Chapter 5NOTES

Ponyboy the dreamer/liar/imaginer When Ponyboy awakens in the abandoned church, he states, “I half convinced myself

that I had dreamed everything that had happened the night before.” His new reality is difficult; it is easier to imagine, pretend, lie to himself about the truth

He imagines a typical (wonderful) Saturday morning with his brothers (breakfast, horsing around, football). Indicates that the three brothers do love and care for each other, despite the ongoing tension

between Darry and Pony

Ponyboy also imagines many different scenarios (all bad) when he wakes and Johnny is not there (getting supplies) Johnny was caught by the police, Dally had been killed in a car wreck, Pony would die alone,

etc.

“My over-active imagination was running away with me again.”

Note: he refers to his imagination again later in the chapter when he says:

“I had almost decided that I had dreamed the outside world and there was nothing real but baloney sandwhiches and the Civil War and the old church and the mist in the valley. It seemed to me that I had always lived in the church, or maybe lived during the Civil War and had somehow got transplanted. That shows you what a wild imagination I have.”

Goodbye hair Johnny insists that they cut their hair, and that Ponyboy bleach his with peroxide.

Will act as a disguise; “They’ll have our descriptions in the paper. We can’t fit ‘em.”

Ponyboy is very reluctant (devastated, really)

He is attached to his hair; it has special meaning for him

“It was my pride”; makes him look “tuff”; the greaser trademark

Ponyboy gives in and lets Johnny cut his hair, but is miserable afterwards

Doesn’t look like himself anymore; the beginning of Pony’s transformation

The cutting of the hair is very symbolic. Their hair identifies them as greasers, so when they cut it, the boys are symbolically leaving the group (for a while, anyway).

In other words, they are cutting ties with their past

This is frightening – the group keeps them safe, gives them an identity

What they don’t realize: leaving the group will give them time to find themselves as individuals

Tears The realization of what happened sets in

They’re spooked, confused

Cry together out of fear and shock as they discuss the experience

Johnny has a harder reality to deal with – he’s killed someone

“I killed a kid last night. He couldn’t of been over seventeen or eighteen, and I killed him. How’d you like to live with that?”

Explains why he did it

“I didn’t mean to, but they were drowning you, and I was so scared…”

Ponyboy wonders what they’re going to do (feels overwhelmed, cold, lonely)

Pony and Johnny comfort each other until they feel more relaxed and level-headed

Pony asks, “We ain’t gonna cry no more, are we?”

Johnny replies, “Nope. We’re all cried out now. We’re gettin’ used to the idea. We’re gonna be okay now.”

The only way to deal with the situation is to become numb to it (just as some of the older greasers have done in tough circumstances)

As Pony and Johnny become less sensitive to violence, they will lose some of their childhood innocence.

Gone With the Wind

Johnny buys a copy of Gone With the Wind because he remembered Ponyboy saying one time that he wanted it. Thoughtful, sensitive, considerate

For 4-5 days, they read aloud from it to pass the time

It is not surprising that Ponyboy enjoys the book (we know he likes to read and is smart), but Johnny likes it too

Ponyboy acknowledges that Johnny is not dumb like many people think Pony says, “He was just a little slow to get things, and he liked to explore things

once he did get them”)

He got meaning from the book (“Johnny could get more meaning out of some of the stuff in there than I could”)

He’s “deeper” than he comes across (Ponyboy – “I was supposed to be the deep one”)

Johnny therefore defies society’s assumptions about greasers in general

Dally as a gentleman? Johnny especially likes the Southern gentlemen in the story.

Impressed with their manners and charm

Also, the Southern gentlemen in Gone With the Wind are gallant and cool even when everything is against them, just like the greasers are

Says they remind him of Dally Seems quite ironic since Dally is not mannerly or charming

However, Johnny is referring to a specific part of the story, when he compares Dally to the gentlemen who ride into “sure death because they were gallant.”

FORESHADOWING of…..?

