"Stay Gold, Ponyboy,".
Plot:
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a fourteen year old boy, named Ponyboy Curtis, a member of a teen gang (The Greasers) narrates a significant chapter from is life. In his household, the teen is raised by his two brothers Darry and Sodapop who are also Greasers. To start off, the Greasers are in conflict with the Socials (The Socs), a rival group. In other words, there are the "poor", the Greasers and the "rich" ,the Socials. As a result, Ponyboy and his companion, Johnny Cade, get into a fight that concludes in the death of a Social. Therefore, in fear the two teens are forced to go into hiding. Soon, Ponyboy and Johnny, along with their other Greaser buddies, must try to live with the consequences of their violent lives. While, some Greasers attempt to better themselves others meet pure tragedy. However, in the end Ponyboy finds himself through it all.
Theme:
The overall message, is that any form of conflict between classes whether social or in general is pointless and destructive.
Author's Morning:
Based of the author's tone, I envision the author's morning routine quite negative. First, I see the writer waking up early although, they would much rather be asleep. I get the sense that the author was young when this was written for the reason that the ability to describe a young teens thoughts/feeling are strongly relate-able. This is seen in this text, "Me and Darry just didn't dig each other. I never could please him. He would have hollered at me for carrying a blade if I had carried one. If I brought home B's, he wanted A's, and if I got A's, he wanted to make sure they stayed A's. If I was playing football, I should be in studying, and if I was reading, I should be out playing football. He never hollered at Sodapop--- not even when Soda dropped out of school or got tickets for speeding. He just hollered at me ," (pg. 12). Therefore, the author will be annoyed by waking up early. Coffee is a must! I sense that the author is continuously sleep deprived because the way she writes the text is the protagonist is always tired or frustrated over something. An example of this is, "...wishing I had some company. Greasers can't walk alone too much or they'll get jumped, or someone will come by and scream "Greaser!" at them, which doesn't make you feel too hot, if you know what I mean," (pg. 3-4). The protagonist is tired of feeling alone and begins to give reasons to why its bad to be alone as a Greaser to let out his frustration. Therefore, in order to cure the sleep deprivation a cup of coffee and or energy drink most likely will be needed! No exercise! The author makes a few references of sports here and there but, the mentions of school and academics is constant. For example, "You must think at school, with all those good grades you bring home, and you've always got your nose in a book, but do you ever use your head for common sense," (pg. 12). This explicitly shows the academic vibe. So, I see the author as a non-active nerdy type of person. In conclusion, the author's tone throughout the reading was frustrated and negative. As a result, I see the morning routine as an early wake up filled with negativity and coffee with no breakfast to start of their "wonderful" day.
Literary Techniques:
Now, as I was reading I saw characterization, foreshadow, symbolism, similes and allusion. Firstly, let's explore the characterization: " I have light-brown, almost-red hair and greenish-gray eyes. I wish they were more gray...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", (pg. 1), "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 Dad's--- but Darry's eyes are his own. He's got eyes that are like two pieces of pale blue-green ice. They've got a determined set to them, like the rest of him. He looks older than twenty--- tough, cool, and smart. He would be real handsome if his eyes weren't so cold. He doesn't understand anything that is not plain hard fact. But he uses his head", (pg. 6-7), "Soda is handsomer than anyone else I know. Not like Darry--- Soda's movie-star kind of handsome, the kind that people stop on the street to watch go by. He's not as tall as Darry, and he's a little slimmer, but he has a finely drawn, sensitive face that somehow manages to be reckless and thoughtful at the same time. He's got dark-gold hair that he combs back--- long and silky and straight---and in the summer the sun bleaches it to a shining wheat gold. His eyes are dark brown---lively, dancing, recklessly laughing eyes that can be gentle and sympathetic one moment and blazing with anger the next", (pg. 7-8). After analyzing these descriptions of the characters, I was able to paint out the view/scenery of the protagonist's (Ponyboy) life. Furthermore, these simple descriptions allowed me to take out