Cherry Valance quotes show how different people can find something in common.
In The Outsiders, Cherry Valance is a Soc (short for Social), which means she’s from the wealthier side of town.
Cherry is dating Bob, but she’s attracted to bad boys like Dally Winston but eventually realizes he’s not good for her.
Ponyboy and his friends are a gang of greasers – poor kids from the bad side of town who are constantly in trouble with the law and rival gangs.
They live fast, hard lives and are always one step away from disaster.
Cherry meets Ponyboy and Johnny Cade at the movies and finds something common. Although their encounter leads to two deaths, the Greasers and the Socs eventually end their war.
Below is a collection of Cherry Valance quotes from The Outsiders with page numbers for easy reference.
The Outsiders Quotes With Page Numbers
Cherry Valance Physical Description
In S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders, Cherry Valance is a beautiful 16-year-old girl with red hair and green eyes. Because of her distinctive hair color, she is often referred to as Cherry. “My name’s Sherri, but I’m called Cherry because of my hair” (Chapter 2, Page 22).
Cherry’s physical appearance is further emphasized when Ponyboy describes her as a “real looker” (Chapter 2, Page 25) and “Boy, she was good-looking” (Chapter 2, Page 24).
Her striking red hair sets her apart and adds to her overall attractiveness. The nickname Cherry highlights this unique feature and adds to her memorable presence in the story.
Cherry Valance Character Analysis
Cherry Valance, also known as Sherri Valance, balances the main character, Ponyboy, in The Outsiders. and provides a different perspective on the Socs, the rival gang to the Greasers.
Throughout the story, Cherry demonstrates that the Socs are not as one-sided as the greasers may believe and helps sway Ponyboy to be more open-minded about them.
Additionally, Cherry’s personal growth mirrors Ponyboy’s, as they both experience loss and become stronger in their beliefs.
In Chapter 2, Cherry Valance states, “Things are rough all over.” This quote emphasizes people’s universal struggles and challenges, regardless of their social status or background. It shows that Cherry understands that the greasers and the Socs have their difficulties in life.
In Chapter 3, Ponyboy reflects on a moment shared with Cherry, saying, “It seemed funny that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.”
This quote highlights the commonality between Cherry and Ponyboy despite their different social statuses. It suggests that they both experience the same beauty and appreciate the same things in life, such as the sunset. It also suggests their worlds are not as separate as they initially believed.
In Chapter 8, Ponyboy and Cherry discuss the sunset. Ponyboy asks Cherry if she can see the sunset well from the West Side, to which she responds, “Real good.” Ponyboy adds, “You can see it well from the East Side, too.”
This exchange symbolizes the growing connection and understanding between Cherry and Ponyboy. They both acknowledge that beauty and goodness exist in both worlds, challenging the notion of division and hatred between the greasers and the Socs.
Cherry also has integrity. When Dallas Winston offered her and Marcia a Coke, they both refused. But Cherry kept her word.
“I do,” said Marcia. She was finishing the Coke Dally had given her. I realized then that Marcia and Cherry weren’t alike. Cherry had said she wouldn’t drink Dally’s Coke if she were starving, and she meant it. It was the principle of the thing. But Marcia saw no reason to throw away a perfectly good, free Coke” (Chapter 2, Page 30).
Overall, Cherry Valance’s character in The Outsiders catalyzes change and growth in Ponyboy. Through her interactions and insights, she challenges his preconceived notions and helps him see the complexity and humanity in all people, regardless of their social status.
Cherry’s personal growth and evolving perspective mirror Ponyboy’s journey as they both learn to overcome loss and become stronger in their beliefs.
The Outsiders Characters List And Analysis
Cherry Valance Quotes With Page Numbers
“It’s a shame you can’t ride bull half as good as you can talk it,” the redhead said coolly and turned back around.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Character: Cherry Valance), Chapter 2, Pages 21, 22
“You’d better leave us alone,” the redhead said in a biting voice, “or I’ll call the cops.”
“Oh, my, my”— Dally looked bored— “you’ve got me scared to death. You ought to see my record sometime, baby.” He grinned slyly. “Guess what I’ve been in for?”
“Please leave us alone,” she said. “Why don’t you be nice and leave us alone?”
