Fortunately, Johnny is the gangs' pet, so Dally just stalks off without confrontation. Two-Bit joins Ponyboy and Johnny, and he and Marcia hit it off.
Cherry is impressed with Johnny's courage, but she senses something else in Johnny. She quizzes Ponyboy about Johnny. Cherry's accurate assessment that Johnny's "been hurt bad sometime" prompts Ponyboy to retell the story of Johnny's beating by the Socs. About four months ago, Johnny was out in a field hunting a football to practice a few kicks, and four Socs drove by in a blue Mustang. They stopped and jumped him, beating Johnny half to death.
One of the Socs wore several rings and the rings badly cut Johnny. The beating wasn't what had changed Johnny, it was the fact that they had scared him. Johnny never walked alone anymore, and he vowed that he would kill the next person who jumped him. The story of Johnny's beating visibly upsets Cherry. She tells Ponyboy that not all Socs are like that, just like all greasers are not like Dally. She tells him that Socs have their troubles, too, but Ponyboy cannot imagine what worries a Soc might have.
The chapter concludes with the line, "I know better now. This chapter introduces the importance of perspective. The lament that life isn't fair runs throughout this chapter, but now a Soc also brings it forth. Cherry Valance represents the perfect life to Ponyboy. She is a good-looking cheerleader, but she states that the Socs have troubles, too. Her life appears perfect to an outsider looking in, but that apparently is not the case. After listening to the story of Johnny's beating, Cherry does not feel a need to defend the Socs who attacked Johnny, but she feels the need to qualify the fact that not only the greasers have difficulties: "'We have troubles you've never even heard of.
You want to know something? This viewpoint is a measure of his perspective that readers can watch grow and change as the novel continues. The gang is defined again as family: "When you're a gang, you stick up for the members.
If you don't stick up for them, stick together, make like brothers, it isn't a gang anymore. Seemingly, none of the families represented by Ponyboy's gang have stuck together. Whether because of death in Ponyboy's case , the departure of a parent or child in Dally's case , divorce, or child abuse, the greasers are searching for a family atmosphere that supports them.
Cherry explains to Ponyboy the terms of their friendship. Cherry feels caught between being a Soc and being an individual. Even though she regards drinking alcohol as disgusting, and obeys the rules of being a Soc, she finds herself drawn to crude, violent guys like Dallas Winston. Cherry recognizes her weakness for the sex appeal of lawless men, even though she is a classy girl who drives a Corvette. She correctly deduces he reads books, and she guesses he also watches sunsets, meaning he sees beyond the stress of daily life.
Here, she identifies with Ponyboy and, at the same time, reveals she misses a more innocent time in her life. Cherry and Ponyboy share a level of sensitivity to the world around them that forges a bond and broadens their understanding of themselves, their situations, and each other.
She likes Ponyboy and Johnny because they treat her politely. For a short while at least, she cares more about how each boy behaves than about his West Side or East Side address. Cherry is not just a sweet, simple girl. She finds herself attracted to Dally, who is crass and unrefined but also sexy and charismatic.
Despite all her attraction to the greasers, moreover, she is not completely free of group prejudice. She tells Ponyboy that she probably won't say hello to him at school, acknowledging that she respects social divisions.
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