Key Events and Themes in 'The Outsiders' by S.E. Hinton

Key Events and Themes in 'The Outsiders'

1. Dally raises his weapon, leading the police to perceive a threat and fatally shoot him.

2. Dally wanted to die because Johnny was dead, and he couldn’t live without him.

3. Ponyboy was bothered by his school friends seeing his house because most of them came from "good homes."

4. He was worried that he and Soda would go to an all-boys home.

5. Ponyboy is acquitted, and the Curtis brothers get to stay together.

6. By the end of the novel, after the deaths of Bob and Johnny, Ponyboy has completely lost his innocence; his grades drop, and his attitude changes.

7. His grades suffer because he became detached, developed a bad attitude, and became depressed.

8. Pony can raise his grade to a C by writing an outstanding autobiographical theme.

9. The Greasers didn’t like someone killing their friend, especially a Greaser.

10. Darry yells at Ponyboy about his grades dropping and tells him there is nothing he can do about the deaths of Johnny and Dally.

11. Soda was upset because their constant fighting is tearing him apart.

12. This refers back to the beginning, and what the author is trying to tell us is that Pony is the fictional writer of the story. For his English assignment, Ponyboy wrote The Outsiders.

13. Soda, Pony, and Darry are brothers.

14. Ponyboy is 14, intelligent, and gets good grades in school.

15. Soda is 17; he dropped out of high school.

16. Darry is the oldest, strict, and hardworking.

17. The Greasers are the poor boys from the East Side of town.

18. The Socs are a group of rich teenagers from the West Side.

19. Ponyboy's parents died in a car accident.

20. The Socs beat him up because he is a Greaser, as well as being the smallest of the Greasers.

21. The Greasers are seen as criminals and don’t attend school.

22. Cherry Valance was nervous because she was with two Greasers, and they could get into a fight.

23. Johnny's relationship with his family was not the best; they were violent.

24. Dally hits Johnny because Pony came home late.

25. Ponyboy and Johnny ran away from home.

26. Ponyboy was at the park with Johnny.

27. Johnny killed Bob, the Soc, because he was killing Ponyboy.

28. They went to Dally for help.

29. They were going to hop on a train headed towards Windrixville and hide out in an abandoned church.

30. They got there by train.

31. He is at the abandoned church in Windrixville.

32. Ponyboy did that to not be recognized.

33. Dally went to visit them to give them money and to catch them up.

34. Johnny's back is broken, he has severe burns, and is paralyzed from the waist down.

35. He was surprised that a Greaser would risk his life for other people.

36. Johnny thinks that his mother is there out of obligation, not because of love.

37. The only thing keeping him going are his brothers, Soda and Pony; he is the only one who cuts his hair.

38. Ponyboy thinks that they are going to be successful in life, get a job, house, and a family.

39. Johnny's death affected the story because he was a good friend to everyone, and he was loved.

40. The last words to Pony from Johnny were to stay golden; to me, that means that Pony should stay like he is.