The Outsiders Pony Curtis - Essay Example

? The Outsiders revolves around the story of teenagers and how a 14-year-old boy sees life from his end. It’s narrated by Pony Curtis, who jots down the events of his life for others to observe the life through his lens. Pony lived with his two brothers, Sodapop and Darry due to the fact that their parents were killed in a car accident. They lived in a dangerous area which belonged to an East Side poor gang of kids called Greasers. They were continuously targeted and harassed by the other gang of rich kids called Socs from the west. In the duration of two weeks, Curtis’ life takes a spun and he turns from a teenager to a mature adult. On a week night, in a drive-in -theater, Curtis and his gang met two girls who were girlfriends of Soc gang boys. Curtis as a sensitive boy talks with Cherry and shares his view about sunset and offers to walk and drop Cherry and her friends to their homes. On the way, they meet up with their boyfriends. Johnny and Curtis unintentionally sleep in their favorite vacant spot without telling Darry. Darry becomes furious and hits Curtis for the first time. In the meantime, Curtis runs back to Johnny who is already accompanied by Socs gang boys. Bob, one of the Soc gang members, tries to drown Curtis in the fountain during the fight and Johnny ends up stabbing and killing Bob. Johnny and Curtis got panicked after this incident and ran for help from Dally. He aided them with money and a gun and guided them to hide in an abandoned Church at Windrixville which they could reach through a train journey. Both boys on the run have changed their appearance and have clipped their signature locks for the safety purpose and to become unrecognizable. Almost for a week both boys hid in the church and where occasionally met by Dally, who took them out for food. Johnny was overwhelmed with guilt and decided to face the music, but when they reached back to their hideout, the church was on fire. A school group was having a picnic there and some kids got stuck in the fire inside the church. Curtis and Johnny ran to help the kids, but Johnny got stuck by a burning log and in the meanwhile burned himself. Dally, Johnny and Curtis were hospitalized after the fire incident. Johnny was burned severely and was in a critical condition; on the other hand, Dally burned his arm. Due to a rumble against the Socs, all the Greasers needed to be present, so they all went home. Curtis despised it but decided to go there. In the meanwhile, Dally runs away from the hospital to participate in the rumble and eventually Greasers win it. When Curtis meets dying Johnny, he advises him to stay innocent and not to follow the footsteps of Dallas. Johnny’s death adversely impacted Dallas and in grief he runs out and robs a grocery store. He was chased by police when he called his gang, they all saw him pointing a gun towards cops and being shot. Curtis got sick due to the sudden deaths of his friends and was restless. In order to stay with his siblings, he had to testify in the court for the events which eventually turned judge’s favor for him. Curtis is still miserable and his life changes. He showed poor results in school and Darry, as an elder brother, couldn’t see the bright Curtis to end up like him, and they both argue and fight. Sodapop couldn’t endure any more fights and run away from home. Sodapop was found in a vacant lot and pours his heart out in front of them. He disliked their fights and the only way of survival for them is to manage each other without getting on each others’ nerves. Darry and Curtis promised to be caring towards each other. Curtis writes about his experiences as a project for English class, in which he aimed to tell other boys of his age that risking one’s future can only bring misery. G. Stanley Hall describes adolescence as a process when a boy or girl is reborn through the process of maturation not only physically but mental stability does also go through a process of progression. He claims that the age of adolescence starts from 12 or 13 years and ends at 22 to 25 years. Hall says that this period of life is full of uncertainties in mood and behavior. If an adolescent is in high spirits, then euphoria, exuberance, jauntiness and high energy activities are seen. This period is often followed by lethargy and depression. Hall states that this period is full of extremist feelings, both on negative and on positive terms. Egoism and vanity are present as much as bashfulness and self-consciousness are. The same ambiguity exists for feelings for others. Selflessness, sensitivity and tenderness are as common as childish selfishness, cruelty and heartlessness. This vagueness leads him to mistakes and wrong decisions such as friendships and crushes while wanting loneliness and peacefulness or vice versa. In late adolescence, a person reviews his life and becomes mature enough to gather all the lessons from it and hence, becomes mature (Arnett, 1999). Thus, one could observe the same pattern of mood in all the characters of The Outsiders. Darry, Sodapop, Ponyboy Curtis, Dally, Sandy Johnny and other members of the Soc and Greaser gangs were also in