CHAPTER 9Notes

PREPPING FOR THE RUMBLE The Curtis brothers prepare for the rumble by getting “spruced up” – putting on nice

clothes and slicking their hair. “…we wanted to show that we were greasers. Tonight we could be proud of it.” “…we wanted to show those Socs we weren’t trash, that we were just as good as they were.”

By accentuating the “greaser look”, the boys are strengthening their solidarity. Solidarity = unity, team spirit

However, Ponyboy struggles with the values of the world outside of the gang. “What kind of world is it where all I have to be proud of is a reputation for being a hood, and

greasy hair?I don’t want to be a hood, but even if I don’t steal things and mug people and get boozed up, I’m marked lousy.”

Pony does not value a world in which people are judged based on stereotypes and reputations.

Ponyboy still does not feel right; he takes five aspirin when no one is looking. Hides his illness so he can help his buddies and fight in the rumble. Darry has reservations about Pony fighting; notices that Pony still doesn’t look well and has lost

a lot of weight.

REASON FOR FIGHTING Joined by Two-Bit and Steve, the Curtis brothers head to the rumble.

Ponyboy thinks about why people fight, and questions the other greasers. Soda fights for fun – “It’s action. It’s a contest.” Steve fights for hatred – “I want to beat those Socs’ heads in.” Darry fights for pride – “He likes to show off his muscles.” Two-Bit fights for conformity – “Shoot, everybody fights.”

Ponyboy has reservations about fighting himself – “I’ll fight anyone anytime, but I don’t like to.” He fights just to go along with the gang, but sees no purpose in fighting other than self-

defence.

Whatever their reason for fighting, each greaser gives himself up to the goals of the larger group.

PONY’S VOW The greasers’ excitement for the rumble is clear.

They do somersaults, flips, and cartwheels. They mock their reputations – “I’m a JD and a hood . . . I am a menace to society.” They mock the Socs – “I am a Soc. I am the privileged and the well-dressed.”

Tim Shepard’s gang and a group from a nearby suburb (Brumly) are at the vacant lot waiting. They are all on the same side in this fight, despite any past differences they may have had with each other.

Ponyboy studies the boys from the other greaser gangs and observes that they are all “young hoods – who would grow up to be old hoods . . . they’d just get worse as they got older, not better.” When he looks at Darry, Pony knows that Darry will work his way out of the street life. “He was going to get somewhere.” Pony thinks this is what sets Darry apart from the rest of them. Pony vows “to be like him.”

This goes to show that although Ponyboy and his friends may look like hoods and criminals, they aren’t that at all. (Except maybe Dally). Through Darry, Ponyboy sees that he can one day have a better life. (Note: At the same time, he does not

have the confidence to tell Tim that he isn’t proud of killing Bob like he pretended).

WE SHOULDN’T BE HERE Ponyboy continues to observe the groups of greasers before him.

Most of them are lean and “panther-looking”. Darry, however, stands out – he is big and strong and looked like “he could whip anyone there.”

The contrast between Pony’s gang and the others becomes clear once again. For example, Shepard’s gang uses weapons, but Pony and his buddies never do. “We’re just not that rough”, says Ponyboy. (Johnny is the exception, and Pony says he only used

his knife because he was forced to).

As Pony watches Darry interact with Tim and the leader of the Brumly boys, he has a moment of sudden realization: “He shouldn’t be here . . . I shouldn’t be here and Steve shouldn’t be here and Soda shouldn’t

be here and Two-Bit shouldn’t be here. We’re greasers, but not hoods, and we don’t belong with this bunch of future convicts.”

Pony is beginning to see that his gang are not only outsiders in society, but outsiders within the East Side greasers.

Pony doesn’t want himself or any of his friends to end up like Shepard’s greasers or the guys from Brumly. We can see that he is slowly turning away from the gang life and values.

THE SOCS ARRIVE 22 Socs arrive to fight 20 greasers.

Ponyboy observes the Socs’ preppy clothes. He reflects on appearance versus reality (i.e. what things seem to be versus what they actually are). The Socs look clean-cut; this covers up their actual meanness. The greasers look tough and hard; this covers up their kindness and sensitivity. Ponyboy therefore realizes that appearances are meaningless. Unfortunately,

people are often judged based on the outside, not the inside.

