Angela - Since Angela gets married in TWTTIN, I picture her stuck in a marriage she was sort of forced into. I think she would finish high school and she'd end up pregnant fairly quickly afterwards. I see her as too weak to break out of her marriage (and also having a strange like/dislike for her husband that keeps her with him) and sort of stuck in her life. She'd be living in a bad situation her whole life, going from crappy guy to crappy guy if she ever did divorce and she knows that. She'd do anything for her kid(s) though, and Tim and Curly give her money to help her out. I think Tim and Curly would have a tenuous relationship with her husband, and whenever the Shepard's end up in jail, Angela's life is a little worse because her husband knows he can get away with more.

I think she's protrayed as very tough, but she's actually very insecure and doesn't think she can make it on her own. I think she relies on men to get her through life and she doesn't see how resilient she actually is. I don't see her having a good relationship with her mother at all and being kind of isolated, maybe having one or two friends in similar situations. I see her as getting more insistent and nagging to her husband as she gets older, and sort of ruling him at home, but knowing deep down that he is in control. I picture her husband as staying involved in crime and a bad lifestyle.

When he gets sent off to jail or prison, I don't see her having any problem finding another guy to take care of her. She doesn't care if it's cheating.

Tags: angela shepard, characters, in the future
Current Music: Kool & The Gang - Celebration

Curly - I can see thinking he's a big shit in his brother's organization, but in reality he doesn't even rate lieutenant status and people are just afraid of him because he's Tim Shepard's brother, and deep down Curly knows it. I can see him being a total liability for Tim, doing risky and stupid things to either get attention or try and get power and respect. He'd be in and out of jail a lot because he get caught doing stupid things. Curly would have a drug problem at some point until Tim set him straight. I can see him wanting to get out from under Tim's shadow, but having no clue how to do it. I think ultimately he would also end up in prison for a longer stint, despite Tim trying to keep him out of trouble. Ironically, I think this would be where he would learn to separate himself from Tim and in an odd way, being in prison for a longer stint, without Tim, would cause him to grow up and become more of a leader type of person. He'd get out and be aiming to be the top guy and be better able to do it.

I think it would be interesting if Curly got out and decided Tim shouldn't be running things. I think his ultimate resentment that he wasn't respected would come out and he would blame Tim for it, rather than himself, which goes to show that he only learns so much about the world.

Tags: characters, curly shepard, in the future
Current Music: Phil Collins - You Can't Hurry Love

Tim - I always had a vision of Tim as a guy who'd be okay with pot, but would be vehemently against any heroin or harder drugs, so when that moves into Tulsa, he'd be challenged by other gangs and his members for not getting involved in it. He might have a hard time holding onto his gang. I think he'd be getting into more and more dangerous things - running guns, stolen merchandise etc, but he'd stay away from the drug trade and it would cause a big rift in his gang. He'd run a big chunk of Tulsa and be part of a bigger network of criminals. His own guys would be afraid of him, but he'd have a hard time controlling his guys and the drugs and them getting involved. I see him eventually doing a longer stint in prison 5-10 years, but when he gets out, he can't go straight. I think he'd be in for so long, he'd be shocked to find the gang has gone their own ways. I think he'd be more choosy about what to get involved in crime wise. I think he'd stay near Tulsa, where his family is.

Tags: characters, in the future, tim shepard
Current Music: Snoop Dogg - Gin & Juice

Cherry - I think she would've gone off to college and been glad to get away. I think she would start to feel very guilty for how she ignored Pony at school and how she contributed to the Soc/greaser war. I can see her graduating college and doing her best to stay away from Tulsa and create a new life, but never really able to get away from what happened all those years ago. I think ultimately she would come back to town to try and patch things up with Pony and make things right. I can see her having a so-called perfect life to people looking in, but on the inside she feels that it's all fake. I think the circumstances of The Outsiders would've caught up with her a lot later in the life than everyone else.

Tags: characters, cherry valance, in the future
Current Music: Led Zeppelin - Ramble On

Two-Bit - He's a really hard one to peg down for me. Part of me thinks he'd be the same old Two-Bit, drinking and joking and stuff. I think he would've been really stuck at one point - Soda and Steve at war, Pony at college, Darry working, Dally and Johnny dead...he would've been really alone. I think he would've had an internal breakdown at this point. Lots of drinking, partying and having good times. I can see him dabbling in light drugs, but not getting hooked. I can see him getting jailed a bunch of times over shoplifting. I think his mother would've been at her wit's end with him. I think he may have hooked up with Shepard's crew. His turn around would've come through Darry I think - I think he would've helped Two-Bit get back on track and stuff. I can see Two-Bit working part time jobs here and there, pick up work whenever he can get it. I don't see him working full time. I think when all his friends slowly trickled back into town he'd get back to his old self a bit more. He's an alcoholic, but not violent or mean, kind of a fun drunk so no one ever sees him as having a problem. I picture him being married, having a daughter, they all have a good relationship and stuff.

