Part 3: Reading Journal
Response 2 Guiding Questions
1. In the outsiders,
the place changed. Because
Sodapop killed Bob involuntarily when he tried to protect Ponyboy,
Ponyboy and Sodapop had to escape to a church that was far away from their
home. Before, theses three boys lived in their uncapacious but cozy home, but
after Bob’s death, they had to live in different places that
Darrel stayed in their home so that he was able to inquiry about the
policemen process and continued earning money here, and Ponyboy and weren’t
allowed to take a step out of church.
Talking of how does this switching serve the story, I think family
affection was described fully. For instance, Sodapop ran a risk for getting
food and a famous book, “Gone with the wind” to satisfy his younger brother.
Moreover, Darrel came that far, from their home to the church, just for seeing
his brothers were good, and every time, Darrel left almost all his salaries to
Ponyboy and Sodapop.
2. In my opinion,
this book brought a cozy mood to me even though these boys were orphans, and I
think Ponyboy contributed a lot to this mood. For instance, when Ponyboy blamed
Darrel always had a serious face, imagine the scene, a younger brother
complained and became sulky even though they quarreled sometimes, their love
was eternal, and their help was momentary. In addition, in the church, Sodapop
stared at Ponyboy who has already fallen in asleep in his arms. It was definitely
a cozy scene even though they were in a trouble; they wouldn’t forget to enjoy
the time with family members.
3. I will compare
and contrast Ponyboy and Sodapop. First, the similarities between Ponyboy and
Sodapop, both of them were Greasers, so both of them had a longer compared with
other boys because this was one of their traditions, and since they weren’t
rich, so they always wore T-shirts and blue jeans. From the heart, their life
was filled with fear since they were Greasers who were always bullied by
Socials. Also, both of them were disciplined children that they tried to avoid
troubles even though they hated Socials.
However,
they were so different in other words. Darrel had countless concerns because he
was the oldest child and his two younger brothers needed him to support. Thus,
his mind was full of two ideas that one was how to earn more money, and the
other one was how to provide them better protection and life. In a word, Darrel
was very mature inside. In contract, Ponyboy was childish since he didn’t have
many practical concerns, and all he concerned was when Darrel would have some
spare time with him. Darrel worked in a smoke filled, which surprised me
because he was a disciplined boy and he should be a good model for their
brothers, and Ponyboy, such a naughty and naïve child was addicted by the book,
“Gone with the wind”.
4. The conflict
between Sodapop and Bob was the main cause of the whole story since Sodapop and
Ponyboy had to escape far away.
5. Ponyboy was the
narrator of the whole story, and he was one of the main characters. This
character was the cause of the story because his brothers fought, escaped and
finally died for protecting him.
6. The book was
written in the first person with Ponyboy’s point of view. I think this is a
wonderful choice because Ponyboy was humorous, and from his words, even serious
Darrel became a little bit funny. Also, because Ponyboy was only 14 years old,
and his several reactions were naïve, which made me worried a lot when I read
it. All in all, it makes the whole story much more addictive.
7. As Ponyboy said
that he loved Sodapop more than his parents, which proved their relationship
was so intimate. I, as the only child of my family，I would admire to
have a older brother like Sodapop too because he could share the books and
movies with me, and I could receive lots of sense of safety from him, just like
what Sodapop did for Ponyboy.
8. I found the phrase “half-conscious” appeared
in the novel many times. In the literal sense, “half-conscious” means that
someone is partially alert or awake. This phrase was used to describe one of
the Ponyboy’s friends who was hit by Socials, the reason why I chose this
phrase was that it is an ideal phrase to indicate people’s status at that time.
The poor Greaser hit by Socials was scared to death, and he wasn’t able to talk
even though all his companions were surrounding him. There’s another reason
that I chose this phrase. To some degrees, this phrase was able to illustrate
people’s train of thought since their district was divided into East and West
parts, and people living in the district even hated each other instead of being
good neighbors. In my opinion, this is ridiculous. Thus, everyone was
half-conscious all the time because no one dared to point out how stupid their
behaviors was, and everyone tacitly consented to such a terrible condition.
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