The author brought out many personalities to capture the mood and characters of the teenagers in her era. Here are some of them.
Ponyboy Curtis
Ponyboy is the protagonist of ‘The Outsiders‘, who shares his thoughts and feelings directly with us, the readers. He is the youngest Curtis brother at 14 years old and greaser and also one of the youngest characters in the novel. Ponyboy is academically talented, intelligent, and sensitive and physically resembles his brother Sodapop. Ponyboy possesses certain un-greaser-like characteristics. For instance, he likes to go to the movies by himself, does well in school, and appreciates sunsets.
Ponyboy is perceptive and wonders whether fighting is something to enjoy even though he accepts the conflict between the Greasers and the Socs for what it is. He is poetic and insightful, looks for signs of a person’s true character beyond social status, and also criticizes the unfairness of being low-income. Over the course of the novel, he grew up quickly, but he had a breakdown when he couldn’t accept the death of his friends – Johnny and Dally.
Darry Curtis
Darrel, popularly referred to as Darry in the book, is the oldest of the Curtis brothers. He is 20, hardworking, mature beyond his years and rarely shows his feelings. After their parent’s death in a car accident, Darry passed up on a college scholarship so he can take care of his younger brothers. Darry has high expectations for Ponyboy, and Ponyboy’s occasional failure to meet those expectations causes tension between the brothers. Later in the novel, Darry learns how to show Ponyboy that he cares about him.
He expresses his love for Ponyboy by being very strict and serious, which Ponyboy took as a sign that Darry doesn’t love him. Darry is of the belief Ponyboy has the ability to do more with his life than either he or Sodapop. This makes him get angry when Ponyboy stays out late and lets his grades fall.
Johnny Cade
Johnny is 16, the second youngest of the greasers, beloved by the entire gang and a close friend to Ponyboy. He rarely spends his time at home as he was neglected and abused at home. He takes the greasers as his true family, and they regard him as a little brother. Most of the things that happened in Johnny’s life motivate Ponyboy to write about his experiences and to pursue a better path in his life.
Johnny is the Greaser gang’s pet, and he’s the one who keeps the gang together. Being the least assumed member of the gang, he has a fearful look in his eye. He starts carrying a knife on him at all times after Bob beats him up. He admires Dally and the Southern gentlemen in Gone with the Wind a lot, and he is a deep thinker with his insight into Robert Frost’s poem ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay.’ His last wish for Ponyboy is to fight less and rather focus more on the beauty in the world.
Dallas Winston
Popularly known as Dallas, he is a tough, hardened greaser. He grew up on the streets of New York and learned early how to fend for himself. He is a risk-taker with a long criminal record, yet he is also a loyal and compassionate friend. He sees some potential in Johnny that he himself has lost.
A transplant from New York City, Dallas is the toughest member of the Greaser gang. He gets into the most fights and steals the most things, yet he cares a lot about Johnny despite his violent nature. When Johnny dies, Dallas feels anguished with grief when Johnny dies and therefore provokes the police into shooting him.
Cherry Valance
Cherry is open-minded, a Soc, sensitive, courageous and Bob’s girlfriend. She befriends Ponyboy in the novel and helps him to see that some Socs are nice people, too. She shares many things in common with Ponyboy, such as enjoying sunsets and reading a lot. Cherry became a liaison between the two gangs after Bob’s death. She always maintains that, despite the superficial differences between them, the Socs and greasers see the same sunset. She spies on the Socs when Johnny and Ponyboy leave town.
Bob Sheldon
Bob is the leader of the Socs and Cherry’s boyfriend. He is an aggressive, tenacious guy who gets killed when he and his friends attack Johnny and Ponyboy. Over the course of the novel, Ponyboy learns that Bob had his own troubles and difficulties growing up.
Bob is a handsome Soc who has it all and had once badly beaten Johnny up. Johnny killed him when he was drowning Ponyboy in the park fountain. Cherry and Randy later reveal that Bob was a kinder person when he was sober.
Sodapop Curtis
Sodapop is the middle Curtis brother; he is handsome and fun-loving. Sodapop is a high school dropout who enjoys working with cars and works at a gas station. He is a kind and supportive sibling to his two brothers, often in the middle of their fights.
Randy Adderson
Randy is Bob’s best friend and Marcia’s boyfriend. Randy is a Soc who also attacks Ponyboy and Johnny. After Bob’s death, Randy reflects on life, becomes friends with Ponyboy, and works to end the violence between the Socs and greasers. Later in the novel, Randy decides that the conflict between the Socs and Greasers isn’t worth it and visits Ponyboy a few times to express his thoughts about Johnny and Bob.
