The Outsiders Chapter 3

After the movie, Marcia and Cherry need a ride home, so Two-Bit convinces them to let him drive them. As Pony talks to Cherry, he realizes that she is not so different from a Greaser. He asks her if money is the only thing that separates them. She says, "It's not just money...We're sophisticated to the point of not feeling anything. Nothing is real with us." Chapter 3, pg. 38 Cherry and Pony realize that they can talk to each other more personally than they are used to. On the ride home, Pony tells Cherry about Sodapop's horse, Mickey Mouse, a story he never tells anyone. Mickey Mouse belonged to a man who Soda worked for, but the horse only loved (and only obeyed) Soda. When Mickey Mouse was sold, Soda cried all night long. Cherry doesn't ask for the rest of the story, which is good, because Pony doesn't want to tell it--it makes him too sad. He had been ten years old at the time, and had saved his allowance for a year, thinking he could buy the horse back for his brother. Cherry tells Pony that she can see he is a thoughtful person.

Topic Tracking: Innocence 3
Topic Tracking: Misunderstanding 2
Topic Tracking: Loneliness 2

Just then, Marcia sees a blue Mustang coming toward them. It is their boyfriends' car. At first everyone freezes, but then the car drives by. Cherry asks Pony about Darry, and suddenly Pony explodes. "He's as hard as a rock and about as human...he thinks I'm a pain in the neck. He likes Soda--everybody likes Soda--but he can't stand me." Chapter 3, pg. 42 Everyone looks at Ponyboy, shocked. When Johnny protests that he thought the three brothers got along well, Pony gets angry at himself for complaining and yells at Johnny. Two-Bit slaps Pony, telling him not to treat Johnny that way. Pony cries about how unfair their lives are--how hard they all have to work, how so many of the Greasers are abused by their parents, and how easy the Socs have it. Suddenly, the Socs reappear in the blue Mustang. One of them wears many rings on his fingers, and Pony realizes that this is the boy who beat Johnny up. He feels Johnny trembling next to him. Two-Bit is ready to fight, but Cherry says she hates fighting, so she and Marcia go off with the Socs. Before she leaves, Cherry tells Pony that she can't talk to him at school--they just aren't part of the same world. Then she tells him, "I could fall in love with Dallas Winston. I hope I never see him again, or I will." Chapter 3, pg. 46 As the Greasers walk home together, Two-Bit tears up the phone number Marcia gave him. He assumes it's phony.

Topic Tracking: Innocence 4

That night, Pony lies under the stars with Johnny, wondering why life for Greasers is so hard. Johnny agrees: he feels like he can't take it anymore. Pony daydreams about living out in the country, about his parents being alive again...and then he falls asleep. When he wakes up it's the middle of the night. He runs home, and sure enough, Darry is waiting up for him, very angry. They yell at each other, then Darry slaps Pony hard. Shocked, Pony runs out of the house, finds Johnny in the field, and runs with him as far as he can. When they are tired, Pony explains what happened. Johnny says that he feels rejected too, since his parents don't notice whether he comes home or not. Pony finally decides to walk around the park once and then go home. "It was my house as much as Darry's, and if he wanted to pretend I wasn't alive, that was just fine with me." Chapter 3, pg. 52