Ponyboy is now able to look past the outward appearance of the two groups and see the truth beneath.

DARRY VS. PAUL To begin the rumble, Darry offers to take on anyone.

A Soc steps forward. Ponyboy recognizes him as Paul Holden, a former friend of Darry’s on the highschool football team. Paul had gone off to college while Darry had been forced to work, and now has to

care for his brothers.

The confrontation between Darry and Paul represents the opportunity gap that exists between the Socs and the greasers. The Socs have lots of opportunities and the greasers have very little.

Darry and Paul are divided because of social class and nothing more. They hate each other just because one is from the East (poor) and one is from

the West (wealthy). Ponyboy thinks this is incredibly unfair.

“They shouldn’t hate each other . . . I don’t hate the Socs anymore . . .”

DALLY ARRIVES Just as the rumble begins, Dally runs in to join the fight.

He used Two-Bit’s switchblade to force his way out of the hospital. (Now we know why he wanted it in the first place!)

Dally’s intense loyalty and allegiance to his friends (and also his love of fighting) are obvious here. He disregards his own health by escaping from the hospital before he is ready. Puts the rumble before anything else. He cannot imagine missing a good fight,

and he especially wants to do it for Johnny.

THE RUMBLE The fight is brutal and the violence is depicted in vivid detail.

Ponyboy suffers numerous injuries and is about to pass out when he hears a voice (Two-Bit?) yelling that the Socs have fled. The greasers won.

Despite their bruises, cuts, and broken bones, the boys celebrate their win over the Socs.

Dally insists that he and Ponyboy go to the hospital to tell Johnny the news. They take Buck Merril’s car. Dally tells Pony that Johnny “was gettin’ worse” when he left the hospital. Because the gang conflict is all Dally has, he believes that news of the greaser’s win will make

Johnny happy. Though Dally is wrong (Johnny reveals on his death bed that he believes fighting to be useless),

Dally’s desire to make Johnny happy is perhaps the most sincere we’ve ever seen him.

Note: Pony is very disoriented after the fight; he seems worse off than before.

TOUGH = NO HURT As they drive to the hospital, Ponyboy listens to Dally talk.

Dally says that if Johnny and Ponyboy got tough like him, nothing could hurt them anymore. “If [Johnny had] been like me he’d never have been in this mess. If he’d got smart like me

he’d never have run into that church. That’s what you get for helpin’ people.” “You’d better wise up, Pony . . . You get tough like me and you don’t get hurt. You look out

for yourself and nothin’ can touch you.” Dally is right: being tough and hard would protect Pony from feeling pain, but at

what cost? Dally is an example of what happens when you live life this way – you become cold and

mean and unfeeling. You are closed off from any happiness life might have to offer you. You lose the noble, honorable parts of who you are/were.

THE HOSPITAL At the hospital, the boys run to Johnny’s room.

The doctor tells Ponyboy and Dally that Johnny is dying and he stops them at the door. Dally threatens the doctor with Two-Bit’s switchblade and the doctor lets them it. He does this not because he is being threatened, but because the boys are

Johnny’s friends and he deserves to see them before he dies.

Dally sees violence as the only way to get anything. The doctor would have let them in without being threatened. Proves that Dally is wrong – violence is not always the answer. (Remember: it is

the only thing he knows).

JOHNNY DIES When Dally excitedly tells Johnny about the rumble, Johnny replies, “Useless . . .

fighting’s no good . . .” These words contradict Dally’s message to Ponyboy in the car.

Dally then tells Johnny how proud everyone is of his actions in the fire, and Johnny’s eyes glow. “Dally was proud of him. That was all Johnny had ever wanted.”

Johnny’s last words are, “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold.” He then dies. These last words tell Ponyboy to keep his innocence, sensitivity, and idealism. Pony has so

much goodness. Johnny wants Pony to offer this goodness to the world and accomplish his goals, instead of giving in to the greaser toughness.

When Johnny is finally gone, Dally is overwhelmed with grief. “His face contracted in agony. . .” “Oh, damnit, Johnny, don’t die, please don't die…”

He runs from the hospital, full of heart-wrenching grief.