This is a story about three brothers who live
with each other after their parents were killed
in an accident.
Darry is the oldest and works as a roofer.
Sodapop is the middle child who is handsome
and works at a gas station.
And Ponyboy is the youngest, a smart kid trying
to grow up.
The town they live in is socially divided
in two.
The greasers are the poor kids who wear leather
jackets and oil their hair.
The socials, or Socs, are the rich kids who
have nice cars and clothes.
These two groups are constantly fighting.
The three brothers are greasers and hang out
with some of the greasers in the city.
Dallas is a wild New Yorker who hates authority
and Johnny is a quiet kid who gets beat by
his father.
After meeting a couple of Soc girls, Ponyboy
and Johnny get attacked by a group of socs.
Ponyboy is about to die in the fight, but
Johnny stabs one of the socs and the rest
run.
In a panic, Ponyboy and Johnny run to the
country and hide.
Ponyboy and Johnny stay at an abandoned church
in the countryside until Dallas comes to get
them.
However, the church they were staying at catches
on fire and some of the local kids are trapped
in the building.
Ponyboy and Johnny go into the burning building
and rescue them, but both are hurt.
They are admitted to a hospital, where they
are declared heroes.
Meanwhile, the socs and greasers are planning
a big rumble to settling things.
Both gangs line up and fight each other.
The greasers win.
However, Johnny dies from his injuries from
the fire and Dallas gets himself shot by the
police.
Ponyboy is acquitted of all charges for the
slaying of the one soc and the three brothers
grow closer together.
The underlying theme of social class and the
division that social classes create is important.
This isn't quite the Capulet and Montague
setup we get in Romeo and Juliet, but it's
something more relatable to contemporary readers.
Money does divide people.
Poor people tend to live in a certain part
of an area, while the rich people live in
another.
The story tries to present the troubled relationship
between Ponyboy and Darry as the central conflict,
that these two brothers hate each other.
However, readers will find that his conflict
with Darry is weak and forced.
Rather, Ponyboy's realization that both greasers
and socs are just regular people is noteworthy.
This is something that all readers can take
away, no matter what age.
Society likes to classify who we are and compartmentalizes
us into categories and groups.
And while those groups may be important in
economic and census studies, the people in
those groups become identity-less.
