“Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset” (41). When Ponyboy thought of this quote in the novel The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, he was relating the two worlds of the greasers and the Socs. Ponyboy Curtis is the protagonist of the novel. He is split between the personalities of the greasers and of the Socs. In relation to his oldest brother, Darry, Ponyboy has the chance to acquire a bright future. They are both extremely intelligent and athletic, but Darry had to give up his dreams of going to college to support Ponyboy and Sodapop, Ponyboy’s other brother. Sodapop, a high school dropout, also believes that Ponyboy has the potential to be successful in the future. Similar to what Darry would have …show more content…
They believe that Ponyboy should give up his dreams of a bright future to get an occupation in his current neighborhood to help his brothers pay for necessities. Instead, Ponyboy must live up to the expectations Darry has for him. In The Outsiders, Ponyboy, thinking about Darry, stated, “He was going somewhere. And I was going to be like him. I wasn’t going to live in a lousy neighborhood all my life” (138). Therefore, Ponyboy was going to thrive in the future to prove that he is worthy enough to be treated as a Soc. In a way to attain success, Darry set high standards for Ponyboy, such as outstanding grades, for Ponyboy. These standards were set for Ponyboy because Darry did not have the chance to attend college. Furthermore, Sodapop had to drop out out of high school to help Darry support the family. Darry wants Ponyboy’s fate to be successful, unlike his and Sodapop’s. As Ponyboy achieves high grades and does well in school, he will become more like a Soc. This adjustment would occur because Socs are known for being superior students. On the other hand, greasers were known for being simpleminded, or as Sodapop refers to himself, “dumb” (17). To sum it up, by following Darry’s high standards, Ponyboy will have a prosperous future like the