Summary
In the bathroom, Ponyboy looks in the mirror and holds a towel up to his face, interrupting Sodapop’s shower. Darry comes up behind Steve in the living room, lifting him up playfully to greet him. Coming out of the bathroom, Sodapop asks where some of his clothes are as Steve tries to stuff chocolate cake in his face. Now Ponyboy approaches Darry, and asks if he heard about “that juvenile court thing.” Darry tells him that the cops told him about it the previous night, as Steve talks about throwing a party and Sodapop sits on the couch. Ponyboy leaves out the front door to go on the porch, while Sodapop calls Two-Bit over to see Mickey Mouse on television—the character on the t-shirt Two-Bit always wears. Darry calls to Ponyboy on the porch, and tells him he might take the day off so Ponyboy doesn’t have to be home by himself, but Ponyboy protests, saying that he’s been home by himself many times before, plus they can’t afford for Darry to skip work. Two-Bit makes a joke that he’ll babysit him, which enrages Ponyboy and he wrestles him to the ground. Steve calls to Sodapop to come to work. While Two-Bit has Ponyboy in a headlock, Ponyboy says he needs to quit smoking so he can make track. Darry helps Ponyboy and threatens to skin him if he smokes more than a pack of cigarettes that day, before going off to work. Sodapop and Steve go off to work too, and Ponyboy urges Two-Bit to help him clean up the house for when the cops, reporters, and the people from the state come by. As Ponyboy cleans, Two-Bit grabs a beer and the chocolate cake and settles down in front of the television.
The scene shifts to show Ponyboy and Two-Bit walking along the side of the road trying to hitchhike. Two-Bit is telling Pony a story about his girlfriend, and his girlfriend’s brother, a “real hood.” As they continue to try and hitch a ride, a car full of Socs approaches, and they spin around to avoid interaction. The car speeds around the ice cream parlor, and Two-Bit asks how many guys were in the car. When Ponyboy tells him that there are about five and that they should hurry into the ice cream parlor, Two-Bit says he wants to stay outside to see what the guys want. Randy and some other Socs walk up. When Two-Bit reminds Randy that they’re not allowed to fight before the rumble, Randy says he wants to talk to Ponyboy, who hesitantly goes with him to talk.
Over by Randy’s car, Randy tells him he read about him in the paper and asked him why he saved the kids. When Ponyboy tries to shrug it off, Randy says, “I would have let those little kids burn to death,” and then later, “I would’ve never known a Greaser could pull something like that.” Ponyboy snaps at him, telling him that being a Greaser had nothing to do with his act of heroism. As Two-Bit makes fun of the Socs’ preppy outfits, Randy asks if Ponyboy wants to talk inside his car. Randy and Ponyboy get in Randy’s car and Randy expresses sadness about the fact that Johnny is in the hospital and might die, and about the violence that will no doubt take place at the rumble. In a strange swing of emotion, Randy says, “You can’t win, you know that don’t you? It doesn’t matter if you whip us, you’ll still be where you were before: the bottom. We’ll still be the lucky ones at the top with all the breaks.” Even more unusually, Randy changes his tune as Ponyboy gets out of the car, saying that he didn’t mean what he said, and that he really just meant to say “Thanks.” Ponyboy says it was nice talking to him and shakes his hand. Randy honks his horn and the Socs go and get in his car as Ponyboy walks back over to Two-Bit. When Ponyboy comes back over, Two-Bit asks what the “Soc” had to say, but Ponyboy says that Randy is not a Soc, just “a guy who wanted to talk.” Two-Bit says goodbye to the other Greasers at the parking lot.
