Chapter 11 NOTES

Bob the person  Ponyboy stays in bed for a week, recovering.  Flipping through one of Sodapop’s old yearbooks, he sees a picture of Bob and starts to wonder what he was like as a person, not as a Soc.  He thinks about what Cherry and Randy told him. Bob was a sweet and friendly person who stood out from the crowd (Cherry). He was real person, the best buddy a guy could have, and he kept wanting someone to stop him (Randy).  He knows from Randy that Bob’s parents had let him run wild.  Ponyboy comes to the realization that Bob was cocky, quick to anger, and scared.  Most of all, Pony is able to see Bob as a human being, not just a Soc.  In trying to see Bob from a different perspective, Pony acknowledges the humanity of his former enemy.  This is the first step towards rising above the conflict that has caused so much devastation in both the greasers’ and Socs’ lives.

Hate versus pity  When thinking about Bob, Ponyboy wonders how Bob’s parents are coping with their son’s death.  He wonders, “Did they hate us now? I hoped they hated us, that they weren’t full of that pity-the- victims-of-environment junk…”  Ponyboy states, “I’d rather have anybody’s hate than their pity.”  Ponyboy understands hatred; the greasers and the Socs are divided by hate.  However, he does not want Bob’s parents to pity him and his friends because this means that people who barely know them feel superior to them (i.e. better than them).  Ponyboy is fully aware that he and his friends are on the “wrong” side of society, but overall, he is proud of who he is.  Ponyboy does not want the greasers to be looked down on as inferior, which is what the word “pity” implies. Pity also implies weakness, so it is therefore better to be hated.

Randy’s visit  Randy visits Ponyboy at home.  He explains that he is visiting because Cherry learned that Pony was absent from school.  This reveals his compassion and maturity; he wants to check up on Pony and make sure he is okay.  He also states that everyone involved in Bob’s death has to go see the judge the next day.  Randy’s father has advised him to tell the truth, so that is what he’s going to do.  Randy has the ability to think for himself and seems willing to take a path that some of the other Socs would not.  Randy feels like he let his father down by being “mixed up in all this.”  Pony thinks this fear is dumb because, in his mind, the consequences Randy faces are minimal.  Randy’s father is rich; he can pay any fine that Randy might get.  When Pony tells Randy that his consequences may be much more serious – his parents are dead and he and his brothers might get separated - Randy seems genuinely worried.  Randy demonstrates empathy in his concern for the Curtis brothers.

Pony’s continued denial  To make him feel better, Randy assures Ponyboy that he had nothing to do with Bob’s death.  “It was your friend Johnny that had the knife…”  Randy does not understand Pony’s fear because, in his mind, Pony is completely guilt-free.  Ponyboy, however, insists that he, and not Johnny, was the one who killed Bob. Randy tries to reason with Pony, and then Pony denies to him that Johnny is even dead.  “I had the knife. I killed Bob.”  “Johnny is not dead.”  We should not be surprised by this. We’ve seen in previous chapters that Pony is in denial about things.  Randy is obviously taken by surprise and feels confused.  Pony is still in full denial about Johnny’s death and refuses to even let Johnny be labelled a murderer.  The reality of Johnny being gone is still too painful for him to accept, so he denies it. He cannot deal with it otherwise.  Darry explains to Randy that Ponyboy is still have difficulty coping with Johnny’s death. Mentally and emotionally, Pony is very fragile.  This cannot last forever. At some point, Ponyboy will have to accept that Johnny is dead and face the truth of what happened that night. Right now, however, he just needs some time to come to terms with it.