that the protagonist is not the most confident, without a doubt adores/favors his second oldest brother, and has conflict with his oldest brother (father figure). Secondly, I recognized foreshadowing. Let's list the excerpts I found the foreshadow in: "A rumble, when it's called, is usually born of a grudge fight, and the opponents just happen to bring their friends along", (pg. 11), "And Johnny, who was the most law-abiding of us, now carried in his back pocket a six-inch switchblade.," (pg. 34), "...snatched up an empty bottle, busted off the end, and gave it to me, then reached in his back pocket and flipped out his switchblade...", (pg. 45). All of these quotes are serving as implicit hints that foreshadowing the climax, when a main character Johnny Cade, killed a Soc with his switchblade. The rumble reveals that the Greasers and Socs have tension with one another. As for the switchblades, are constantly repeated emphasizing its significance. Thirdly, I noticed that the author used symbolism in her writing. To be more specific she used the sunset constantly as a symbol. For example, "Maybe the two different worlds we live in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset", (pg. 41). At this moment in the novel, Ponyboy was in midst of anger that girl he likes constantly helps the Socials as she is one as well. However, to diffuse his anger he begins to thnk about the sunset imagining her to be watching the sunset just as he is at that point of the book. Therefore, in this section the sunset symbolizes a sense of peace and unity. In addition, there's the text, "I never noticed the clouds and stuff until you kept reminding me about them. It seems like they were never there before", (pg. 78). In this quote, the character Johnny Cade, is experiencing a truly new dawn because his eyes open up to this new way of life that Ponyboy helped him get. As a result, some sunset represent the new view of life for Johnny and or his view on the world in general. "I mean, I couldn't tell Two-Bit or Steve or even Darry about the sunrise and clouds and stuff. I couldn't even remember that poem around them", (pg.78). Now, here we see that Ponyboy has also gained something from Johnn which is a brand new true personal connection. For the reason, that Ponyboy finally found someone who thinks and sees the way he does. So, here the sunset represents Ponyboy and Johnny's loser establishment of friendship and care for one another. Next, I saw the use of similes. Like, "There was Two-Bit grinning, like a Chessy cat", (pg. 27). This simile helped me gain more knowledge about the character Two-Bit's childlike personality because immediately the iconic grin of the Cheshire cat from, Alice in Wonderland, almost immediately popped up into my head.. To add on, there's, "And for Pete's sake, run a comb through your and quit slouching down like a thug," (pg. 64). This quite and ironic part of the novel because Ponyboy and Johnny are Greasers and are on the run from a murder charge. This in my opinion at lest let me see the comedic side of the author kind of knowing them in a personal way I guess I should say. Also, there is, "You know how it is, when you wake up in a strange place and where in the world you are, until a memory comes rushing over you like a wave", (pg. 68). Now, right the author brings up a relatable topic that allowed to connect with the character on a personal level and feel sympathy towards the situation in that time of the plot. Finally, there were several allusions and or hidden messages I should say. One example is,"...on my mind Paul Newman...he looks tough I don't", (pg. 1). The infamous actor brought into the picture allowing the readers to understand Ponyboy desires to have the look and life of the exciting Paul Newman. Next, there is an old fairytale brought up, "Hey, Ponyboy!' He grinned down at me or should I sleeping beauty", (pg.80). Right here, this small reference brings out a comedy relief and insight on the hardcore character of Dallas Winston. From this I was able to infer hat Dally has a soft spot for the younger member of the gang. Lastly, is my favorite of them all, "Johnny left you his copy of Gone with the Wind. Told the nurse he wanted you to have it", (pg. 158). Throughout, the novel this book is mentioned several times. But, it has a purpose to doing so. The book served as a representation of Ponyboy's personality/interest and most importantly the key that ignited Ponyboy's and Johnny's close relationship. To conclude, the author used a large amount of literary devices to move along the story keeping the readers interested and entertained. Therefore, I never felt a second of boredom while, reading this work. Oh! And remember stay gold.
Signing out,
Destiny G.
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