Chapter Eight

1. How does what the doctor first says, on page 119, foreshadow Johnny's condition?

When the doctor says “Let them go in”, it foreshadows Johnny’s condition because of the expression in his voice when he says if and also when the doctor says “He’s been asking for them. It can’t hurt now” that is a possible warning of the doctor saying that Johnny is going to die.

2. "We needed Johnny as much as he needed the gang. And for the same reason" (p.121). What do you think Pony means, and what is the reason?

I think that when Ponyboy says “We needed Johnny as much as he needed the gang. And for the same reason” Ponyboy means that the gang needed Johnny in order to stay together, because without Johnny, things would never be the same again. There would be no one to turn to when a certain person was mad at the rest of the gang, and most of the gang would loose their best buddy, especially Pony. Pony and Johnny were like two peas in a pod, they shared the same interests, they both liked things like reading, and the same books to. The reason was that they all needed a person to talk to which in this case would be Johnny, and Johnny needed the whole gang to talk to about his problems. The gang was like Johnny’s family, because all of them actually cared about him unlike his mother and father. Pony’s house was like everyone’s second home, especially Johnny. Johnny needs the whole gang to survive. Without them he probably would have been dead already. The gang supports each other just like family should and if someone leaves the gang then everything will change.

3. What does Pony mean on p. 123 when he says, "we could get along without anyone but Johnny"?

When Pony said “We could get along without anyone but Johnny” he meant that Johnny was the one who kept the group all together and would never tell any of the other greasers off the way that the others would like Dally. Johnny was the nice, sweet kid of the gang who was the person that people could turn to and tell things when they were mad at the rest of the gang. No one was ever mad at Johnny. He was always just too innocent.

4. If Darry didn't have Soda and Pony, why would he be a Soc?

If Darry didn’t have Soda and Pony, he would be a Soc because he would have a lot more money and he was a lot smarter and was always serious just like the other Socs. If Soda and Pony weren’t born and their parents still got into that accident, Darry would have a lot more money by now. But since he does have Sodapop and Ponyboy, Darry has to send some of his money for Pony’s, Soda’s and his own necessities so that they could all survive.

5. What does Cherry mean when she says Bob "wasn't just anyone" on p.129?

When Cherry says that Bob wasn’t just anyone she meant that he was actually a really nice guy that had something more to his self than just the other Socs, he had a really nice, sweet, understanding personality behind his toughness and when he was drunk. When Bob was drunk he would have a completely different personality, which would turn him to beat up and innocent greaser like Johnny, but on his sweeter side, he was more open, understanding, and nice.