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What was sodapop Curtis proudest moment?

1 Answer

2 votes
I think it’s this sorry if I’m wrong, good luck tho!


Seventeen-year-old Sodapop is Mr. Personality, and he backs that up with lots of heart. Like his brother Darrel, he's fashion-plate handsome, and since he's a Curtis, he's smart, athletic, and hardworking to boot. In contrast to Ponyboy's conflicted emotions regarding Darry, Pony's feelings for Soda are entirely positive. He idolizes and loves his older brother and sees how smart he is.

Pony's only problem with Soda is that Soda dropped out of high school. He dropped out because he wasn't excelling in school, and because he needs to work to help support the family. But, for Pony, this is still a source of shame, and probably guilt as well. On a conscious or subconscious level, Pony feels that if Soda didn't have to help provide for him, his brother might still be in school. His shame is also due to the social stigma of dropping out of high school:

"Dropout" made me think of some poor dumb-looking hoodlum wandering the streets breaking out lights – it didn't fit my happy-go-lucky brother at all. (2.39)

Pony later learns that, although Soda doesn't want Pony to drop out of high school, he's happy with his own choice to do so. He likes his work at the gas station, and says he wasn't getting anything out of school. What do you think? Should Soda have fought to get an education no matter what? Is it okay for some people to leave high school, or should everybody graduate?

In any case, Soda is always cheery, in sharp contrast to brooding and moody Pony and Darry. He takes his role as middle brother seriously, and is constantly the in-between for Pony and Darry, acting as a buffer against their constant clashes. As with Darry, Pony hasn't been seeing the whole picture.

User Rex Wagenius
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