The Outsiders Book Notes Summary

At first, the nurses won't let the boys see Johnny, but then a doctor tells them, "Let them go in. He's been asking for them. It can't hurt now." Chapter 8, pg. 119 Only Ponyboy realizes that this means Johnny is going to die. Two-Bit runs off to buy Johnny another copy of Gone with the Wind, so Ponyboy and Johnny are left alone together. Johnny tells him he's very scared, and Pony pretends he has nothing to be scared of. Johnny knows he's going to die, though, and he tells Ponyboy, "I wouldn't mind it so much if there wasn't so much stuff I ain't done yet and so many things I ain't seen. It's not fair." Chapter 8, pg. 121

Topic Tracking: Loneliness 7
Topic Tracking: Innocence 6

Ponyboy thinks about how Johnny's life has been so hard, so full of sadness, and that he has never experienced real happiness. Just then the nurse tells him his mother wants to see him. Johnny refuses to see her. Finally, he passes out from exhaustion. As Pony and Two-Bit go to see Dally, they run into Johnny's mother in the hallway. She blames all her son's problems on them. Two-Bit starts to yell at her, but Pony stops him. In Dally's hospital room, they find him arguing with the nurses, who won't let him smoke. They know then that he is okay. When he asks about Johnny, they soften things for him, telling him that they aren't sure what will happen with Johnny. Still, Dally understands how bad things are, and he gets very angry. He takes Two-Bit's fancy knife, planning to get even with the Socs in the rumble that night. On the way home, Pony tells Two-Bit that he has a bad feeling about the fight. Two-Bit pretends not to understand. They run into Cherry, and she tells Pony that although she feels bad about Johnny, she can't go see him, because he killed Bob. Ponyboy gets angry, telling her, "You're a traitor to your own kind and not loyal to us." Chapter 8, pg. 129 He knows he still likes her though--he doesn't really believe in hating someone just because they're part of a group you're supposed to hate.

Topic Tracking: Misunderstanding 7