The Outsiders Chapters 10 - 12
Dally leaves Ponyboy to walk home alone. Ponyboy feels disoriented and delusional about the reality of Johnny’s death, thinking he might come across him at their usual hangout place. He is offered a ride by a young man, who becomes concerned at the sight of Ponyboy wandering around the town aimlessly with a bleeding head. Upon reaching home, Pony finds the badly wounded greasers gathered in the living room and he tells them about johnny’s death as well as Dally’s deteriorated emotional state. Sodapop worries about Ponyboy’s condition and wants him to rest, he asks Ponyboy to sit and rest but he refuses.
They receive a call from a distressed Dally, who is on the run from the police after robbing a grocery store. The gang asks him to meet them at the vacant lot so they can find a place for him to lie low, and they all leave Curtis's house immediately. Just as they reach the vacant lot, they witness Dally facing the police with an unloaded gun in his hand, the one he had shown Ponyboy and Johnny at the Dairy Queen. The police shoot and kill him when he points his gun at them. Ponyboy knows that Dally had always wanted to die, even as he watches him being shot. He passes out due to intense physical and emotional trauma. Before he loses consciousness, he knows that Dally’s death will not be praised like Johnny’s but affirms that Dally was gallant.
Ponyboy wakes up to find Sodapop at his side, and he urges Ponyboy to get some more sleep. The next time he wakes up, Darry is at his side. He tells Ponyboy that he has been in a delirious condition for the past four days due to exhaustion, a concussion, and his fever, the one that he had hidden from everyone except Two-Bit. Ponyboy does his best to avoid thinking about his deceased friends, and he instead begins to worry about the state splitting up his family. He has no memory of recovering in the hospital, and he becomes very concerned when Darry tells him he had been asking for Soda during his time in the hospital. He asks Soda if he had asked for Darry as well since he wants his brother to know that he loves him. Soda reassures Ponyboy that he also asked about Darry and their parents. This calms Ponyboy down, and an exhausted Sodapop falls asleep next to Ponyboy.
Ponyboy is prescribed a week’s bed rest to recover from his concussion, and exhaustion. He struggles to follow advice and experiences restlessness. One day, he takes out Soda’s high school yearbook and finds himself staring at a picture of Bob. Ponyboy studies the picture and imagines what kind of life Bob had. He thinks of all he had learned about Bob from his friends Randy, and Cherry. Ponyboy receives Randy for a visit, but he has difficulty sympathizing with the rich Soc from his affluent family, while he is mourning the deaths of poor and deprived friends. Randy talks about being a disappointment to his father, which suddenly humanizes Randy for him. Ponyboy expresses his concern about being separated from his brothers and being sent to a foster home. They briefly discuss the court hearing that is scheduled for the following day, but Randy is extremely confused when Ponyboy indicates that he was responsible for Bob’s death. Randy attempts to correct him, as he tells him that he had witnessed Johnny stabbing Bob. Ponyboy becomes agitated at the mention of Johnny’s death. He adamantly claims that he had killed Bob and that Johnny was still alive. Darry intercedes and asks Randy to allow Ponyboy some rest since the incidents of the past week had taken a severe toll on his physical and mental health. Ponyboy becomes angry at Randy for blaming Johnny for the murder and thinks that all the Socs are similarly cold-blooded and mean. Darry scolds Ponyboy for not cleaning the room but then affectionately calls him ‘little buddy’ for the first time.
Ponyboy is surprised by the lack of a crowd of people at his hearing, which involves just a small number of people who were directly involved in Bob’s death. Ponyboy hears all of his peers testify about the conditions around Bob’s death honestly, but Ponyboy is mostly kept out of the proceedings. This is because of his severely delicate mental condition which is communicated to the judge through a physician. He is asked a few gentle questions about his life and acquitted of all the wrongdoings. The judge also hears testimony about the character of the Curtis Brothers, and he ultimately allows Ponyboy to remain in the care of his brothers. Ponyboy protests several times during the trial that he had been responsible for Bob’s death and that it hadn’t been Johnny.
