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The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Decent Essays

Humans need to feel a sense of acceptance and belonging; moreover, teens need to feel loved and valued by their families. If the family does not meet this need, they tend to attach themselves to another social group, usually to a group of friends. Unfortunately, without these close ties to their families, some teens will attach themselves to a group of delinquents and adopt a gang lifestyle. In her novel The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton illustrates how Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dally’s dysfunctional family situations led them to attach themselves to the Greasers while demonstrating how these choices resulted in tragic consequences. After the death of his parents, Darry ineptly takes on the responsibility of raising his brothers, yet Ponyboy Curtis does not understand why he is so hard on him. Soda attempts to convince Ponyboy that Darry loves him, but Ponyboy simply thinks “Darry thought I was just another mouth to feed and somebody to holler at. Darry love me? I thought of those hard, pale eyes. Soda was wrong for once, I thought. Darry doesn’t love anyone or anything, except for maybe Soda. I didn’t hardly think of him as being human. I don’t care, I lied to myself, I don’t care about him either”(18). Ponyboy simply sees Darry as a brother who is unhappy with being forced to raise him when in reality, Darry is attempting to take on a responsibility that he’s not ready for yet, but is trying to do his best with it. (Discuss why he runs to Johnny and Dally instead of Darry

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