Sunday, January 24, 2010

Why were television reporters interested in what happened to Ponyboy and Johnny in The Outsiders?

The reporters are interested in the two boys who murdered a wealthy boy and then rescued a bunch of kids from a church.


Pony and Johnny’s story would be fascinating to reporters.  First you have the gang war connection, with greasers against Socs.  That alone would not capture much attention except that Johnny killed Bob and Johnny and Pony ran off.



Then the reporters and the police came. They asked too many questions too fast, and got me mixed up. …  The reporters fired one question right after another at me and got me so confused I didn't know what was coming off. (Ch. 7)



The kids are a good human interest story because when they were hiding out in an abandoned church, the church caught fire.  There happened to be a group of schoolchildren there, and Dally, Johnny, and Pony helped save them.



For once, there weren't any charges against Dally, and I knew he'd be mad because the paper made him out a hero for saving Johnny and didn't say much about his police record, which he was kind of proud of. He'd kill those reporters if he got hold of them. (Ch. 7)



The reporters also wrote up the story of Darry taking care of his two younger brothers, Pony and Soda, after their parents died.  The family is in danger of being torn apart if Darry is determined to be an unfit guardian.  This would result in Pony and Soda being taken to foster homes.


Even though Dally did not like the characterization, he was a hero. However, the story does not have a happy ending.  Johnny died as a result of his injuries, and Dally committed suicide by cop.  Ponboy was determined to make something of himself.  He always got good grades, so he had a chance to get an education and get out of the gang life.

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