Ms. Martino- p.5
English 8
1-2-12
People change a lot throughout a period of time. In the book The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, there is a lot of character change. There are changes in relationships with others as well as with self. People can evolve into almost completely new beings. When you live in a very tough society, such as 1960’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma, people are judging you by the length of your hair, and what side of the railroad tracks you live on. Ponyboy Curtis is a greaser who changes a lot in the book The Outsiders. Ponyboy Curtis is a fourteen year old living in Tulsa, OK. He lives with his older brothers Sodapop and Darry. Ponyboy is very quiet. He enjoys reading and watching movies. Ponyboy wishes, “ I wish I looked like Paul Newman –he looks tough and I don’t- ” (Hinton- 1) He is small, but has good build for his age. Pony tries to stand up for himself, but is not loud enough to. But, he is a greaser. The socs attack him on the way home from a movie. “It occurred to me that they could kill me. I went wild. I started screaming for Soda, Darry, anyone. Someone put their hand over my mouth and I bit as hard as I could.” (Hinton- 5) So Pony can defend himself. He is stuck in a shell, because he really can’t express himself as much as he would like to. But at a drive in movie, Pony meets Cherry and Marcia, two socs. Pony is able to talk to her, really connect. She understands him. He tells her why Johnny is so hurt. He blames all the socs, but Cherry says “We have troubles you greasers never even heard of. Things are rough all over.” (Hinton- 34) Pony doesn’t really believe her. Ponyboy slowly evolves and can stand up to his brother Darry. Ponyboy has started to change. He is able to stand up to his brother. Pony comes home late one night. He fell asleep in the lot because he was with Johnny. When he goes home, Darry is furious. When Darry then yells at Soda for sticking up for Pony, Pony yells “You don’t yell at him”! (Hinton-