There’s that word “gallant” again – brave, heroic, noble. Is this Dally? Will it be Dally?

Johnny tells about a time when Dally took the blame for a petty crime committed by Two-Bit. “That’s gallant.”

Though a law-breaker with a violent temper, Dally is also a loyal and devoted greaser.

Johnny’s story is a reminder that noble acts are not only completed by “typical” heroes.

Ponyboy finally understands Johnny’s deep admiration for Dally (“hero-worship”)

Dally is still too “real” for Pony. Pony likes “books and clouds and sunsets”. In other words, he likes things he can use to escape from reality; there’s no escaping Dally’s intensity.

“Nothing Gold Can Stay”

One morning, Ponyboy and Johnny watch the sunrise (the mist is especially accentuated) Ponyboy’s appreciation for beauty sets him apart from the other members of

his family and gang

Being a greaser is only one part of Pony’s identity

“It was beautiful.” -Ponyboy

“…that sure was pretty.” –Johnny

Johnny: “Too bad it couldn’t stay like that all the time.”

Ponyboy: “Nothing gold can stay.” Quotes a poem by Robert Frost (full text on page 77)

Reveals his depth

It captures just what Pony and Johnny feel, though Pony says he can’t truly explain the poem’s meaning in words

Poem’s meaning

We desire to hold on to the beautiful things in life

However, “nothing gold can stay” Example: a flower blooms, it’s beautiful, but eventually its leaves and petals

fall off and it dies

Connection to the novel: Goodness, innocence, and purity cannot last

Ponyboy and Johnny desire to hold on to the innocence of their youth, but growing up is inevitable (unavoidable)

Their innocence is “gold”, but “nothing gold can stay” (i.e. they lose their innocence)

This has already started to happen with the murder of Bob (and will continue to happen as other events occur)

It will be more and more difficult to stay hopeful and optimistic

“I guess we’re different”

Johnny comments that Ponyboy has made him see the beauty of nature more than he ever had before, and he notes how different Ponyboy is from his family. Doesn’t act like any of them

Likewise, Ponyboy points out that Johnny isn’t like anyone else in the gang Pony wouldn’t be able to talk about sunrises or clouds, or recite the poem, with

anyone else but Johnny

“they just don’t dig”

Johnny says, “I guess we’re different”, but Pony has a different perspective: “Shoot, maybe they are.”

The bond between Ponyboy and Johnny is strengthened with this discussion

More foreshadowing!!!!

“We were careful with our cigarettes - if that old church ever caught fire there’d be no stopping it.”

Dally’s visit Dally pays Ponyboy and Johnny a visit

Connection to the outside world

Pony immediately asks about his brothers; his life with them, which had once seemed unfair, now seems perfect; he sincerely misses his brothers

Brings a letter from Sodapop Indicates his and Darry’s deep concern for Pony’s welfare, as well as Darry’s

sorrow for hitting Pony

Dally confirms that Darry is “takin’ this mighty hard”

Pony doesn’t seem to acknowledge this (still angry perhaps?)

Dally reveals he was hauled down to the police station to be questioned about Bob’s murder He gets “hauled in for everything” due to his reputation and past/current

behaviors

Has thrown the police off the boys’ trail by telling them they headed to Texas (once again, his loyalty and self-sacrifice are clear)

Dally takes the boys to Dairy Queen because they are hungry Cares for them

Announces that there’s “all-out warfare” between the Socs and greasers now Increase in violence

Rumble planned for the next night

Dally accepts the conflict between the Socs and greasers too easily There is no purpose in responding to violence with more violence

Will only make this worse and divide the social classes even further

Dally, of course, is too hardened to see this

He’s carrying a gun – not loaded – FORESHADOWING

Says Cherry Valance is acting as a “spy” for the greasers (a teaser to keep you reading)

Words

Gallant = brave, heroic, noble

Robert Frost = US poet (1874-1963)

Cancer stick = cigarette

Heater = gun