Characters & Plot
Ponyboy is the speaker of the book and the book is told through his view. He is the youngest out of his group of friends. He is part of a poor gang of seven in Oklahoma. They call themselves the greasers because of their greasy hairstyles. Each character has unique characteristics that helps add spice to the low class group. The greasers names are, Johnny, Darry, Dally, Ponyboy, Sodapop, Steve, and Two-Bit. The antagonists of the book is another gang. They live on the other side of town. This gang is called the socs. They are upper-class and rich and despise the sight of any greaser. Whenever the two parties come into contact things get heated. Ponyboy meets a couple of sock girls one night and they get along too well. After their encounter the book picks up pace and the action begins. Things escalate when two contrariwise groups interact.
Important Themes & Symbols
"Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, so dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. (77) -Robert Frost"
As the greasers are hiding away from the world in a church, they find this poem. This is the or one of the greatest quotes of the book because it holds a significant importance later in the book. The quote means that nothing good will last forever, or eventually die out. As the greasers are hiding they increase their friendships. Much later in the book on page (148), as Johnny is "suffering" he tells Ponyboy to stay gold. "Stay gold, Ponyboy, Stay gold." (148) I think he said this to Ponyboy because he see's something in Ponyboy that the others don't have. Also Ponyboy needs to stay strong and hang on.
Ponyboy is the speaker of the book and the book is told through his view. He is the youngest out of his group of friends. He is part of a poor gang of seven in Oklahoma. They call themselves the greasers because of their greasy hairstyles. Each character has unique characteristics that helps add spice to the low class group. The greasers names are, Johnny, Darry, Dally, Ponyboy, Sodapop, Steve, and Two-Bit. The antagonists of the book is another gang. They live on the other side of town. This gang is called the socs. They are upper-class and rich and despise the sight of any greaser. Whenever the two parties come into contact things get heated. Ponyboy meets a couple of sock girls one night and they get along too well. After their encounter the book picks up pace and the action begins. Things escalate when two contrariwise groups interact.
Important Themes & Symbols
"Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, so dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. (77) -Robert Frost"
As the greasers are hiding away from the world in a church, they find this poem. This is the or one of the greatest quotes of the book because it holds a significant importance later in the book. The quote means that nothing good will last forever, or eventually die out. As the greasers are hiding they increase their friendships. Much later in the book on page (148), as Johnny is "suffering" he tells Ponyboy to stay gold. "Stay gold, Ponyboy, Stay gold." (148) I think he said this to Ponyboy because he see's something in Ponyboy that the others don't have. Also Ponyboy needs to stay strong and hang on.