At the hospital, Two-Bit and Ponyboy visit Johnny, who has suffered horrible burns from the fire. Lying face down on a hospital bed, Johnny is clearly in poor condition. When Two-Bit shows Johnny his picture in the paper, Johnny doesn’t seem to care much, but when asked if he needs anything, he says he wants “the book.” Ponyboy presumes that Johnny wants another copy of Gone with the Wind, that Ponyboy can read to him. Ponyboy asks Two-Bit to get it at the gift shop and he agrees. Sitting down beside the bed, Ponyboy tells Johnny that Dallas is going to be okay, and that he and Darry are getting along better now. When Johnny wheezes and moans in pain, Ponyboy gets worried, but Johnny assures him “it just hurts sometimes.” When Johnny asks Ponyboy to acknowledge his poor condition, Ponyboy begins to cry and assures him that he is going to be alright, and that he has to be, because he won’t be able to get along without him. Johnny tells Ponyboy that he’ll never be able to walk again, even with crutches, because he hurt his back too badly. Johnny confides in Ponyboy that even though in the past he has talked about killing himself, he doesn’t want to die now, at 16, and feels as though he hasn’t yet seen enough outside their neighborhood to die. Johnny tells him that their time at the abandoned church was the only time he’d ever been away from the neighborhood, and Ponyboy tells him to “knock it off,” still weeping.
A nurse enters and tells Johnny that his mother is there, but he doesn’t want to see her. When the nurse insists that his mother wants to see him, Johnny becomes exasperated, assuming that she just wants to scold him, and he passes out in the middle of an agitated sentence. Two-Bit and Ponyboy look on, concerned, and Two-Bit hands the nurse a copy of Gone with the Wind, insisting that she give it to him when he wakes up. In Dallas’ hospital room, he gets in a small fight with his nurse and resists treatment. As Two-Bit and Ponyboy enter his room, he laughs and seems to be in better spirits. Dallas gets out of his bed and slams his door, glad that his friends came to visit him, and telling them that Tim Shephard visited him earlier, and rubbed it in his face that he is missing the rumble that night. Ponyboy throws him a cigarette at his request and Dallas asks how Johnny is doing. Two-Bit tells him that Johnny doesn’t look like he’s recovering very well. Lying down, Dallas throws the cigarette across the room and asks Two-Bit for his knife. Stabbing the pillow, Dallas becomes very angry, saying that they need to get even with the Socs, “for Johnny.”
Outside a church, Two-Bit asks if Ponyboy is feeling okay, and notices that he seems to have a temperature. Ponyboy says he’s okay, and asks Two-Bit not to tell Darry, saying that he’ll take aspirin at home to calm his fever. Two-Bit tells Ponyboy that Darry will be angry if he finds out that he let him fight in the rumble while he was sick, but Ponyboy is adamant. As they get on the bus, Two-Bit tells Ponyboy, “The only thing that keeps Darry from being a Soc is us.” On the bus, Ponyboy tells Two-Bit, “Tonight, I don’t like it one bit. Something awful’s gonna happen.” The bus arrives at its destination and Two-Bit assures him the rumble will be fine.
Arriving at the vacant lot, Two-Bit and Ponyboy run into Cherry, who greets them and tells them that the Socs plan to fight without weapons, a fair deal. When Two-Bit asks if that’s true, Cherry tells them that Randy told her, which confirms it, and Two-Bit nods, saying, “good deal.” As they start to walk away, Cherry calls Ponyboy over to talk, and asks how Johnny’s doing. When Ponyboy tells her he’s not doing well and asks her to visit him, she tells him that she couldn’t because Johnny killed Bob. Even though, she admits, Bob probably had it coming, she knew a different side of him, a sweet side, something that set him apart from the crowd and made him a leader, and she loved him for it. Ponyboy dismisses her and walks away angrily, telling her the Greasers don’t need any of her charity. Before he can leave, she tells him that she isn’t trying to give them charity, but she liked him from the time she met him, and that she wants to help him. He asks her if the Socs can see the sunset well from the South Side of town, and she says she can. When he tells her they can see it well from the North Side too, she takes that as a peace offering, and they smile at each other and go their separate ways. We see Cherry in silhouette as she gets in her car.
In the following scene, Ponyboy looks at himself in the mirror, and asks Sodapop when he and Darry started shaving. Sodapop and Steve get into a fight over a card game, as Ponyboy comes into the room they’re in. Steve and Sodapop arm wrestle as Steve talks about the fights he wants to get in at the rumble. The boys struggle and eventually Steve wins. Darry puts on a t-shirt and Sodapop gives him a hard time for always wanting to show off his muscles. Darry then tells Ponyboy that he doesn’t think he should come to the rumble, but Sodapop convinces him to let Ponyboy come, since they’re only fighting skin-against-skin anyway, without weapons. Ponyboy assures Darry that he’ll be okay, since they won’t be using weapons. Darry runs out of the house, excited for the rumble, followed by the other guys. Out on the street, they roughhouse and we hear a train whistle in the distance. Darry instructs the guys that if the police comes, they look out for Ponyboy. Steve laughs maniacally, excited for the rumble, and the boys jollily make their way to the vacant lot.
