Discuss three characters in the novel indicating how they portray the theme of fighting for individualism.

Ponyboy exemplifies the theme of fighting for individualism. Unlike the people around him, he is interested in books and movies, and he is more academic than his brothers. At the beginning of the book, he says:


I'm different that way. I mean, my second-oldest brother, Soda, who is sixteen-going-on-seventeen, never cracks a book at all, and my oldest brother, Darrel, who we call Darry, works too long and hard to be interested in a story or drawing a picture, so I'm not like them. And 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. So I loned it.

Unlike Darry and Soda, Ponyboy does not like to rumble, but it takes the course of the book for him to feel comfortable enough to be an individual and follow his own path, which is that of one involved with writing rather than fighting.
Cherry Valance is also someone who fights for individualism. She is a member of the Socs, but she is not too snobby to befriend Johnny and Ponyboy, even though they're members of the Greasers and are from the wrong side of town. When Johnny asks Cherry why she is willing to speak with them, she answers, "You two are too sweet to scare anyone." Cherry is able to see people for who they are and doesn't treat people based on their social class or group.
Another character who might be considered one to fight for individualism is Johnny, who admires the sunrise with Ponyboy when they are hiding out in the church. At this point in the book, Ponyboy says to him:




You ain't like any of the gang. I mean, I couldn't tell Two-Bit or Steve or even Darry about the sunrise and clouds and stuff. I couldn't even remember that poem around them. I mean, they just don't dig. Just you and Sodapop. And maybe Cherry Valance.

In other words, Johnny is able to see beauty and appreciate it, even though he has a tough life, and this marks him as someone who fights for a unique view of life.