Can People Really Change?

Authors Note: Stereotypes are everywhere, Randy was the perfect picture of the stereotypical Soc, all until his best friend died and he changed his view on life, that’s how Randy became a dynamic character.

Randy is the Average Soc who believes that all greasers are the stereotypical no good criminals, but once he talks to Ponyboy he realizes how wrong he has been all this time. Socs are the kind of people that beat up and make fun of greasers just because their different, Randy used to be one of those people. Before having that talk, he just assumed all greasers had an okay life, or at least parents. Turns out some don’t and Randy now sees how tough they have it and acknowledges them as people too.

Unquestionably Randy is a dynamic character, but he was not always that way. Like I said, he was one of those terrible people that beat up greasers; at least he was until Bob died. Socs can do some pretty nasty things so you’d be stupid to even approach them. In fact, Randy was one of the socs that had jumped Johnny for the first time, that’s why poor Johnny is so jumpy, but the worst part is, he didn’t even feel bad about it.

However, things changed once Bob died and Randy was never the same. There is this feeling inside him that he hasn’t felt for a long time. He feels pity, and not just for himself, but for the greasers too. To prove how bad he feels, Randy even pulls himself out of the rumble because he knows that no matter who wins; things will still be the same. There were a lot of bad things he did that he is just now realizing all of them, and all it took was his friend’s life.

Aside from understanding life for the greasers, Randy now has sympathy for them too. After this whole feud came between the two groups he basically got sick of all of the harsh feelings. Randy just doesn’t understand why people have to be so mean. Ironically enough though, he used to be one of those people that didn’t understand why they shouldn’t be mean.

In final consideration, Randy is undeniably a dynamic character, throughout this book he has grown and changed some much. At first you would had never guessed that there might be a soft side to this cocky, popular, and “tuff” guy, but now it is quite clear that he does have some sympathy and it’s not just for himself. Bob and Randy made a few foolish mistakes that led to some lives being lost, and I guess that’s when it hit him. These things he was doing and the choices he was making were all very poor, Randy changed and that makes him a dynamic character.