Tags: characters, in the future, two-bit mathews
Current Music: Green Day - Longview

Steve - I think he went to Vietnam and came back bitter and angry. I think Steve always had anger locked up in his soul from when he was a child, and he's not the type to get over it very easily. I can see him being very difficult to get along with in a relationship, so I see him being divorced, maybe having a kid that he doesn't get to see very often and he's bitter about that and blames the mother rather than his own behaviour. I think he would've been involved in drugs, would've ended up in jail. I think he would've come the closest to going to same route as Dally did. I also think he has an underlying base of emotion that eventually saves him - he's not closed off like Dally and even Two-Bit are (Pony says at one point in the the book that Steve "sobs" and had red eyes, so he hasn't lost the ability to cry). I think he would've gotten back on his feet, and the gang would help him. I can see him sort of being the type that always remembers Vietnam, always remembers the people he served with and being very involved with it. I see Vietnam as his defining experience. I think he'd be totally clean, but always close to that line.

Tags: characters, in the future, steve randle
Current Music: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge

Darry - I think Darry gave a lot up for his brothers, and I don't think that would've changed at all. He would've continued working so Pony could get through college himself, and I think he would've ended up working in construction or something, making good money finally, but not using much of it. I can see him fixing up the old house and not wanting to sell it or leave it for awhile. I see him running his own construction company, giving people like him a chance with his company. I think he would've met a nice girl and got married. I'm iffy on kids - one minute I think he'd have two, the next I can't picture him with kids. Maybe he wants a break from raising some after Soda and Pony are gone. So when he has kids, he'll be an older dad I think. I think his girlfriend or wife would be the type to try and get him to indulge himself, relax a bit, but he's not able to do that very easily because of his personality. I think as he got older he would've gone to college to get his degree, in his thirties or forties. I don't think he'd ever really be happy until he did that for himself, even if he never used it.

Tags: characters, darry curtis, in the future
Current Music: Joey McIntyre - Rain

Sodapop - He's a tough one, because I really like some aspect of the tragedy of Soda dying young. There's sometimes a feeling in the book of him being too good to be true, and the tragedy of him dying seems to make him more human in a way. But if he didn't die, I think he would've continued working at the DX, maybe managing it one day. I can see him working blue collar jobs all his life, something that would bring him into contact with a lot of people. He's a very social person, very good with people, and I can see him wanting to keep that in his life, so a gas station, a restaurant, a motel, something where people are always coming and going seems like it would be perfect for him. Owning his own garage would be good too. I see him having a steady girlfriend and maybe one child, but not getting married right off. I think the situation with Sandy would've made him a bit gun shy about marriage and giving that much of himself away to someone. I see him living in the old neighbourhood still and being his happy self. I also think he would've served in Vietnam, but I don't think it would've made him bitter...I do think it would've tempered his happy-go-lucky attitude a little so that he was a little more cynical about life, but not negative.

If he did die, I can see it having a far ranging impact on every member of the gang.

Tags: characters, in the future, sodapop curtis
Current Music: Klaatu - Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft

I was thinking about this the other day - I know there are a few interviews out there with S.E. Hinton where she gives a rough idea of what happened to the characters after the book. I've heard different things about Soda's fate (he died in Vietnam, only the guy based on him died etc). So I was thinking about where I thought the characters would be after the novel, so I'm posting up each character and where I think they'd go. (This used to be one big post, I'm separating it into one for each character)

Ponyboy - I could see Pony writing the book and his teacher helping him get it published. I think he would've gone on to college (OSU) and studied English and things like that. I think he would've had a sports scholarship in track, too. He'd get his degree and I can see two careers that Pony would get into based on how he was at the end of the book - teaching and social work. I think teaching would work well for him, he could teach the same kids that he wanted to reach with his book in the first place. Social work has that same aspect, although you're getting the kids in circumstances where you may not be able to help much. So I think teaching high school would be most likely. He'd go back to Tulsa and teach at his old high school. I see him getting married and having one or two kids and living in a middle class neighbourhood...he still writes in his spare time and has a few more published books. I see him achieving the middle class life and not being a 'greaser' forever.

Tags: characters, in the future, ponyboy curtis
Current Music: Sly & The Family Stone - Hot Fun In The Summertime