Questions and Answers

1. THE OUTSIDERS
CHAPTER SIX
Questions & Answers
December 2018
Miss Riddell

2. 1. VOCABULARY

3. Page 87 – jolt-
(verb) to jar, shake or cause to move by a sudden
rough thrust; shake up roughly

4. Page 92 – detached-
(adjective) not attached; separated; disinterested;
not involved

5. Page 92 – ember-
(noun) a small live / burning piece of coal, wood;

6. Page 94 – inhalation-
(noun) an act or instance or inhaling or breathing in

7. Page 95 – plasma-
(noun) the liquid part of blood

8. 2. Who stopped the greasers from
jumping Cherry when she came by
the vacant lot?
c) Two-Bit

9. 3. How did Dally know about the
church?
d) a relative told him about it

10. 4. What is one of the reasons Dally
gave Johnny to not turn himself in?
c) He didn’t want Johnny to end up like him

11. 5. What new information do we
learn about Dally when he talks to
Johnny about jail?
d) Dally cares about someone (Johnny).

12. 6. When does Pony say was the first
time he ever saw Johnny without
that defeated look on his face?
d) In the burning church

13. 7. Why did Ponyboy and Johnny try
to save the children from the
burning church?
They felt the fire might be their fault.

14. 8. Why wouldn’t Dally go into the
burning church for the children, but
he did go in for Johnny?
Dally didn’t care about the children (who were
strangers) but he loved Johnny.

15. 9. Dally does two separate things
that help save Ponyboy’s life.
Explain them both.
First, he knocks Ponyboy to the ground when he’s on
fire and attempting to run back into the building.
Second, he had given Ponyboy his jacket, which
provided protection to Ponyboy when he was in the fire.
Interestingly, Ponyboy has said that he dislikes and fears
Dally, yet this young man is the reason he’s alive.
There’s a love there, even if Ponyboy doesn’t recognize
it.

16. 10. When Ponyboy and Johnny need
a place to hide out, they go to an
abandoned church. In this chapter,
witnesses say the boys were “sent
from heaven” to help the little
children from the burning building,
which Ponyboy described as “a red
hell.”

17. Symbolically, what’s going on here
with all of this religious imagery?
Hinton is making the connection that the two boys are not what society
expects.
Johnny, by one definition, is a murderer, yet he’s also a hero.
Dally is awful and, at first, doesn’t want to get involved in the rescue, yet
he also followed and was burned as he helped pull children out of the
window. Dally also saves Ponyboy, who was on fire and trying to run back
into the building.
Hinton seems to be saying that all of us have the potential to be angels, in
spite of our life’s circumstances, the labels placed on us by society, or our
past sins.
It seems contradictory, but the boys are both sinners and saints. Religion
offers redemption and forgiveness, something boys on both sides of the feud
need.

18. 11. What makes Ponyboy realize
that Darry really does love him?
When Darry sees Ponyboy in the hospital, he starts to cry.
Ponyboy has never seen Darry cry, not even at their parents’
funeral. Ponyboy realizes that Darry was hard on him
because he feared losing someone else that he loves. Their
hug is a turning point in their relationship. Things are going
to be better now, Ponyboy believes.

19. 12. Similes & Metaphors

20. a) Dally grinned wolfishly.
Metaphor

21. b) The cinders and embers sting and
smart like ants
Simile

22. c) Pony sees a ribbon of highway
Metaphor

23. d) The water was like liquid ice
Simile

24. e) Explosions from the fire sound
like gunfire
Simile

25. f) Living with his haircut is like
living in a Halloween costume Pony
can’t get out of
Simile

26. g) Pony fears he’ll drown in the
smoke
Metaphor

27. h) Dally’s word is law
Metaphor

28. i) The horizon was a thin golden line
Metaphor

29. j) Being in a burning ember is like
being in a red hell
Simile

30. k) As in waves, memories rushed
over Pony
Simile

31. l) The silent moment at dawn when
everything holds
its breath
Metaphor