The motif of literature is prevalent throughout the novel and allows characters, especially Ponyboy, to identify with, and find parallels between, fictional worlds and the real one. Ponyboy first mentions reading Charles Dickens' Great Expectations for English class, and the protagonist, Pip, reminds him of the greaser gang: “he reminded me of us—the way he felt marked lousy because he wasn't a gentleman or anything, and the way that girl kept looking down on him” (15). Though Ponyboy does not mention Dickens' novel after Chapter 1, his own life lessons parallel Pip's: he gains a new understanding of family; he realizes that one's character is not intrinsic to their social class; and he ultimately yearns for a better life.

The second piece of literature that the novel mentions is Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. The other-worldly lives of the Civil War era provide Ponyboy and Johnny an escape from their bleak situation in Windrixville, but it also provides Ponyboy with a new perspective of Dally. Though lacking the manners and charm of the Southern gentlemen described in the book, Johnny reminds Ponyboy that Dally has gallantly sacrificed himself to save his friends.