Ponyboy's Transformation In The Outsiders

In the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, Ponyboy Curtis is a fourteen-year-old, red-haired narrator. He lives among his two older brothers, Sodapop and Darrel Curtis, on the East Side of Tulsa, Oklahoma, due to the death of their parents eight months ago. Ponyboy resides within the greaser group and exhibits devotedness towards his friends. As the novel progresses, Ponyboy Curtis befriends opposing Socs and overcomes an abundance of internal conflicts. Ponyboy displays a great level of transformation from an intolerant boy to an open-minded greaser, to a then intuitive, mature individual who perceives everyone as his equal. Ponyboy´s attitude is often conveyed as intolerant towards Socs in the duration of Chapters 1 to

Ponyboy and Two-Bit are walking to the convenience store and see that a group of Socs in a Corvair have entered the lot. “I hated them. It was their fault Bob was dead; their fault Johnny was dying; their fault Soda and I might get put in a boys’ home. I hated them as bitterly and contemptuously as Dally Winston hated”(98). Ponyboy’s attitude towards Socs is resentful and hateful. He blames them for all of his obstacles and depicts himself as blameless. Ponyboy finds it easier to blame it on the Socs due to his perception of them being “carefree”, rather than realizing that both groups are at fault. Randy Anderson, Bob’s friend, requests to talk to Ponyboy. They discuss Ponyboy’s actions regarding the fire and how Randy will not appear at the Rumble that night due to his conscience. “‘Nope’, I said, lighting up another weed. I still had a headache, but I felt better. Socs were just guys after all. Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too”(100). Ponyboy is now broadening his view of the opposing Socs. He now comprehends that money and popularity do not fix all issues and that Socs are not inhuman; they are just standard, troubled teens. This thought contradicts his perception stated just before having a conversation with Randy. He now realizes that not all Socs are remorseful, nor

The gang, Tim Shepard, and the Soc are all at the Rumble, which is about to commence. Darry Curtis and his former teammate, Paul, offer to start the fight. The tension and contempt between the two is strongly present. “Even I could feel their hatred. They used to be buddies, I thought, they used to be friends, and now they hate each other because one has to work for a living and the other comes from the West Side. They shouldn’t hate each other…I don’t hate the Socs anymore”(122). After Johnny is on the verge of death and his life is falling apart, Ponyboy is finally willing to believe that greasers and Socs should not constantly be endorsed in fighting. He understands that both groups are just people, who are fighting because they feel the need to fit into certain stereotypes inflicted on them by society. Ultimately, both groups face issues that the others may not fully envision. Ponyboy is currently in bed and going through his sibling’s past yearbooks. As he is flipping through the pages, he stumbles upon a familiar face, Bob Sheldon, who is the Soc that Johnny killed. “Did they hate us now? I hoped they hated us, that they weren’t full of that pity victim of the environment junk… I’d rather have anybodys hate than their pity. But, then, maybe they understood, like Cherry Valance. I looked at Bob’s picture and I could begin to see the person we