Two-Bit Mathews
Two-Bit is the oldest of the greaser gang. Two-Bit is sharp, funny, and always telling jokes.
Marcia
Cherry’s best friend and Randy’s girlfriend.
Sandy
Sandy is a greaser girl whom Sodapop loves. However, she breaks Soda’s heart when she moves to Florida to have a baby that isn’t his and refuses his offer of marriage.
Buck Merril
Buck is Dally’s friend and rodeo partner. He is a strong guy known for throwing wild parties.
Tim Shepard
Tim is the leader of the Shepard gang, another gang in the city that is friendly to the greasers but tougher than them. Tim is a good friend of Dally.
Mr Syme
Ponyboy’s English teacher gives him a second chance to improve his grades. He asked him to write an essay to get his grades up, and the essay turned into the novel itself.
Jerry Wood
Jerry is an elementary school teacher whose students are saved by Johnny and Ponyboy in the church fire. He follows Ponyboy to the hospital and encourages Ponyboy to see himself as a hero.
Mrs O’Briant
Mrs O’Briant is an elementary school teacher whose students are saved by Johnny and Ponyboy in the church fire.
FAQs
Who is the only person who can tease Darry?
Sodapop Curtis, the middle brother in the Curtis family, is the only person that can do that. He loves his brothers and always tries to calm them when they are quarrelling. He sticks up for Ponyboy when Darry was lecturing him because he knows that he is the only person who can tease Darry and get away with it.
Did Sodapop get Sandy pregnant?
Sandy is Sodapop Curtis’ girlfriend who appears in the novel only when the boys mention her. According to the book, she got pregnant with another man’s child and moved to Florida to live with her grandmother. This is because her grandparents didn’t want her to marry Sodapop, and this breaks his heart.
Who kills Dally?
The police officers kill Dally. After Johnny, the only person he cares about dies in the hospital, Dally becomes very upset. He runs away from Ponyboy and robs a grocery store, and the policemen chase him to the empty lot. Dally threatens the police with his unloaded gun, who shoots him in self-defence.
Why did Johnny not see his mother?
Johnny refuses to see his mother at the hospital because he has endured verbal abuse from her in the past, she doesn’t care about him, and he does not want to go out with her, yelling at him. According to him, the gang is the only family he needs.
Did Ponyboy faint when Johnny died?
No, he faints much later. After Johnny dies and Dally is shot dead by the police, Ponyboy faints. This is due to the extraordinary amount of emotional and physical trauma to which he has been subjected in a brief period of time. His friends are dead, and he carries wounds from both the church fire and the rumble.
FAQs
The Outsiders Characters | Book Analysis? ›
Darry is described as tough, smart, and cool by Ponyboy's early narration. He is tall and strongly built with piercing eyes and a serious manner that makes him look older than twenty.
What are the personalities of characters in The Outsiders? ›- Ponyboy Curtis. loner, intelligent, senseless, friendly, easy-going, loyal.
- Sodapop Curtis. unique, energetic, thoughtful, happy-go-lucky.
- Darry Curtis. hardworking, mature, worrier, firm, over protective.
- Johnny Cade. jumpy, shy, nervous.
- Dally Winston. ...
- Steve Randle. ...
- Two-Bit Matthews.
- Ponyboy Curtis.
- Johnny Cade.
- Dallas Winston.
- Cherry Valance.
- Darry Curtis.
- Sodapop Curtis.
- Bob Sheldon.
Darry is described as tough, smart, and cool by Ponyboy's early narration. He is tall and strongly built with piercing eyes and a serious manner that makes him look older than twenty.
Who is Ponyboy's girlfriend in The Outsiders? ›To Pony, Cherry Valance typifies the perfect Soc girlfriend. And she is, perhaps, until her boyfriend, Bob, is killed. Cherry, a cheerleader, attends the same high school as Ponyboy. She is cute, rich, and stands up for what she believes in.
What is Ponyboy's personality? ›What is Ponyboy's personality? Ponyboy is soft-spoken and sensitive in The Outsiders. He feels everything very deeply and expresses himself through words and poetry. He loves his friends and his brothers with everything he has, and he would do anything for them.
What personality type is Dally The Outsiders? ›What are Dally Winston's personality traits? Dally is cold, mean, and tough. He is far tougher than the other members of the Greasers. He does not respect the law and often finds himself involved in crime.