Dally grinned roguishly. “I’m never nice. Want a Coke?”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance and Dally), Chapter 2, Page 22
“My name’s Sherri, but I’m called Cherry because of my hair. Cherry Valance.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Character: Cherry Valance), Chapter 2, Page 22
“Want a Coke?”
She was mad by then. “I wouldn’t drink it if I was starving in the desert. Get lost, hood!”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Dallas Winston and Cherry Valance), Chapter 2, Page 22
“The girl looked at me. I was half-scared of her. I’m half-scared of all nice girls, especially Socs. “Are you going to start in on us?”
I shook my head, wide-eyed. “No.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance and Ponyboy Curtis), Chapter 2, Page 22
“Suddenly she smiled. Gosh, she was pretty.
“You don’t look the type. What’s your name?”
I wished she hadn’t asked me that. I hate to tell people my name for the first time.
“Ponyboy Curtis.” Then I waited for the “You’re kidding!” or “That’s your real name?” or one of the other remarks I usually get. Ponyboy’s my real name and personally I like it. The redhead just smiled. “That’s an original and lovely name.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance and Ponyboy Curtis), Chapter 2, Page 22
“Cherry was looking at me. “What’s a nice, smart kid like you running around with trash like that for?”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Character: Cherry Valance), Chapter 2, Page 23
“Your brother Sodapop, does he work at a gasoline station? A DX, I think?”
“Yeah.”
“Man, your brother is one doll. I might have guessed you were brothers— you look alike.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance and Ponyboy), Chapter 2, Page 23
“She gave him an incredulous look; and then she threw her Coke in his face. “That might cool you off, greaser. After you wash your mouth and learn to talk and act decent, I might cool off, too.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance to Dallas Winston), Chapter 2, Page 24
“I wouldn’t have felt so embarrassed if they had been greasy girls— I might even have helped old Dallas.
But those two girls weren’t our kind. They were tuff-looking girls— dressed sharp and really good-looking.
They looked about sixteen or seventeen. One had short dark hair, and the other had long red hair. The redhead was getting mad, or scared. She sat up straight and she was chewing hard on her gum. The other one pretended not to hear Dally. Dally was getting impatient. He put his feet up on the back of the redhead’s chair, winked at me, and beat his own record for saying something dirty. She turned around and gave him a cool stare.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about Cherry Valance, (Character: Ponyboy), Chapter 2, Page 24
“Boy, she was good-looking. I’d seen her before; she was a cheerleader at our school. I’d always thought she was stuck-up.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about Cherry Valance, (Character: Ponyboy), Chapter 2, Page 24
“Cherry sighed in relief. “Thanks. He had me scared to death.”
Johnny managed an admiring grin. “You sure didn’t show it. Nobody talks to Dally like that.”
She smiled, “From what I saw, you do.”~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about Dallas Winston (Character: Cherry Valance), Chapter 2, Page 25
“Marcia grinned at us. She was a little smaller than Cherry. She was cute, but that Cherry Valance was a real looker.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about Cherry Valance (Character: Ponyboy Curtis), Chapter 2, Page 25
“How come y’all ain’t scared of us like you were Dally?”
Cherry sighed. “You two are too sweet to scare anyone. First of all, you didn’t join in Dallas’s dirty talk, and you made him leave us alone. Aid when we asked you to sit up here with us, you didn’t act like it was an invitation to make out for the night. Besides that, I’ve heard about Dallas Winston, and he looked as hard as nails and twice as tough. And you two don’t look mean.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance and Ponyboy), Chapter 2, Page 26
“Sure,” I said tiredly, “we’re young and innocent”
“No,” Cherry said slowly, looking at me carefully, “not innocent. You’ve seen too much to be innocent. Just not… dirty.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance and Ponyboy), Chapter 2, Page 26
“Well,” Marcia said with finality, “I’m glad he doesn’t know us.”
“I kind of admire him,” Cherry said softly.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Marcia and Ponyboy), Chapter 2, Page 27
“It’s not my idea of a good time to sit in a drive-in and watch people get drunk.”
You could tell by the way she said it that her idea of a good time was probably, high-class, and probably expensive.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance and Ponyboy as the narrator), Chapter 2, Page 27
“He climbed over the chair and plopped down beside Marcia. “Who’s this, your great-aunts?”
