CharacterAnalysisEssayRA15


 * SUGARY SODA**

You may have seen commercials that include scrawny-arms Rob Lowe, super-hairy Rob Lowe, and even super-awkward Rob Lowe. But before those commercials, in 1983, was another Rob Lowe. That's Sodapop Curtis from //The Outsiders//. Throughout the story, Soda could be described in three adjectives: good-looking, comical, and understanding.

The first word that describes Soda in //The Outsiders// is that he is good-looking. Cherry Valance describes him this way by saying this to Ponyboy Curtis on page 23: "'Man, your brother is one doll. I might have guessed you were brothers - you look alike.'" (Hinton, 23) Though this was probably a compliment directed toward Ponyboy, she still says that Soda is handsome. This time, and many other times in the book, he's mentioned as handsome. He is also mentioned throughout the book as the next adjective.

Soda was also very comical. Ponyboy describes Soda later in the story. "'You're funny. We ought to send you in to the //Reader's Digest.// I hear they pay a lot for funny things.''' (Hinton, 132) Soda can be very funny at times, and can be funny anywhere (including church). But when things get really serious, he knows when to stop (like when Johnny got sent to the hospital). The next thing that describes Soda, though, is a little more serious.

Soda, finally, is very understanding to the people he knows. A person that believes he is understanding is Ponyboy. Very early in the book, Ponyboy says so. "Soda tries to understand, at least which is more than Darry does." (Hinton, 2) In the story, Ponyboy was facing troubles with Darry since the beginning. He was being harmful to him, and it wasn't until around chapter 5 that Ponyboy dealt with it (by running away with Johnny). So Soda throughout the story did his best to understand what Ponyboy felt.

Sodapop Curtis was one of the many good characters in //The Outsiders//. I hope that other people get a chance to read about Soda's comical, understanding, and good-looking traits in the future.