The Theme Of Family In The Outsiders

When writing The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton built her story around several key themes that readers could identify. After reading this book, I'm confident I have found a few of them. Stick with your people and uniqueness conquers wealth were probably lesser themes Hinton included for us to become conscious of. There is a bigger theme though. I believe stand in the shoes of people who are different is the most worthy overall theme for this book, and is supported with three examples from the text. First, when Ponyboy undergoes a revelation while talking to Cherry, also when (example 2 here), and finally when (example 3 here).

While at a movie theater, Dally is antagonizing and annoying several Soc girls. Johnny stands up to Dally, his hero, and states, “‘Leave her alone, Dally.’ ‘Huh?’ Dally was taken off guard. He stared at Johnny in disbelief. Johnny couldn't say ‘Boo’ to a goose. Johnny gulped and got a little pale, but he said, ‘You heard me. Leave her alone’” (24). It took all of Johnny’s bravery to stand up to his absolute idol. He was willing to stand up to a dangerous boy that could easily defeat him in a fight, to save others. Not only this, but when a church is burning down with children inside, Ponyboy states, ”Johnny wasn't behaving at all like his old self. ... he grinned at me. He wasn't scared either. That was the only time I can think of when I saw him without that defeated, suspicious look in his eyes” (92). Johnny gives his own life for kids who have futures. He charges into the church at full speed when necessary. Johnny becomes brave in the middle of the

The theme of The Outsiders is that everyone can rise above what others expect from them. This is relevant throughout the book when Johnny and Ponyboy save the kids from the burning church, when Randy doesn't want to fight or hate the Greasers anymore, and when Johnny stands up for Cherry and Marcia.

Johnny and Ponyboy share a lot in common, 'Johnnycakes' is the "Gang-pet" and Ponyboy is a "Tag-a-long" follower of his brothers and other members of the gang. Both of them are somewhat misfits in this band of social misfits but nevertheless Johnny and Ponyboy share in common is the fact that both still maintain and uphold their 'gold.' On Johnny's deathbed he asks that Ponyboy "Stay[s] Gold" because in a sense Johnny and his 'gold' is leaving them every fleeting second in this cruel world, effectively now moments before his death Johnny's already lost all of his, he's killed a man, lived on the run, had a burning building fall on him and is about to utter his last words. Ponyboy knows Johnny never deserved this fate, it could have been any one of the gang members and he wouldn't have felt half the pain "But not Johnnycakes, he didn't deserve any of this." Johnny lost his innocence and died early, not free but still young, no one could have foreseen this but now the only thing still certain in their unstable world, Johnny kept everyone together, Johnny

Johnny overcame many life problems that would have turned someone bitter or a coward. He was raised in a terrible home, with his physically abusive father and verbally abusive mother. Ponyboy claimed that, “If it hadn't been for the gang, Johnny would never have known what love and affection are.” Johnny found

No matter who you are, or where you are in the world, best friends and siblings are people who influence us daily, and help us through rough times in our lives. In the two novels The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, and The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, the two main are both example of this universal theme. Ponyboy Curtis, from The Outsiders lives in Tulsa Oklahoma, trying to find a balance from the dangerous world that is separated by the Greasers and the Socs. He soon finds that these two different worlds are not so different after all. Holling Hoodhood is just trying to make it through the confusing world that is seventh grade, while being alone in the classroom with a teacher that hates his guts every Wednesday. One thing both Holling and Ponyboy have in common though, is that they have a loyal best friend with them by their side, their best friends will always stick up for them, and their siblings are always there when the world may seem against them.

Johnny Cade comes from a broken home, his dad hits him, his mom does not care about Johnny, the only thing he has are his friends, the greasers. Ponyboy, one of his closest friends, is talking about everyone in the gang and when he came to Johnny he said, “Johnny had it awful rough at home”(4). Johnny unlike everyone else in the gang, except Dally, does not have someone in his family that truly cares for him. This affects him because it makes him upset that his parents do not care for him. If Johnny did not have it so hard at home, he would be more content and joyful, and even less scared. Johnny is a little bothered that his parents did not ask about Johnny so Dally goes on and says, “‘my old man don’t give a hang whether i’m in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in the gutter’” (88). When Dally is 10, he gets arrested and is on the streets of New York, which shows how little Dally’s father cares about him. Maybe if his father did care, Dally would be more kind and caring, and like Johnny, more joyful. If Dally’s dad cared, he may still be living with his parents and would not be a greaser. Dally and Johnny are

