From the very first page of the novel, it is clear Ponyboy feels different from the other members of his gang, The Greasers. He explains he went to see a movie by himself because "When I see a movie with someone it's kind of uncomfortable, like having someone read your book over your shoulder. I'm different that way. . . nobody in our gang digs movies and books the way I do. For a while...
From the very first page of the novel, it is clear Ponyboy feels different from the other members of his gang, The Greasers. He explains he went to see a movie by himself because "When I see a movie with someone it's kind of uncomfortable, like having someone read your book over your shoulder. I'm different that way. . . nobody in our gang digs movies and books the way I do. For a while there, I thought I was the only person in the world that did." It appears that Ponyboy has always had a different way of thinking about things than other Greasers. He cares about school and likes to read and think deeply about the world around him.
Most Greasers seem to have accepted life the way it is, but Ponyboy questions the world around him and wonders what life might be like if things were different. Ponyboy doesn't seem to hate the Socs as much as other Greasers. Instead, he wonders what the Soc girls are like, and "Why did the Socs hate us so much? We left them alone." His confusion is only exacerbated by his friendship with Cherry Valance. He was always taught to see all the Socs as enemies incapable of kindness or warmth, but Cherry does not seem to fit this mold.
By the end of the novel, Ponyboy comes to understand the Socs are young people with lives and problems of their own, just like the Greasers.