In these chapters, Ponyboy, the narrator,describes himself, physically, and notes his household situation. He lives with his older brothers, Darry and Soda. Their parents were killed in a car accident, and the boys can only stay together as long as they behave. He also states that he is in a gang called the "Greasers." Ponyboy grows nervous that he's walking alone, since Greasers often get jumped by Socs, which is the "rich gang." As soon as he has this thought, a red Corvair starts following him, and he starts sweating and getting scared. Soon he is surrounded by Socs. One of them flips out a knife and asks if Ponyboy needs a haircut; he is overpowered by them, with the knife to his throat, and starts screaming. Ponyboy is soon helped to his feet by Darry, his oldest brother. The Greaser gang has chased away the Socs. Sodapop, Ponyboy's other older brother, comforts him as he cries, and soon the whole gang comes back. They've chased the Socs away with rocks. Ponyboy is bleeding where the Soc cut his face. Soon Darry starts scolding Ponyboy for walking home from the movies by himself. Soda sticks up for Ponyboy, as he usually does. Later that night, Ponyboy is reading Great Expectations for school, and relates to Pip, the main character. Sodapop comes to bed, and explains to Ponyboy that Darry isn't trying to be mean. Ponyboy doesn't really understand, though. Then Ponyboy starts wondering what Soda meant about Darry. He finds it hard to believe that his oldest brother loves him, when he's always scolding him. He tells himself he doesn't care about his relationship with Darry. The next night, when Johnny and Ponyboy meet up with Dally, which is a friend from the gang, to go to a movie. They get there early, and have time to shoplift cigarettes from the drugstore. They arrive at The Dingo, and catch up on who was running away, who was in jail, who was going with who, who could whip who, and who stole what and when and why. On the way to the drive-in theater, they cause trouble chasing around junior high kids. Then they sneak in over the back fence of the Nightly Double drive-in movie, even though they have enough money to get in. Dally walks down the aisle and sits right behind the only two other people there which were two Soc girls. Dally taunts them even though they ask him to leave them alone, and the redhead, whose name is Cherry Valance, threatens to call the cops. Dally goes off to buy Cokes, and the girls see Ponyboy and Johnny. Their demeanor immediately changes, and they are friendly to the two younger, less-threatening boys. Ponyboy remembers that Cherry is a cheerleader at his school. Cherry, her friend, Marcia, and Ponyboy strike up a conversation, and Cherry asks about Soda. Ponyboy admits that Soda dropped out of school. Johnny returns, and is clearly nervous around the girls. Soon Dally comes back with Cokes, but Cherry throws hers in his face. Dally gears up to harass Cherry some more, but Johnny reaches out and stops him. Ponyboy notes that Johnny is the only one of the gang who could stand up to Dally without getting punched. Instead, Dally storms away and doesn't return. The girls invite Ponyboy and Johnny to stay with them, to protect them. Cherry points out that she notices a huge difference between them and Dally. But she does say that she admires Dally. Ponyboy soon learns that the girls had come with their boyfriends, but had left them when they realized the boys were getting drunk. Then Two-bit shows up, also a friend from their gang. Two-bit starts to flirt with Marcia, and updates them on Dally's whereabouts They talk about the impending fight, and Cherry is taken aback at their nonchalant approach to violence. Two-bit explains that that's what happens when you get caught. Cherry asks Ponyboy to come with her to get some popcorn. At the concession stand, she asks him about Johnny, and he describes to her how Johnny was jumped by the Socs. Ponyboy, Steve, and Soda were walking back from the gas station past the field when Steve noticed Johnny's jacket. It had a blood stain on it, and there were more stains across the grass; they then saw Johnny, "a dark motionless hump on the other side of the lot." Johnny had been beaten badly, and Ponyboy thought he might be dead. Two-bit, Darry, and Dally arrived, and Dally's reaction surprised Ponyboy. Johnny told them that he had been followed by a blue Mustang, and four Socs had jumped out and beaten him. Cherry listens, and points out that "All Socs aren't like that." Ponyboy is skeptical at first, but she insists that things are rough. They go back and watch the rest of the movie with the others. Ponyboy thinks about girls in general, and how he and Johnny are both a little scared of them thanks to Two-bit's lectures.
Reaction
My reaction to these chapters was surprised of how much the characters stood out. All the characters have such different qualities and personalities. For example, Ponyboy and Johnny are both quiet people. On the other hand, Dally is very loud and outgoing, not in a good way most of the time. Also, Soda-pop seems like a friendly character, where as Darry is an aggressive figure.
Prompt Answer
My first impression of the characters are that all of them have different traits. Dally stands out to me because he seems like a very outgoing character. This makes me dislike him because he seems like he is rude to people that are trying to be nice to him. I also cannot stand Johnny. This is because he is too quiet of a character that doesn't seem to be paying attention to anything.
Higher Order Thinking Questions
Chapter 1: Hypothesize why the characters are so different, yet end up in the same gang.
Chapter 2: Compare and contrast the Socs, with what has been read so far, and the Greasers.
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