Ponyboy Curtis’s dreams and realisations show that he isn’t a typical greaser. He thinks and imagines things that a vicious and violent greaser would not. Ponyboy “digs movies and books” (pg 2) while no-one else in the gang does. This makes him feel alone. Ponyboy also enjoys drawing, watching sunsets and memorising poems such as Robert Frost’s poem ‘Nothing gold can stay’.
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay. (pg 95)
This poem is all about hope. Ponyboy doesn’t quite understand it until Johnny’s dying words ‘Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold...’ (pg 181) It means that nothing pure and innocent can stay as it is. And Johnny wants Ponyboy to stay like he is and keep dreaming. This proves that Ponyboy is sensitive, caring and hopeful: nothing like a stereotypical greaser. Ponyboy is not the only character that challenges stereotyping through a discourse of hope; Johnny Cade does too.
Johnny Cade is a quiet, shy sixteen year-old boy who has very little hope. He comes from a very violent home:
His father was always beating him up, and his mother ignored him, except when she was hacked off at something, and then you could hear her yelling at him clear down at our house. (pg 14)
Johnny’s only hope is in Ponyboy. Although he has little hope; Johnny Cade, like Ponyboy, challenges the stereotype of greasers through his actions and realisations. Johnny’s actions definitely oppose those of a stereotypical greaser. Johnny is not wild and violent; he is selfless, caring and has emotions. Although Johnny killed Bob, this was an act of self-defence and panic.
‘Shut up about last night! I killed a kid last night. He couldn’t have been over seventeen or eighteen, and I killed him. How’d you like to live with that?’ He was crying. ... ‘I didn’t mean to,’ he finally blurted out, ‘but they were drownin’ you, and I was so scared…’ (pg 90)
The above quote proves that Johnny feels guilty for what he did. This shows that Johnny has emotions, which is not like the stereotypical greaser. Johnny also willingly follows Ponyboy into the burning church to save the children. “I hadn’t realised Johnny had been right behind me all the way.” (pg 112) Johnny risked his life for the sake of the children which clearly shows selflessness. His actions show a hope for others. Although he has little hope for himself, Johnny hopes that the children from the church may grow up and have a great and happy future. Johnny’s realisations also challenge the stereotype of greasers.
Johnny Cade’s realisations also prove that he is not the stereotypical greaser. Johnny is a sensitive, compassionate, understanding person. This is displayed when Ponyboy and he sit at the back of the church in chapter 5 admiring the sunrise together. When Johnny says “Golly…that sure was pretty…The mist was what was pretty… All gold and silver… Too bad it couldn’t stay like that all the time.” Ponyboy realises that Johnny is different from the rest of the gang too. He shares a poem with Johnny and says:
you ain’t like any of the gang. I mean, I couldn’t tell Two-Bit or Steve or even Darry about the sunrise and clouds and stuff. I couldn’t even remember that poem around them. I mean, they just don’t dig. (pg 96)
This connection between Ponyboy and Johnny show that they are sensitive, emotional and compassionate. This is nothing like a stereotypical greaser. For himself, Johnny is not a hopeful character. It is through his relationship with Ponyboy that he is hopeful.
From the evidence provided it is clear that S.E. Hinton’s novel, The Outsiders, foregrounds a discourse of hope through the marginalised characters of Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade to challenge stereotyping. The actions and realisations of the boys show that they are hopeful and strive to ‘stay gold’. Although the Greasers are stereotyped as rough, tough and mean, Ponyboy and Johnny are the complete opposite of this; caring, kind and sensitive. Just because a stereotype tells you to act a certain way, doesn’t mean to have to act like that: just be yourself.
