The Outsiders Notes | Chapter 4

As they walk through the park in the darkness, they hear a car horn. Five Socs hop out of their blue Mustang, and Pony can see they are very drunk. Johnny's face goes blank--only Pony can see the fear in his eyes. The boy with the rings, Bob, and his friend Randy, threaten Pony and Johnny, and the two of them try to act tough. One of the boys pushes Ponyboy into a fountain, holding his head under the water. He falls unconscious and when he wakes up, Johnny tells him he killed Bob. Johnny holds a bloody knife, and Ponyboy looks down to see Bob lying on the pavement in a pool of blood. Johnny says, "I had to. They were drowning you, Pony. They might have killed you." Chapter 4, pg. 57

Topic Tracking: Innocence 5

Ponyboy panics, but Johnny seems calm. He says that Dallas will tell them what to do. They know they can find him at Buck Merril's place. Buck Merril is a cowboy and gambler, and Ponyboy has been forbidden to go near him, but they need to see Dally. There is a rough party going on at Merril's place, but Dally is sober. He listens to their story and simply congratulates Johnny on killing Bob. "The fight for self-preservation had hardened him against caring." Chapter 4, pg. 59 Dally gives the boys some money and a gun, and worries about what Darry and Sodapop will say when they find out about this. Pony tries to convince himself he doesn't care if Darry worries or not. Dally tells them to hop on a train to a nearby city, and stay in an abandoned church. He instructs them to buy enough food for a week and then stay hidden in the church at all times--he will come get them as soon as he can.

Topic Tracking: Loneliness 3

The boys find the church, and Ponyboy remembers going to church with Johnny. They both enjoyed the sermons. Then one day they brought Soda and Steve and Two-Bit, who would not stop talking and joking during the service. Pony was so embarrassed that he never went back to church. He thinks about where he is now: "This church gave me a kind of creepy feeling. What do you call it? Premonition?" Chapter 4, pg. 67 The boys are so tired that they fall asleep almost immediately.