“Great-grandmothers, twice removed,” Cherry said smoothly.~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance, Ponyboy, and Dallas Winston), Chapter 2, Page 28
“Ponyboy, will you come with me to get some popcorn?” Cherry asked.
I jumped up. “Sure. Y’all want some?”
“I do,” said Marcia. She was finishing the Coke Dally had given her. I realized then that Marcia and Cherry weren’t alike. Cherry had said she wouldn’t drink Dally’s Coke if she was starving, and she meant it. It was the principle of the thing. But Marcia saw no reason to throw away a perfectly good, free Coke.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance, Ponyboy, and Marcia), Chapter 2, Page 30
“Your friend— the one with the sideburns— he’s okay?”
“He ain’t dangerous like Dallas if that’s what you mean. He’s okay.”
She smiled and her eyes showed that her mind was on something else. “Johnny… he’s been hurt bad sometime, hasn’t he?” It was more of a statement than a question. “Hurt and scared.”
“It was the Socs,” I said nervously, because there were plenty of Socs milling around and some of them were giving me funny looks, as if I shouldn’t be with Cherry or something.
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance and Ponyboy), Chapter 2, Page 31
“All Socs aren’t like that,” she said. “You have to believe me, Ponyboy. Not all of us are like that.”
“Sure,” I said.
“That’s like saying all you greasers are like Dallas Winston. I’ll bet he’s jumped a few people.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance and Ponyboy), Chapter 2, Page 34
“I’ll bet you think the Socs have it made. The rich kids, the Westside Socs. I’ll tell you something, Ponyboy, and it may come as a surprise. We have troubles you’ve never even heard of. You want to know something?” She looked me straight in the eye. “Things are rough all over.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about social class, stereotypes (Character: Cherry Valance), Chapter 2, Page 35
“No,” Cherry said slowly when I said this. “It’s not just money. Part of it is, but not all. You greasers have a different set of values. You’re more emotional. We’re sophisticated— cool to the point of not feelinganything. Nothing is real with us. You know, sometimes I’ll catch myself talking to a girl-friend, and realize I don’t mean half of what I’m saying. I don’t really think a beer blast on the river bottom is super-cool, but I’ll rave about one to a girl-friend just to be saying something.” She smiled at me. “I never told anyone that. I think you’re the first person I’ve ever really gotten through to.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance and Ponyboy Curtis as the narrator), Chapter 3, Pages 37, 38
“That’s why we’re separated,” I said. “It’s not money, it’s feeling— you don’t feel anything and we feel too violently.”
“And”— she was trying to hide a smile— “that’s probably why we take turns getting our names in the paper.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about social class, stereotypes, identity (Characters: Ponyboy Curtis and Cherry Valance), Chapter 3, Page 38
“Rat race is the perfect name for it,’ she said. ‘We’re always going and going and going, and never asking where. Did you ever hear of having more than you wanted? So that you couldn’t want anything else and then started looking for something else to want? It seems like we’re always searching for something to satisfy us, and never finding it. Maybe if we could lose our cool we would.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about social class (Character: Cherry Valance), Chapter 3, Page 38
“You read a lot, don’t you, Ponyboy?”
I was startled. “Yeah, why?”
“I could just tell. I’ll bet you watch sunsets, too.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about friendship (Characters: 1st: Cherry Valance and Ponyboy), Chapter 3, Page 40
“Cherry bit a fingernail. “Stand here,” she said. “There isn’t much else we can do.”
“Who is it?” Two-Bit asked. “The F.B.I.?”
“No,” Cherry said bleakly, “it’s Randy and Bob.”
“And,” Two-Bit added grimly, “a few other of the socially elite checkered-shirt set”
“Your boyfriends?” Johnny’s voice was steady, but standing as close to him as I was, I could see he was trembling. I wondered why— Johnny was a nervous wreck, but he never was that jumpy.
Cherry started walking down the street. “Maybe they won’t see us. Act normal.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about friendship (Characters: Cherry Valance, Two-Bit Mathews, Johnny Cade, and Ponyboy as the narrator), Chapter 3, Page 41
“Cherry turned to me. “Tell me about your oldest brother. You don’t talk much about him.”