What is Ponyboy's real name? ›Ponyboy Michael Curtis A 14-year-old boy who is the narrator and main character in The Outsiders. His parents have been killed in an automobile accident, and he lives with his two brothers. Soda(pop) Patrick Curtis Ponyboy's 16-going-on-17-year-old brother.
Was Sandy pregnant with Sodapop's child? ›When Pony learns that Sandy's pregnant—not with Soda's kid—and that Sandy's parents refused to let her marry Soda, he realizes Soda has problems too.
Who is the strongest character in The Outsiders? ›Dallas Winston is strongest of the Greasers and the toughest by far, but had a rough past and made him what he became. Dally is tougher than nails, is what they say, not hated but feared, and full of hatred for those who wronged him.
What is sodapop Curtis's personality? ›
Sodapop, sometimes called “Soda,” is the middle of the three Curtis brothers. He is energetic, disinterested in school, and movie-star handsome. Ponyboy describes his idolization of Sodapop from the very beginning, and says his brother “gets drunk on just plain living,” a quality he deeply admires.
What is Johnny Cade's personality? ›Johnny is a nervous person who is always suspicious of being jumped. He changes from being scared of his shadow, to a hero, to regretful for not being able to live longer.
What are the personality traits of Sodapop? ›Sodapop is best described as handsome, positive, compassionate, and loyal. These are the personality traits he exemplifies the most throughout the novel.
Why is Cherry attracted to Dally? ›She finds herself attracted to Dally, who is crass and unrefined but also sexy and charismatic. Despite all her attraction to the greasers, moreover, she is not completely free of group prejudice. She tells Ponyboy that she probably won't say hello to him at school, acknowledging that she respects social divisions.
Is Ponyboy in love with Cherry? ›Sheryl "Cherry" Valance is the lead female protagonist in the 1967 novel, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. She is the closest thing Ponyboy has to a love interest in the novel and is from the Socs.
Who is Cherry's boyfriend? ›Bob Sheldon
Cherry's boyfriend. Bob is the dark-haired Soc who beats up Johnny before the novel begins. Bob has a set of three heavy rings, which he wears when he fights greasers. Bob's indulgent parents have never disciplined him.
We understand Ponyboy's moodiness, forgetfulness, and confusion intimately (being fourteen sucks), but, given his biography, these character traits are even more understandable... even if we can't all relate to his trials and tribulations.
Who does Ponyboy love the most out of anyone? ›4. Who does Ponyboy love the most out of anyone? Soda.
What does ponyboy's hair symbolize? ›The greasers' long, slick hair is a symbol of their gang, both to themselves and to others. When Ponyboy and Johnny cut and dye their hair while in hiding they're taking a symbolic step outside the gang. As a result, Ponyboy feels less secure, but also gains a bit of room in which to develop his individuality.
Did Ponyboy like Dally? ›Dally and Pony are colleagues in the same gang who aren't close friends in the beginning. However, over the course of Hinton's novel, Ponyboys attitude towards Dally evolves from just a person in the gain who he fears to a person that he is friends with.
Is Dally cold hearted? ›
Throughout the book Dally is always described as mean and cold-hearted. Ponyboy often says how he likes Dally the least out of the gang. In fact, most of Dally's interactions with other characters would almost always turn out to be negative.
What personality type is Darry Curtis? ›Note: Darry is also sometimes typed as ESTJ.
What is Sodapop real name? ›| Sodapop | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Sodapop Patrick Curtis |
| Birthday | October 8 (Libra) |
| Age | 16 |
| Affiliation | Greaser |
Cherry Valance-Curtis
Pony Boy is now married to Cherry with twins, Dally and Johnny, who go to school and are very smart. They moved to Florida where he owns his own workout gym.
Keith "Two-Bit" Mathews is one of the main protagonists of the 1967 novel The Outsiders written by S.E. Hinton.
What were Johnny's last words to Pony? ›What do Johnny's last words mean? Right before he dies in the hospital, Johnny says “Stay gold, Ponyboy.” Ponyboy cannot figure out what Johnny means until he reads the note Johnny left. Johnny writes that “stay gold” is a reference to the Robert Frost poem Ponyboy shared when they were hiding at the church.
Who got pregnant in The Outsiders? ›Ponyboy asks Sodapop about Sandy and learns that she got pregnant and moved to Florida. Her parents refused to let her marry Sodapop because of his age, so Sandy left to live with her grandmother.
Who tried to drown Ponyboy? ›Randy Anderson: Bob and some of the other Socs chased Johnny and Ponyboy. Bob grabbed Ponyboy and started to try to drown him.
