Has your viewpoint of the characters changed over time?

[Valerie]

I read this when I was in high school and felt tons of empathy for Ponyboy, and thought Darry was a jerk. However, reading the book several years after high school I totally sympathized more so with Darry. Has anyone else felt the same? I haven't read the book in years but now I could see bot of their viewpoints.

[Mimi ❤]

Yes! I was in seventh grade when I was introduced to this book and Darry in particular rubbed off as cruel to me and I disliked him. Over time I decided to reread this book since it is my all time favorite and found myself understanding reasons of Darry's mild depression and why he lashes out all of a sudden. Also, I liked Dally more later on. I felt really bad for him.