The Outsiders
by S.E. Hinton
Table of Contents
Chapter 7 to Chapter 9
Chapter Seven
The boys are interviewed by reporters, and Sodapop, with his movie-star looks, was a hit with the media.
Johnny is in critical condition, and the doctor explicitly tells them that Johnny might not live, and even if he does, he will remain crippled for the rest of his life. The thought of Johnny having to live with his alcoholic father and abusive mother makes Ponyboy cry.
Ponyboy returns home and is spoiled by his brothers.
Two-Bit and Steve visit. They read the newspapers, which are full of stories about the "juvenile delinquents turn heroes." Ponyboy discovers that the authorities are deliberating whether or not they will keep the boys together or separate them.
Later, when Two-Bit and Ponyboy go out to buy coke, the blue Mustang again pulls up and Randy Anderson, Marcia's boyfriend and the guy that had almost drowned Ponyboy, steps out. He apologizes to Ponyboy, compliments him on his heroism, and tells him that he is not going to show up at the rumble—the definitive feud that the greasers and Socs were planning to hold that night. Randy also tells him that Bob, his best friend, had always sought authority from his parents but had been spoiled by them. He wanted "to have somebody lay down the law, set the limits, give him something solid to stand on. That's what we all want, really" (124). His parents failed to do that, and Bob tyrannized others. Randy now is sick of fighting and plans to leave town rather than join in the "rumble."
Ponyboy again ponders that the differences between Socs and greasers are superficial. "Socs were just guys after all" (ibid). They are human, too.
Chapter Eight
The doctor permits Ponyboy and Two-Bit to visit the dying Johnny. Johnny asks for hair grease and Gone with the Wind. He tells Ponyboy that he's too young to die and not ready. Windrixville was the only time he'd been outside the neighborhood. He blacks out and refuses to see his mother, who...
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