the same adolescence mode which Hall had described as a process of becoming stable personalities. Especially the example of Ponyboy Curtis displays the mood swings, tantrums and strong will when leading him to made uncertain decisions which directly affected his future. The denial of listening to adults is also a state shown through Ponyboy Curtis’ actions. Curtis said to Sodapop regarding Darry’s intrusion in his life. “Then why does he bug me all the time” (Hinton, p. 14, act 1). Here Ponyboy Curtis like all teenagers think that Darry picks on him due to the fact that he feeds him and wants him to be obedient but he doesn’t realize the fact as an elder brother; Darry acted as a parent towards Ponyboy Curtis and wanted the best for him. The occasion when Darry hits Pony boy, or the night when Curtis comes late from the movie were the incidents which made Curtis more hasty and adamant. The lessons which Curtis learned later, when he viewed his decisions throughout the 2 week’s duration rationally and weighed the logics they contained, were thought provoking. Erik Erikson gave an important ideology about personality and its psychological development. Erikson stated that development of ego identity is one of the main aspects. Ego identity is the development of our social antiquates, which continuously transform due to new experiences. It leads to ego strength. Erick’s identity versus confusion is the fifth stage of psychosocial development and this includes the stage where adolescents explore their identity and independence during the age of 12 to 18 years old. They feel insecure about themselves and their social status in the society and want desperately to fit in the community they dwell in. This stage develops sense of direction and basis of their identity. It can either lead to self assured nature if well reinforcement is encouraged or it can lead to life full of uncertainties as well (Newman, 1975). Ponyboy Curtis throughout the story seems in a search of his true identity though apparently he is a gang member of Greasers, a younger sibling and a bright student, but he still is looking for his true potential, which he recognizes after the painful events of his close friend’s death. Ponyboy Curtis runs from cops, living in church, helping trapped kids in the fire, being there in the rumble and on the death bed of Johhny and finally witnessing the death of Dallas; all this accumulates and shows how uncertain events made Curtis more sensible and mature. The rumbles among Socs and Greasers showed how one gang wanted to outmaneuver or disgrace the other not only physically but also through verbal blows. This aspect shows the craving of being important and acceptance of one’s ability. Bowing down or respecting the power of a person even through force is adequate for the characters in the play and it rightly stimulates with Erick’s theory of adolescence. Ponyboy said to Darry, “No matter what I did you wouldn’t like it” (Hinton, p .10, Act 1). This is the identity confusion which an adult like Darry nourishes with their forceful care. At this stage friends have a greater influence on a person’s state of mind than his own family, and this gives them power over the adolescent. If it is competitive, it can be positive or it can be negative if adolescent is in a wrong company (Levine, 2011). Ponyboy Curtis explained his association with the gang in these words. “Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up petrol stations and have a gang fight once in a while” (Hinton, Act 8). The gang culture provided an opportunity for people who require a strong influence, whether right or wrong. These gangs companionship provide a platform for the cultivation of new and unethical habits, which was evident from the course of action Ponyboy Curtis’s life took (Waller, 2009). Ponyboy Curtis had flown along with the actions of Dallas and Johnny – the closest companions he had. Due to absence of parental nourishing, he felt more attracted towards the male models he was acquainted to. The affects of the company were later felt by him when he went through the rough patch of losing his dear friends Johnny and Dallas. He jotted down that experience in a written form so as make the youth aware of how a company affects adversely if one keeps the wrong one. References Top of Form Hinton, S. E., Britt-Katrin Keson., & Per Illum. (2010). The Outsiders. Copenhagen: Easy Readers.Bottom of Form Santrock, J. W. (2009). Adolescence. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Top of Form Arnett, J. J. (1999, January 01). Adolescent storm and stress, reconsidered: Nearly 100 years after G. Stanley Hall characterized adolescence as a time of storm and stress, that view is ripe for reevaluation. American Psychologist, 54(5), 317-326. Top of Form Newman, B. M., & Newman, P. R. (1975). Development through life: A psychosocial approach. Homewood, Ill: Dorsey Press. Top of Form Levine, L. E., & Munsch, J. (2011). Child development: An active learning approach. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE. Waller, A. (2009). Constructing adolescence in fantastic realism. New York: Routledge.Bottom of Form Read More