1. The Outsiders
To be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight.
--ee cummings

2. Setting Tulsa, Oklahoma 1960’s West Side vs. East Side of Town
the drive-in theatre
the lot
the church at Windrixville, Oklahoma
the Curtis house
the hospital

3. Characters
PONYBOY CURTIS
JOHNNY CADE
DALLAS “DALLY” WINSTON

4. Ponyboy Curtis narrator good student 14 years old
likes watching sunsets and reading Gone with the Wind, Great Expectations, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” (a poem written by Robert Frost mentioned in this novel)
Greaser
sensitive
Darry says Pony lacks common sense--doesn’t always “use his brain”

5. Johnny Cade the “pet” of the gang 16 years old
physically smaller than the rest of the group
lives in a neglectful and abusive household
has been jumped by the Socs before and now carries a switch- blade knife with him
Dally is his hero
stabs and kills Bob

6. Dally Winston tough lived in New York City has been in jail
helps Pony and Johnny hide out after the murder of Bob
robs liquor store at the end and “gets shot and killed” at the hands of the police

7. Minor Characters Sodapop Curtis Darrel “Darry” Curtis
Sherry “Cherry” Valance
Bob
Randy
Like in the show Spongebob Squarepants, the main character is Spongebob, while the rest of the characters, give or take a few, are just minor characters flying right beneath, or way below him.

8. Sodapop
older brother
works at a Gas Station
handsome
carefree

9. Darrel “Darry” Curtis oldest brother athletic
guardian of Ponyboy when their parents die in a car accident
makes eggs for breakfast
stern
could have gone to college but had to take care of the kids when his parents died

10. Cherry Valance Bob’s girlfriend cheerleader has red hair
says she could fall in love with Dally
acts as a spy for the Greasers
says she will probably not talk to Pony if she sees him at school--he says he understands
likes to look at sunsets, too

11. Bob Sheldon a Soc Cherry’s boyfriend
has beaten up Johnny Cade before the novel starts
wears rings on his fingers; this is how Johnny knows Bob is the Soc who beat him up
is stabbed by Johnny

12. Randy Bob’s best friend
After bob’s death, he has a change of heart about fighting
visits Pony and tries to make up with him

13. Themes (Be able to explain and support these by the end of the novel)
FAMILY
FRIENDSHIP
SOCIAL DIFFERENCES
VIOLENCE/GANG RIVALRY/SENSELESSNE SS OF VIOLENCE
BEING AN “OUTSIDER” / TRYING TO FIT IN

14. Conflicts
Man vs. Man (Ponyboy vs. Darry; Greasers vs. Socs; Johnny vs. Bob)
Man vs. Society (Socs vs. Greasers)
Man vs. Himself (Dally vs. himself; Ponyboy vs. himself)
Man vs. Nature (the boys vs. the fire)

15. Ponyboy’s Literary World
Gone With the Wind is the book the boys read while at the church. Johnny compares Dally to a Southern gentleman which is how Johnny views Dally, as a hero. At the end, the note from Johnny to Pony telling him to “stay gold” falls out of this book.
Great Expectations: Pony compares himself to Pip from this novel; Pip, like Ponyboy, is an orphan trying to find his way in the world.

16. Ponyboy’s Literary World
“Nothing Gold Can Stay” is the poem that Pony and Johnny talk about at the church. The poem means that nothing good can last forever. Just as the golden times in the poem come to an end, so too must their time at the church.
To Johnny, it means to appreciate the things one finds amazing when one is young. He wants Pony (and, sadly, Dally) to look for sunsets and the good things in life.

17. The Ending of the Novel What makes it unique?
What does it show us about the way Ponyboy has dealt with all the events that have happened to him?

18. Allusions (Be able to define allusion and know these following allusions)
Paul Newman
Dairy Queen
Corvette/Corvair
Hank Williams
madras plaid
drive-in theatre
Gone with the Wind
“Nothing Gold Can Stay”