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Why did the Socs hate us so much? We left them alone.

This suggests that Ponyboy is struggling with feeling persecuted by the Socs. He feels that he and his friends bear the brunt of the Socs’ anger for no good reason, which must feel frustrating. Ponyboy seems like a good kid as he is a good student and seems to stay out of trouble, but his association with the Greasers has fated him to the Socs’ hate, warranted or not.

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That happened to me once. One time in biology I had to dissect a worm, and the razor wouldn’t cut, so I used my switchblade. The minute I flicked it out – I forgot what I was doing or I would never have done it – this girl right beside me kind of gasped, and said, ‘They are right. You are a hood.’ That didn’t make me feel so hot. There were a lot of Socs in that class – I get put into A classes because I’m supposed to be smart – and most of them thought it was pretty funny. I didn’t, though. She was a cute girl.

This reveals that Ponyboy recognizes that people believe certain stereotypes about him. People see him as a Greaser, and not much more. In this situation the girl that he is attracted to reveals what people have been telling her about him. It seems that they see him as poor and violent. This flashback adds tension to the conflict because the reader learns that these judgements hurt Ponyboy because he feels trapped by the stereotype. Even though he is in top classes because he is smart, he is made to feel like he doesn’t belong.

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“Listen, kiddo, when Darry hollers at you... he don't mean nothin'. He's just got more worries than somebody his age ought to. Don't take him serious... you dig Pony? Don't let him bug you. He's really proud of you 'cause you're so brainy. It's just because you're the baby- I mean, he loves you a lot. Savvy?”

This advice suggests that Ponyboy may learn a lesson connected to brotherhood later in the story. It reveals Ponyboy’s internal conflict related to Darry. Ponyboy expresses that he feels disconnected from his brother and that he thinks Darry is too strict. Pony wants to have the same kind of relationship that he has with Soda. He doesn’t understand that Darry expresses his love in a different way. He doesn’t understand that Darry is hard on him because he cares about him.

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“My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs, squared off in back and long at the front and sides, but I am a greaser and most of my neighborhood rarely bothers to get a haircut. Besides, I look better with long hair.”

“So Soda and I stay out of trouble as much as we can, and we're careful not to get caught when we can't. I only mean that most greasers do things like that, just like we wear our hair long and dress in blue jeans and T-shirts…”

"We're gonna do you a favor, greaser. We're gonna cut all that long greasy hair off."

"You know what a greaser is?" Bob asked. "White trash with long hair."

"I don't look like a farm boy," I said. I suddenly thought of my long hair, combed back, and the slouching stride I used from habit. I looked at Johnny. He didn't look like any farm boy to me…but for the first time I saw him as a stranger might see him. He looked hard and tough, because of his black T-shirt and his blue jeans and jacket, and because his hair was heavily greased and so long. I saw how his hair curled behind his ears and I thought: We both need a haircut ... They'll know we're hoods the minute they see us, I thought.

S.E. Hinton uses the image of hair as a symbol to represent the Greasers’ pride and identity. At first, it’s easy to see the gang’s hair as the product of poverty. They don’t have much money, so a luxury like a haircut is probably one of the first to go. But if that’s the case, the Greasers own their long hair as a symbol of status. If you don’t have long, greasy hair, are you even a Greaser? Whereas the Socs have money and fancy things like nice clothing and “tuff’ cars, the Greasers are identified by their hair.

Sometimes, Ponyboy feels that his hairstyle traps him though. If most Greasers are also rough and get into trouble, then the haircut means something else to those in the area, especially adults.

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It was almost four months ago… I think we all heard the low moan and saw the dark motionless hump on the other side of the lot at the same time…Johnny was lying face down on the ground. Soda turned him over gently, and I nearly got sick. Someone had beaten him badly…

Nobody was going to beat him like that again. Not over his dead body…

This flashback tells us about something inside the character, specifically how he feels about it and how he doesn't want to feel like that again. He doesn’t want to just let them beat him up until he is dead. He will kill them if he has to. People might think he is now dangerous. I think Johnny is like the smaller person so he is really frustrated because he can’t do anything about it.

This flashback adds tension to the conflict because the reader learns that the Socs Really hate the greasers and the greasers hate them  so it adds tension because one of the members of the greasers got jumped which is like calling war on them. I predict that the socs and the greasers are going to fight and it is going to be an all out brawl.

This flashback tells us about inside the character, specifically how he is now prepared now if another soc tried to jump him

THis causes tension that the Socs are heartless and ruthless. I predict that he will end up killing a soc.

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"We're gonna cut our hair..."

They are changed by this because now they have to fit in like a Soc, so now they feel like they lost a part of them. They have now changed their identity and they feel different about themselves.

Pony doesnt look like him self. It has also sunk in that he has to disguise as a different person and no more of seeing his brothers. He loved his original hair. They now have to run away and hide for a long time. They are scared and everything has sunk in and they don’t know what to do.

The message probably is that they are trying to fit in and belong with everyone else. This might add to the conflict because they basically changed themselves to a different person and people do not know them. They lost a part of themselves because they aren’t greasers anymore.

This quote explains to the reader that the greaser valued their hair, even if it was bad and long they still liked it, and cutting it off basically meant they were ruining their life's work.

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Johnny wasn't behaving at all like his old self...I caught one quick look at his face; it was red marked from falling embers and sweat streaked, but he grinned at me. He wasn't scared either. That was the only time I can think of when I saw him without that defeated, suspicious look in his eyes. He looked like he was having the time of his life.