Who is bad in The Outsiders? ›Robert "Bob" Sheldon is the main antagonist in S.E. Hinton's 1967 novel The Outsiders, its 1983 film adaptation of the same name, and the posthumous overarching antagonist of the 1990 sequel TV series.
Who is the true hero of The Outsiders? ›Ponyboy Curtis is the protagonist of The Outsiders. He is also the novel's narrator, which means that he shares his story of maturation from his own perspective. Ponyboy's struggle to reconcile his social class standing and gang membership with his individuality guides the entire novel.
How old is Two-Bit? ›
How Old Is Two-Bit in The Outsiders? Two-Bit is 18 and 1/2 years old, making him the oldest member of the greaser gang. Despite his age, Two-Bit is still a junior in high school due to his lack of interest in schoolwork and his general laziness.
Does Sodapop love Ponyboy? ›Both Soda and Darry love Ponyboy. However, they have very different ways of showing their love which leads to very different relationships between the boys.
Who does Sodapop love? ›Sodapop is dating, and in love with Sandy near the beginning of the book, a pretty girl with china blue eyes and blonde hair.
What symbolizes Dally in The Outsiders? ›The loss of the weapon, at this point, becomes inextricably linked with the loss of Dally—a figure who embodies individual power and authority.
Was dally in love with johnny? ›Dally was proud of him. That was all Johnny had ever wanted." And Dally needs Johnny as much as Johnny needs Dally. Ponyboy realizes this truth after Johnny's death. When he tries to make sense of Dally's reaction to Johnny's death, it dawns on him, "Johnny was the only thing that Dally loved."
What was Johnny Cade's weakness? ›He is ''afraid of his own shadow. '' Even so, he often sleeps in the vacant lot where he was jumped because it feels safer than going home. Despite his need to be taken care of and his crippling fear, Johnny can be depended on to do what is needed to take care of his friends in a rumble.
What does dally look like? ›Ponyboy describes Dally as having an elfish face, high cheekbones, a pointed chin, sharp teeth, blue eyes, and long, white hair. He wore his rage in his eyes and in the lines on his face.
What does Darry look like? ›Darry is a muscular and tall man, standing at 6' 2", who is broad shouldered. His hair is said to be like his father's - dark brown that sticks out in the front of his head with a cowlick in the back.
What does Cherry look like in The Outsiders? ›What does Sherri Valance look like? Sherri "Cherry" Valance is describes as a beautiful 16-year-old girl with red hair and green eyes. Ponyboy also describes her as "classy."
What does Darry Curtis look like? ›Appearance. "Darry is six-feet-two, and broad-shouldered and muscular. He has dark-brown hair that kicks out in front and a slight cowlick in the back--- just like [their] Dad's--- but Darry's eyes are his own. He's got eyes that are like two pieces of pale blue-green ice.
Who stops Dally from hurting Cherry? ›
The girls are the target of Dally's nasty and rude comments, but he buys them sodas to "cool them off." Cherry throws her soda into Dally's face and the situation is tense until Johnny steps in to defend her, which is surprising given that Johnny worships Dally and considers him his hero.
What did Cherry throw in Dally's face? ›When Dally buys Cokes for Marcia and Cherry, Cherry throws her Coke in his face while Marcia drinks hers. Ponyboy realizes that Cherry and Marcia are different from one another.
Who told Dally to leave Cherry Alone? ›When Dally tries to give Cherry a soda, she throws it in his face. Dally refuses to stop being rude, and Johnny tells Dally to leave the girls alone.
What are Johnny's personality in The Outsiders? ›Johnny is a nervous person who is always suspicious of being jumped. He changes from being scared of his shadow, to a hero, to regretful for not being able to live longer. Johnny killed Bob and is the Greaserʼs pet. Smallest of the gang.
What is sodapop curtis personality? ›Sodapop, sometimes called “Soda,” is the middle of the three Curtis brothers. He is energetic, disinterested in school, and movie-star handsome. Ponyboy describes his idolization of Sodapop from the very beginning, and says his brother “gets drunk on just plain living,” a quality he deeply admires.
What is Steve Randle's personality? ›Steve Randle
He is cocky and intelligent, tall and lean. He wears his thick hair in a complicated arrangement of swirls. He is also tough—he once held off four opponents in a fight with a broken soda bottle. He sees Ponyboy as Sodapop's annoying kid brother and wishes Ponyboy would not tag along so often.
Character Analysis
Yup: he's one sadistic bully. He's also the guy who orders David to "give [Pony] a bath" in the fountain in the park.