accomplishments set him apart from the rest of the gang. Because his parents have died in a car accident, Ponyboy lives with his brothers, Darry and Sodapop. Ponyboy was smart because he reads a lot and takes school seriously. Unlike some Greasers, Ponyboy values school. Darry said that he wants Ponyboy to get only A,s and that Darry is not happy with B,s, probably because he knows he is capable of it. Ponyboy was the smartest out of all.

Because of his friend died from trying to save the kids from the school that was on fire. Ponyboy was sad, Ponyboy was mad at the point where he did not care about anything. Ponyboy was was courageous enough to say “I will leave my stuff and run away!” So Ponyboy was not shy anymore, he got brave. He ain’t scared to fight the Socs anymore. Ponyboy use to be scared of his big brother, Darry. And the group of Greasers and Socs got into a fight. Ponyboy got a lot tougher because of his friend Johnny died. Ponyboy was brave enough to fight the Socs with his gang.

In conclusion, the Outsiders has great content. It would be great if young people can watch the movie because they can actually learn from what can happen if you were in a gang. The Outsiders argue that violence and criminal activity aren’t isolated to people in the lower economic classes, but that people in the lower economic classes are punished more often and more severely for any crimes they commit. This is a symbol of the journey that Ponyboy has been on. It shows that he was able to work through all of the destruction that occurred throughout the story.

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