#I apologise for the ahift in quality half-way I’m a little fuzzy rn

[boysborntodie]

@positively-peachy-143 Actually been dying to answer this question tysm<33 Also I apologise for the ramblings, it will probably happen again

5) The pre-rumble scene

Underrated scene, we need to talk about it more. This is the first proper glimpse we get of the gang and their dynamics since Pony was jumped, outside of Pony’s recounting, and it’s just a very fun scene that’s constantly contrasted by the seriousness of the impending rumble.

The juxtaposition between Pony’s desire and desperation to fight, to prove himself as a greaser and man, to prove a point against the Socs, to help out the gang, and the nagging feeling of ‘wrongness’ as realisation dawns on him that fighting and violence is pointless (later hammered in by Johnny before his death). The positioning of this scene as right after Pony has already talked to two Socs and no longer despises them or sees like as an ‘other’ is also important.

We get more depth into the individual characters (including quite a bit of Steve which was nice considering that he plays a small role overall) as Pony asks them why the fight and concluding the only good reason to fight is in self-defence.

4) The Final Curtis brother argument and aftermath

I really like how we see that even though Darry and Pony did resolve their first fight, expressed their care and have grown to be more understanding towards each other, this doesn’t immediately mean that they are fine forever. They’re still two fundamentally different people with enough similarities that lead to them clashing.

Sodapop has constantly been a mediator and seen as someone without problems or worries. This is the first time we see him as an actual person who always had problems and worries but pushed them away because he couldn’t support Darry and Pony if he was too wrapped up in himself. We see how everything has taken a toll on him and leads to him breaking down and opening up.

And this is the catalyst that finally causes Pony and Darry to understand each other and, whilst they always will have their point of differences, they promise to try to be better for each other and Soda

3) Johnny’s Death

The character death of all-time, I have cried over it and will cry over it again.

The way this takes place after the rumble, which Dally had dubbed in Johnny’s honour. There’s this frantic energy and tension throughout it all, especially with Dally who joins in last minute and immediately grabs Pony to rush to the hospital. Dally gradually becomes more erratic as he rambles to Pony about how he should’ve let Johnny become tough, implying his belief that it’s his fault, and advising Pony to become a ‘Dally’, so tough no one could ever hurt him.

And yet when they get to Johnny’s room, Dally’s devastatingly soft and cautious, telling Johnny that they won the rumble, the rumble Dally wanted to fight for Johnny. And yet Johnny rejects fighting and violence. Dally telling Johnny he’s proud of him, which was all that Johnny wanted. Having already accepted his death as a just exchange for the lives of those children and knowing Dally is proud of him, Johnny’s final act is to ask Pony to ‘stay gold’. It’s a plead from a dying boy to his friend to not let the world change what’s good about him, his softness and ability to love a world despite of its cruelty, and it hits every single time.

Dally’s final exchange with Johnny, as he goes through all these conflicting emotions, begging Johnny to not be dead, tethering the edge of break down. But boys like Dally don’t cry or feel vulnerability. They’ve forgotten how to. So instead of breaking down, he blows up. He’s always been akin to a ticking time bomb, self-destructive and destroying everyone around him. And now his time is up. (This allows paves the way to the line ‘Johnny was the one thing Dally loved. And now Johnny was gone’ and I need to mention it at least once a post)

2) Ponyboy, the Socs and the glass bottle

This is arguably the most important scene in the entire book. The Outsiders is about growing up in a society that dictates who you should be according to its standards. It’s about how the system breeds resentment between different people all the while oppressing and subjugating them all.

Ponyboy’s someone who knows and wants to live up to society’s expectations but always falls short. But the events of the book have shaped Pony into someone who could become ‘tough’ as he has always wanted and been expected to. From someone who could never use the a glass bottle, he ends up threatening the Socs himself, to the shock and dismay of Two-Bit.

And yet, Pony remains true to his statement; ‘the only good reason to fight is for self-defense’. When the Socs stop bothering him, he disposes of the glass bottle and its shards, so that nobody can get hurt from it. He’s no longer that helpless kid who couldn’t hurt anyone but instead someone who chooses not (mirroring Johnny’s advice rather than Dally’s)

1) Johnny’s letter

I don’t have too much to say despite this being my favourite scene. It gives us and Pony some closure to Johnny’s death but more importantly this is the catalyst to Ponyboy deciding to write the Outsiders.

Johnny dies knowing the world can be good and beautiful despite its cruelty and pain, and sees this in Ponyboy. He asks Ponyboy once more to remain ‘gold’ and to prove to Dally this sentiment. Pony laments that it was too late for Dally, that even if he hadn’t died, he still wouldn’t have listened.

And then it hits him that there must be so many Bobs and Johnnys and Dallys in the world, and how big a problem it was and that someone had to something about. It’s just such a great scene GOD-