At this moment, Johnny is saving the children in the burning church. Ponyboy points out that Johnny isn’t scared.He isn't defeated or suspicious. He looks like he is having fun. This is a turning point because it seems that Johnny wants to die because of the problems that he is facing in his life. In the beginning of the book Johnny's parents don’t really care about him and his dad beats him and because of these problems he just wants to end it all in a way that is not obvious. So he is having a field day saving kids from the burning church.

Johnny acts this way because knows he is going to turn himself in and will have to go to jail. And if he goes to jail he will not be able to hang out with his friends and do all the things that they usually do together. Because he will be going to jail, this could be the last time he’s doing something dangerous with his brothers.

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Johnny wasn't behaving at all like his old self...I caught one quick look at his face; it was red marked from falling embers and sweat streaked, but he grinned at me. He wasn't scared either. That was the only time I can think of when I saw him without that defeated, suspicious look in his eyes. He looked like he was having the time of his life.

Summary: This is a contrast and contradiction because, as Pony points out, Johnny is typically scared, paranoid, and unhappy, like a small dog that gets beat. Here he is full of life, grinning and brave and actually having fun.

Analysis: I think this shows that Johnny is taking control for the first time in his life. He must usually feel pretty helpless. And the last time he took control of a situation where he was feeling helpless, he ended up killing someone. That has been wearing him down, filling him with the burden of guilt. Now he can take control and help others. And maybe by saving a life he can forgive himself for taking one.

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Summary: Ponyboy likes sunsets and wherever he goes he talks about them because he thinks that they relate to relaxation and happiness and that the socs can’t have happiness so the sunset “looks different” but he realizes it's the same wherever you are.

Analysis: So the socs have happiness too. They have feelings too. They can be sad or happy. It's not just about beating people up and buying expensive cars with all their money or getting drunk with girls. For example, Bob's mother was depressed when she found out that he had died and was extremely sad. Ponyboy talks a lot about sunsets because he likes them and he thinks that the socs don't like them and that they don't care about anything but soon he realizes that they have hearts too they have feelings they can also see the sunset on the other side. The sunset on the other side looks the same too this means that anyone can be feeling something on the inside that you don't know

Ponyboy is surprised that they see the same sunset because they live different lives. Ponyboy is kinda poor while Cherry is rich.Ponyboy is realizing that the socs are not bad people and they can be nice.

The author uses the symbol/image of sunset to represent someone that you love and that when he sees sunsets he feels hopeful and happy on the inside. The sunsets might remind him of his dead parents up in the sky.

Ponyboy has realized that there are no differences  and they are just the same persons with different social classes . This develops his character because he might lose his hate for the socs because he now understands that they are the same and he might refuse to do the rumble.

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"Ponyboy." I barely heard him. I came closer and leaned over to hear what he was going to say. "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold..." The pillow seemed to sink a little, and Johnny died. You read about people looking peacefully asleep when they're dead, but they don't. Johnny just looked dead. Like a candle with the flame gone. I tried to say something, but I couldn't make a sound.

I think when Johnny was telling Ponyboy about this he meant it in a way that says, stay good, because in the poem that Ponyboy had told Johnny about, the gold referred to precious and special things/time that won't stay for long before it goes away. Also I think when Johnny was telling Ponyboy about this he meant it in a nice way to remember the time that they spent together.

I think what Johnny is trying to say is that Ponyboy is the definition of gold to Johnny. Though gold cannot last or stay forever Johnny wants Ponyboy to be pure and precious for the rest of his life. Gold is also very valuable so Ponyboy was super valuable to Johnny, this shows that Johnny loved Ponyboy.

I think johnny means by stay gold he means like he has more potential in life. Do good, that's the last wish he wants ponyboy to do. As a result of this lesson, I can predict that the character will change his ways in life and do better instead of getting into fights, staying out of trouble as much. Like he’ll eventually realize he has more potential than other greasers and does something with himself to make johnny proud.

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In the story, Ponyboy and Dallas go to the hospital after the rumble to see Johnny. They walk in and see that Johnny is very pale and generally looks like he is dying. They have their last conversation and after Johnny tells Ponyboy “ Stay gold ponyboy, Stay gold.” He dies.

This story is teaching us that truly nothing gold can stay. We figured out that in the poem, gold meant something valuable and precious. Or important. And if gold is such an amazing important thing it must mean for Ponyboy to be amazinga and be the best version of yourself. In this situation Ponyboy is the gold and is the valuable and precious and important amazing thing. Johnny loved Ponyboy deeply and wanted to leave knowing that Pony knew that he loved him and to stay gold.

Earlier in the story, Dally and Ponyboy are in the car and Dally is talking about how he is so upset that Johnny is dying. He says "I was crazy, you know that, kid? Crazy for wantin' Johnny to stay outa trouble, for not wantin' him to get hard. If he'd been like me he'd never have been in this mess. If he'd got smart like me he'd never have run into that church. That's what you get for helpin' people. Editorials in the paper and a lot of trouble.... You'd better wise up, Pony... you get tough like me and you don't get hurt. You look out for yourself and nothin' can touch you..."

Dally told Ponyboy to get tough so he doesn't get hurt. Johnny wanted to be like Dally because of how brave and outgoing he is. Dally is scared and upset because Johnny shouldn’t have run into the church or he would still be alive. And now Dally is scared for Pony because since Ponyboy doesn’t use his head he is scared Ponyboy might do something stupid. It's almost as if he thinks it is his fault for being who he is because that is why Johnny is dead. It's because of how Dally's actions can influence what the guys do.