The Outsiders Character Analysis Essay

In the novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, Ponyboy Curtis is the narrator who experiences many life changing events. He is kind, quiet, stubborn, bold, and absentminded throughout the book. He shows these traits when being respectful to Cherry, keeping his mouth shut, refusing to stay out of a fight, and going straight into a burning church to save some kids. He is one of the major characters introduced in this novel and is a protagonist as well. He is a very well described character and changes throughout the book, classifying him as dynamic. Ponyboy is one of the many main characters in the book. We can tell he is a main character because he is the narrator of the story, and he witnesses multiple events that are very important throughout the book. One example from the novel is, “He was sitting next to me, one elbow on his knee, and …show more content…
This means that he changes through the book or shows us catharsis. He changed by starting out as a quiet kid who just hung out with his friends and then evolved into a person who understands the world around them and has learned how to deal with certain situations. Pony also started out as a very attentive boy who got good grades and did well in sports, but at the end of the book, Pony becomes very different in a way where his grades started to suffer from disinterest, and he was starting to forget simple things such as putting on shoes. This is shown when Pony says that he does not feel anything anymore(171). This shows how Pony when from being attentive towards things to not really caring about a lot of things. Pony had also started to yell back at his older brother Darry when he gets a lecture, which had never happened before(173). This shows how Pony goes from shy to assertive. The impact from this is that we can see the catharsis, or change in Pony’ attitude and personality towards others. This is important because it shows how much of an impact all of the event had on