Following the hearing, Ponyboy becomes depressed and he continues to suffer from the side effects of concussion. He lacks coordination, memory, and appetite, and his grades in school begin to suffer. He also starts fighting with Darry. Considering Ponyboy’s condition, his English teacher, Mr. Syme offers him to raise his grade to a C if he writes a good essay on an autobiographical theme. Ponyboy visits the grocery store with Steve and Two-Bit the following day. A car of Socs pulls up and threatens them. Ponyboy shuts off his emotions and scares the Socs away with a broken bottle. Two-Bit is surprised by this unexpected reaction and advises him not to ‘get tough.’
That evening, Soda comes back home quite upset, but Ponyboy doesn’t bother asking about it. Later, Ponyboy and Darry get into an argument which upsets Soda, and he storms off crying. Darry and Ponyboy hurry after him as they learn that Sandy had returned the letter Soda had sent her, without ever opening it. Ponyboy realizes that Soda is always available when he needs him, but that Soda never really expects any help from him. The brothers chase after Soda and only manage to catch up to him when Ponyboy tackles him. Sodapop vents his frustration over their daily fights as well as their inability to get on well with one another. Darry and Ponyboy are both shocked to realize how their daily arguments had been affecting Soda, who had an extremely positive relationship with the both of them. They promise to be better with one another and return home together.
Ponyboy goes through Johnny’s copy of ‘Gone with the Wind,’ and finds a letter from Johnny in the book. In the letter, Johnny talks about his approaching death and his satisfaction that he was able to help those children. He also reflects on Frost’s poem, believing that people are gold in their childhood, but this gold fades as we age. He concludes that the way Johnny enjoys beautiful sunsets is ‘gold’ and he urges him to stay that way. He also asks Ponyboy to tell Dally that there’s still a lot of goodness in the world. Ponyboy decides to write an essay about the whole incident that claimed the three lives so that the people do not feed their anger on the world and ignore its beauty.
Analysis
Ponyboy’s reluctant yet almost desperate participation in the Rumble underscores the great power that lies in social structures that inspire loyalty and the need to belong. Ponyboy has undergone several physically challenging ordeals by this time, and he understands that he has a fever that will make his brother forbid him from participating in the Rumble. Yet, Ponyboy risks greater physical harm as well as his brother’s disapproval for the sake of the Rumble. This desperate need to participate in the fight would make sense if violence appeared to him. The reader can be certain that such is not the case since Ponyboy has himself acknowledged the futility of the violence that exists between their gangs. The only reason why Ponyboy participates in the Rumble is his desire to conform to the group identity. During the Rumble, we receive a deeper glimpse into Darry’s character. His confrontation with Paul is a significant moment since Paul acts as a symbol of Darry’s failed future. Their stand-off is particularly more powerful after the readers discover, through Two-Bit and Darry’s conversation, that Darry could well have been a Soc if he hadn’t been stuck caring for his younger brothers.
Dally participates in the rumble with the intent of avenging Johnny, but they lose Johnny despite winning the Rumble. Johnny’s loss is a severe blow for Dally, who suddenly begins to feel purposeless and becomes unable to cope with the emotional turmoil. He becomes self-destructive, and rides into death, much like the gallant southern gentlemen of Gone with the Wind. Johnny and Dally experience very different deaths, and there is a great difference between Johnny’s last words to Ponyboy, and Dally’s last words to Ponyboy. Johnny reminds Ponyboy of the Robert Frost poem, he knows that saving the children was the right thing to do and wishes for Ponyboy to continue to preserve a golden life filled with watching sunsets and staring at stars. On the other hand, Dally believes that all the tragic events could have been preserved if Johnny had been hardened, as he wouldn’t have entered the church then. Yet, we cannot help but note that Dally met his end despite being as hard as Johnny, and a much worse end.
Ponyboy’s concern about whether he had asked for Darry or not while he had been in the hospital indicates that his relationship with Darry is on the mend and that he is seeing his brother in a different light. However, the true reconciliation among the brothers occurs after Sodapop becomes overwhelmed by Darry and Ponyboy’s frequent bickering. Soda’s breakdown forces Ponyboy to reflect on his actions, and it leads to his complete reconciliation with Darry.