I tried to think of something to say about Darry, and shrugged. “What’s to talk about? He’s big and handsome and likes to play football.”“I mean, what’s he like? I feel like I know Soda from the way you talk about him; tell me about Darry.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about friendship (Characters: 1st: Cherry Valance and Ponyboy), Chapter 3, Page 41
“Ponyboy… I mean… if I see you in the hall at school or something and don’t say hi, well it’s not personal or anything, but…”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, (Characters: Cherry Valance to Ponyboy), Chapter 3, Page 45
“I could fall in love with Dallas Winston,” she said. “I hope I never see him again, or I will.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about Dally (Character: Cherry Valance), Chapter 3, Page 46
“As Johnny told him the story, I studied Dally, trying to figure out what there was about this tough-looking hood that a girl like Cherry Valance could love.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about Cherry and Dally (Character: Ponyboy as the narrator, Chapter 3, Page 46
“So Cherry Valance, the cheerleader, Bob’s girl, the Soc, was trying to help us. No, it wasn’t Cherry the Soc who was helping us, it was Cherry the dreamer who watched sunsets and couldn’t stand fights. It was hard to believe a Soc would help us, even a Soc that dug sunsets.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about Cherry Vallance (Character: Ponyboy Curtis as the narrator, Chapter 8, Page 86
“They had interviewed Cherry Valance, and she said Bob had been drunk and that the boys had been looking for a fight when they took her home.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about Cherry Valance (Character: Ponyboy as the narrator), Chapter 7, Page 107
“You’re a traitor to your own kind and not loyal to us.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about social class, identity (Character: Ponyboy to Cherry Vallance), Chapter 8, Page 124
“Cherry Valance was sitting in her Corvette by the vacant lot when we came by. Her long hair was pinned up, and in daylight she was even better looking. That Sting Ray was one tuff car. A bright red one. It was cool.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about Cherry Valance (Character: Ponyboy as the narrator), Chapter 8, Page 127
“Can you see the sunset real good on the West side? …You can see it on the East side, too.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about social class (Characters: Ponyboy and Cherry), Chapter 8, Pages 129, 130
“I’d rather have anybody’s hate than their pity.
But, then, maybe they understood, like Cherry Valance.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about Cherry Valance (Character: Ponyboy as the narrator), Chapter 11, Page 163
“Besides Darry and Soda and me, nobody was there except Randy and his parents and Cherry Valance and her parents and a couple of the other guys that had jumped Johnny and me that night.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, about Cherry Valance (Character: Ponyboy as the narrator), Chapter 11, Page 167
What does Cherry Valance say in The Outsiders?
In The Outsiders, Cherry Valance says, “Things are rough all over.” This quote reflects her understanding and empathy toward the struggles faced by the Socs and the Greasers.
It shows that she recognizes the common hardships experienced by people from different backgrounds and challenges the notion of a clear divide between the two groups.
What symbolizes Cherry Valance?
Cherry Valance symbolizes the bridge between the Socs and the Greasers. She represents the possibility of understanding and empathy between the two groups, as she is willing to look beyond stereotypes and see their similarities.
Cherry’s character symbolizes personal growth and the ability to change one’s perspective as she evolves from a privileged, popular girl to someone willing to take risks and challenge societal expectations.
Does Cherry Valance love Ponyboy?
Cherry Valance does not explicitly express her love for Ponyboy. However, she is shown to be fond of him and recognizes his good character. She is willing to associate with him and empathize with his experiences, even taking risks to help him and his friends when they are in trouble.
Did Cherry love Dally?
Cherry Valance does not necessarily love Dally Winston. While she is attracted to his crass and charismatic nature, she is also disenchanted with his rude behavior. She knows that he is bad for her and that she could fall for him, saying.
“I could fall in love with Dallas Winston,” she said. “I hope I never see him again, or I will.”
~S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, ( Cherry Valance about Dally), Chapter 3, Page 46
Does Ponyboy marry Cherry?
No, Ponyboy does not marry Cherry. While Cherry Valance plays a significant role in Ponyboy’s life and helps him see the similarities between the Socs and the Greasers, their relationship remains platonic throughout the novel.
Although Cherry’s boyfriend Bob dies in the book, Ponyboy is only fourteen, and she is seventeen by the end of the book.
Who has a crush on Cherry in The Outsiders?
In The Outsiders, Ponyboy has a crush on Cherry. Throughout the novel, Ponyboy is infatuated with Cherry’s beauty and character. He’s drawn to her kindness, integrity, willingness to understand and empathize with the struggles of the East Side kids, and strong values.