Ponyboy And Johnny In The Outsiders

Ponyboy Curtis is the main character in the story The Outsiders by S.E Hinton I read for my reader’s workshop project. This story takes place in Oklahoma around the 1960’s. Ponyboy belongs to a lower-class group in Oklahoma who are the greasers because of their greasy hair and where they come from. When walking home in the beginning of the story Ponyboy gets jumped by the Soc’s who the greaser’s rivals are. They gang up on Ponyboy and threaten to cut his throat and hair. Then a bunch of greasers comes and chases them away. Ponyboy, Sodapop, and Darry’s parents were both killed in a car crash so now they live together in a small rundown house. The next night, they all go to a drive in movie. Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dallas sit behind two attractive Soc girls. Dally flirts with the girls obnoxiously so Ponyboy and Johnny tell him to stop. He eventually goes away and Johnny and Pony boy have a chance to talk to the girls. Later that night,

"I had the knife. I killed Bob"(Hinton 165). This quote is about how he killed one of the Soc’s and is talking to Ponyboy about this. This is a major conflict because if they got caught they would have to go to jail or an all-boys home. Also because they had to run away to a church in Windrixville to escape from the cops. All they had was each other, some money, food, and a gun. It was hard for them because it’s not easy to kill someone at this young age of 16 which Johnny was and they are young kids with a bad rap. I would be very worried. This part surprised me the most because I would never think that Johnny would do this to someone. In the beginning they explained that Johnny was a very shy kid and would never hurt a soul. For him killing Bob (one of the Soc’s) this was a character development for Johnny because he is becoming like one of the greasers and not afraid anymore because he was before but now he is hanging with them more