Chocolate cake had begun to seem rather lackluster as of lately, Ponyboy found. As weeks went by, breakfast had become nothing more than a prescribed experience, serving as a bitter reminder of better times at its most- an annoying necessity at its least. The belated onset of both denial and resentful acceptance, respectively to those of differing maturity, had opened the floodgates to an insurmountable sense of apathy- an apathy that had, with no hesitation, swept through the gang’s very being, taking the joyful connotations of breakfast with it. Consequently, Ponyboy sat in solitude, dwarfed by a pile of willfully neglected dishes, as he scowled down at an uninspiring slice of chocolate cake. This apathy, he decided, was much like an entity of its own. A being, a living creature, with thoughts and feelings, motives and aspirations. Humanizing it, Pony believed, would at least allow him to find sense of pity for the force that had tainted the very core of his family. Sodapop had been its first victim. Only days after the death of Dallas Winston, he had already lost his grip on his former mindset. Gone was the boyish optimism, the warm sincerity, and in its place stood the impassive mask of one who had succumbed to the harsh grasp of reality. Ponyboy met that mask by the next morning, as he was …show more content…
Pony began to reflect upon the fight, of his actions, of Johnny’s, of Bob’s. Often with great resentment, he would think of Bob Sheldon, the violent Social who he believed was responsible for everything that had occurred. Pony rapidly grew cold, enveloped in his anger, possessed by his hatred. As weeks turned to months, these emotions festered, corrupting his every motive and rending his innocence to pieces. Eventually, through a dispassionate haze, he decided that if he were able to go back to that night, he, Ponyboy Curtis, would kill Bob Sheldon without a moment’s