The novel begins with the narrator, 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis, lost in his thoughts as he walks home from the movie theater alone. He recognizes that this is a risky decision; as a member of the working-class “greaser” gang, walking alone puts him at risk of getting harassed by the “Socials” (abbreviated as “Socs”), the rival gang that rules the wealthy West side. In 1960s Tulsa, Oklahoma, “the warfare is between social classes” (10), and these groups clash frequently and violently. Ponyboy and his 16-year-old brother Sodapop try to avoid trouble as much as possible because they fear being separated from their older brother Darry, who became their guardian when their parents died in a car crash.

Ponyboy notices a red Corvair following him, and it catches up to him before he can outrun it. The five Socs in the car surround him and threaten to cut off his signature long Greaser hair and begin to beat him up. Terrified for his life, especially knowing how badly they beat up his best friend Johnny Cade, Pony yells out for his brothers. Before the Socs inflict too much damage, the rest of the Greaser gang chases them off.