Analysis
Having been lauded for his heroism and toughened by the difficulties of his recent exploits, Ponyboy becomes all the more determined to associate with the Greasers and participate in their ranks. Reunited with his family, warmly accepted by Darry—who is now remorseful about his previously harsh treatment of Ponyboy—and on the eve of a rumble with the Socs, Ponyboy now feels a sense of affiliation with his gang, and a desire to get in on the action. Ponyboy is a prodigal son returned, a local hero who feels renewed loyalty to the gritty fraternity of the Greasers. Emboldened by the drama of the previous week, Ponyboy maintains his status as the observer of the gang, while also wanting to participate more, to act, and to fight.
Ponyboy, in spite of firmly allying with the Greasers, is often a confidant for those around him, including Socs such as Randy and Cherry. Unusually enough, Randy, Bob's best friend, is in awe of Ponyboy, as he tells him in the parking lot of the ice cream parlor. He tells him that he would have never tried to save the children in the church, that he would have "let those children burn to death." Randy is seemingly conflicted, unnerved by his own moral cowardice, and confused about the admiration he feels towards the boy whom he and his best friend tried to drown. Ponyboy insists that his heroic act had nothing to do with his status as a Greaser, but Randy cannot quite handle that thought, and asserts the differences between the two gangs all the more vehemently. It is an unusual exchange, and Randy seems to both valorize Ponyboy and dismiss him as lower all at once. Thus we see that while the Socs may have a higher social standing, they are ethically inferior to the noble Ponyboy and Johnny.
Johnny's ethical sense costs him dearly, as he suffers in a hospital bed. Of all the characters, Johnny has been the dealt the most difficult hand in life. Pure-hearted and sweet, he seems to be dogged by violence and alienation: abandoned and abused by his parents, hunted by the law for defending his friend, and then mortally injured after heroically trying to do the right thing. Johnny's trajectory is heartbreaking, and the viewer sees him go from suicidal teen from a broken home to tragic burn victim, worried that he won't live past 16. If Ponyboy is the protagonist, Johnny is the moral center, a boy too sensitive and too vulnerable for the life of the gang.
Later, Ponyboy once again meets Cherry, who remains willing to help in whatever way she can. While she is very fond of Ponyboy, she, like Randy, cannot betray her allegiance to the Socs. She wants to talk freely with Ponyboy and form a connection, but she also alludes to her love for Bob, the boy who tried to drown him. She insists that while Bob may have seemed like a bad guy—violent, belligerent, a drunk—he was actually really sweet. Ponyboy becomes upset at Cherry's seemingly split loyalty, but she insists that she is not being charitable by being nice to him. Rather, she says, she likes Ponyboy and wants to help in whatever way she can. Here, we see that the division between the two gangs pulls people apart and prevents them from finding common ground. Cherry and Ponyboy eventually find common ground, however, when Ponyboy alludes to the fact that they both can see the same sunset from their respective parts of town. No matter the barriers between them due to class, they live in the same world, and both experience its beauty.
Cherry's insistence that her kindness to Ponyboy is more than just "charity" also shows the ways that the logic of the animosity between the gangs is male-dominated. Cherry cannot quite see the unspoken codes that dictate the rivalry between Socs and Greasers. While she knows that Greasers are socially beneath Socs and that it would be transgressive for her to maintain too intimate of a relationship with a boy in a lower-class position, she also cannot see why she shouldn't try to be nice to someone she likes, regardless of whether they are a Greaser or not. This belief in universality is perhaps what most connects her to Ponyboy, who also believes that the gulf between Socs and Greasers is bridge-able, that they perhaps have more in common than they think. This philosophy, however, cannot sustain itself beyond momentary connections.
