Pony makes this comment about how greasers are perceived when they are all getting ready for the rumble. He is frustrated about the way the world looks down on him because he has long hair and lives in the wrong neighborhood. The greasers put more oil on their hair so it is extra clear they are greasers.
What kind of world is it where all I have to be proud of is a reputation for being a hood, and greasy hair? I don't want to be a hood, but even if I don't steal things and mug people and get boozed up, I'm marked lousy. Why should I be proud of it? Why should I even pretend to be proud of it (Chapter 9)?
This excerpt shows how Pony is questioning his role in the upcoming rumble. As a greaser, and because of what happened to Johnny, Pony feels he should be proud of his gang, but he doesn’t often feel like a greaser. He is different from most of the others in his gang. For one thing, he isn’t much of a fighter.
Johnny asks his brother Soda how he feels about fighting.
"You like fights, don't you, Soda?" I asked suddenly.
"Yeah, sure." He shrugged. "I like fights."
"How come?"
"I don't know." He looked at me, puzzled. "It's action. It's a contest. Like a drag race or a dance or something" (Chapter 9).
Despite the fact that he doesn’t like fighting, Pony is afraid when Darry suggests Pony shouldn’t go to the rumble. After all, he was recently pretty badly injured in the church fire. All the same, he wants to participate in the rumble to support his gang and so no one will think he is chicken. He thinks, “Right then the most important thing in my life was helping us whip the Socs.”
Pony does judge people based on whether they are greasers or Socs. It is the way his town operates. Pony is afraid of Socs because they will jump him. He wants to beat them in the rumble, but he has also shown he is willing to consider things from different points of view through his conversations with Cherry and Randy. Pony understands Socs are people, too.
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