Johnny is ponyboyś best friend who stays with him and sticks up for him no matter what, this portrays loyalty. We see the true extent of Johnnyś loyalty when the group of socs attack Pony and Johnny in the empty lot, as one the of the the boys is drowning Pony in the well Johnny stabbed Bob (the leader of the socs) to death in order to save Ponyboyś life. Johnny is caring for Pony when he talked to Pony in the empty lot after Darry had hit him, even though at home Johnnyś life is much worse, also Johnny showed his caring when he let Pony sleep on his shoulder after he cried himself to sleep in the abandoned church on Jay mountain. We learn alot from Johnnyś very humble actions, we learn to always stick up for your friends no matter what. Johnny is beaten at home and has a rough life, but he doesnt complain he just is an all around good guy. Johnny is very important in Ponyś life because he sticks with him

Sammy Davis Jr. once said “You always have two choices: your commitment versus your fears”. This means you can chose to be scared and back off, or commit to face your fears without worrying about what the consequences or the result will be when you make this choice. This relates to the choices made in The Outsiders, because Johnny faces his fears face on, not backing off and instead, committing. He does this to save the ones who he most cares about the most. Correspondingly, the theme of The Outsiders is that committing and making choices that you may not like, may have a beneficial, long-term effect on the people around you.

Johnny and Dally have a lot in common, and one of them is that they do not really have people to call their family, so they call their gang their family. When Darry hits Ponyboy, Pony runs to Johnny, who is sleeping in the lot, and tells him they are running away because of what Darry did to him. Johnny then explains to Ponyboy that he does not have family and Pony yells at him saying, “‘Shoot, you got the whole gang. Dally didn’t slug you tonight ‘cause you’re the pet. I mean, golly Johnny, you got the whole gang’” (51). Even though Johnny’s parents do not treat him nicely, he still needs to understand that he has people that care for him, and that he is not alone. Later on in the story, Johnny is dying. While he is still alive his mother comes to see him, but he does not want to see her because she will give him grief. When Johnny dies, Dally is devastated. He is so angry that he goes and robs a grocery store. As the police chase him, he goes to a phonebooth and calls the Curtis home. Darry

“The functions of intellect are insufficient and useless if you are without courage, love, friendship, compassion, and empathy,” says a quote by Dean Koontz. Throughout S.E. Hinton’s book The Outsiders, there are many themes that she conveys in the book as she narrates the experiences of a greaser named Ponyboy who is a member of the Social group (Socs). Ponyboy meets many people and witnesses many difficult situations throughout the book. This inspirational book teaches the reader crucial lessons that are very important for everyone, even if their lives are not anything like Ponyboy’s. Three important themes in the book include friendship, courage and empathy.

Johnny had an abusive relationship with his parents. According to Ponyboy he says: “He would have run away…” (12). Johnny hasn’t had an easy life, his parents do not pay much attention to him and are verbally and physically abusive to him. Also, because of him being a Greaser he got beaten very badly by the Socs. In Johnny’s case he was used to being abused by his parents but after the Socs got a hold of him he saw that abuse is bad, and after almost being beaten to death he lived in fear every day. Johnny never hurts other people but when he sees others being mistreated he steps in. “I killed him”, he said slowly, “I killed that boy” (49). In this quote, Ponyboy is telling what Johnny told him after he killed Bob. Because of the Socs drowning Ponyboy, Johnny feels angry for what they were doing so he lets anger take over and he kills Bob. Later in the book, Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dally help save the kids from the church fire. Johnny gets hurt and has to go to the hospital. In this hospital Johnny mentions “It was worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for” ( ). Johnny realizes that the best thing he could have done was save those children, even if it meant losing his life. Because of the violence that he faced at home and with the Socs he was ok with dying because he saved the children’s

What does family mean? In The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, family means everything. It does not have to be blood-related either. The gang was more of their family than their actual family was. Family does everything for eachother, loves one another, and keeps each other safe.

My narrative relates to the theme of siblings in my Quickwrite and in the Outsiders novel. Darry is overprotective of his younger brother, Ponyboy. This is similar to how me, an older sibling, feels the need to protect my younger sibling, Carrie. Darry wants to constantly care for and monitor Ponyboy, which relates to me wanting to know where my lost sibling was. When Ponyboy wasn’t home at two in the morning, Darry panicked; I panicked when I found out my sister was lost. The common theme between my narrative, and the Outsiders novel is that older siblings care for their younger siblings and want to keep them safe.

There are many different types of family. Three of the main ones in “The Outsiders” are the family that you are born into, the family that you make for yourself, and the family that you gain because of shared experiences. The word “family” comes from 15th century England. Its roots lie in the latin word “famulus” which means “servant”. The different families in “The Outsiders” exhibited the traits of a servant- they listened to each other, helped each other, and were loyal to each other.