1. At the beginning of the chapter, what does the doctor say that alarms Ponyboy about the gravity of Johnny’s condition? Why does Ponyboy notice this when Two-Bit does not? The doctor allows the boys to visit Johnny, saying, “Let them in, It can’t hurt now.” This shows that he’s resigned to the fact that Johnny won’t be getting better/will die soon. Ponyboy is more sensitive than Two-Bit and can read the subtext of the doctor’s comment.
2. Ponyboy says, “We needed Johnny as much as he needed the gang. And for the same reason.” Explain what Ponyboy means. Johnny needs the gang because the boys are his real family, the ones who actually love and support him. In the same way, the boys all need Johnny because he’s the one who completes their circle and allows them to be softer and more caretaking. Everyone loves Johnny and they all feel protective of him. There’s an old saying that we need to be needed. This is true for the boys in the gang.
3. Compare and contrast Ponyboy’s mother to Johnny’s mother. Ponyboy’s mother was beautiful and golden, like Soda, but also wise and firm, like Darry. She loved and cared for her boys in the best possible way. Johnny’s mother is described as small with straight black hair. Ponyboy says were eyes “were cheap and hard.” She’s quick to verbally attack the boys, wanting to blame anyone but herself for Johnny’s situation. We know she is a selfish, cold woman who has not been a good parent to Johnny. Interestingly, though, she is at the hospital, which shows that she does, on some level, care about Johnny. Just as we’ve discussed earlier about people having both good and bad within them, Johnny’s mother isn’t completely bad. Yes, she’s damaged, but she is a mother. Ponyboy, of course, doesn’t see this at all, due to his emotions about Johnny’s condition. Your class is also probably not open to the idea that this woman might have some love for Johnny in her heart. It’s natural to want to hate her.
4. For the first time in the book, Ponyboy defends Darry’s type of tough love. What does he tell Two-Bit that explains why Darry is harder on him than his own parents were? He says that his parents had already raised two sons by the time he came along and so they were a little more relaxed with him. Darry, he realizes, has never parented before and it’s like Ponyboy is his first child. Parents tend to over-do things with their first born. This is an interesting passage because Ponyboy has matured; he’s now able to see things from Darry’s perspective. Later in the chapter, he’s also able to see things from the Socs’ perspective.
5. Two-Bit and Ponyboy agree that, if it weren’t for the two younger Curtis brothers, Darry would probably be a Soc. Explain how this is true. Darry is smarter than the other Greasers. He also was athletic and did well in school. Interestingly, we notice here that money and geography are the things that determine social groups, not anything about who the individual people really are at their core. This idea is further emphasised by the comparison between Bob and Dally later in the chapter. 6. Explain Cherry’s conflicted feelings about Johnny and Bob. Ponyboy asks Cherry to go see Johnny in the hospital, but she can’t because she’s experiencing a swirl of messy feelings when it comes to facing Johnny. On one hand, she knows that Bob was drunk and a bully and probably deserved the stabbing; she knows Johnny acted in self- defense. Still, she loved her boyfriend, Bob, and can’t face the young man who killed her love. She knew Bob’s good side and is having a hard time reconciling her feelings. She wants to help the Greasers and minimise the damage that will result from this evening’s rumble, but she just can’t bring herself to fully sympathise with the boy who stabbed Bob.