The Fight For Family In 'The Outsiders'

726 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Outsiders book short summary

The Fight for Family
After everything else has gone to waste, what would happen if you turned to your family but they have been taken away? The novel The Outsiders is a novel by the author S.E. Hinton that tells a story of 5 boys that have come together to be a small family. After the Curtis parents die, the fight for family has risen higher than ever. The Curtis and Matthew boys are like brothers, as conflicts arise, there are more that just keep on coming at them. The Greasers and the Socs go back n forth between fighting over women and men. The greasers are trying to stay out of trouble with the police. There are three main reasons that the boys should be able to stick together as a family and not be sent into a boys home.
The boys have not done anything wrong for the government to believe that they should be put into a seperate home. Early in the novel, Ponyboy Curtis states “Or I could have gotten one of the gang members to come along, one of the four boys Darry and soda and I have grown up that we consider family” (Hinton Pg. 3) The Curtis boys have all grown up together and they treat each other like family. Since their parents
They are their own family. Once again, Ponyboy states another quote early in chapter 1. Pony says “Since mom and dad got into an auto wreck, the three of us get to stay together as long as we behave. So Soda and I stay out of as much trouble as we can, and we are careful not to get caught when we can’t.” (Hinton Pg 3) Ponyboy is saying that he wants to stay with his brothers and he deserves to, as long as he does not do anything stupid and get caught when he shouldn’t be doing something. Pony really wants to stay with his family, but he has to go through a major events to make sure that he is not going to get into enough trouble that he will get sent to a boys

Show More
Related

  • Emotions In The Outsiders

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    In S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders Socs and Greasers are enemies. Society put them against each other and labeled them. Greasers are the poor, dirty, no-good kids that nobody wants around. Socs are stuck-up, perfect, rich kids who looks down on everybody. In the book, two boys- Johnny and Ponyboy- start some trouble with a couple of Socs, and Bob is killed. They have to run from the police, all while the tension between Greasers and Socs is thicker than ever. Throughout the novel, it explains how “things are rough all over”. The Greasers have it the worse because they feel emotions so harshly, they are constantly getting jumped by the Socs, and they only have each other because their families are broken.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Gangs In S. E. Hinton's 'The Outsiders'

    342 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a story about two gangs who realize in the end that they are both just groups of people. The Greasers live on the East side of town and are known as poor and “hoods”. Meanwhile, The Socs live on the West side of town and are the wealthy kids. These differences don’t change that they are all people. These guys will do anything for eachother after all they are like family.

    Read More

  • Adversity In The Outsiders

    344 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Protagonist “Ponyboy Curtis”, had Adversity with Darry. He tried his best to explain all the mistakes that he made, and Darry would just start yelling at him, and go completely insane. Ponyboy didn’t want to live with him that way, because his would’ve

    Read More

  • Family Support In The Outsiders

    610 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Outsiders, an enthralling novel by S.E Hinton, is an excellent story about the hardships and triumphs experienced by the Greasers and the Socs two rival gangs. S.E Hinton tells a thrilling tale about the Socs and the Greasers that are two gangs and she characterize how they live. Ponyboy, his brother and his friends have to deal with the challenges relating to their environment. The three most important topics of The Outsiders are survival, social class and family support.

    Read More

  • Value Of Family Relationships In The Book 'The Outsiders'

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    The legendary quote “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold” from the renowned novel “The Outsiders” is something that I hope my children and grandchildren will have the privilege to know and understand. The Outsiders has a strong value of family and friendship. Throughout the book there are many satellite themes and issues. The book is known as a coming of age for adolescence. When I first read this book it was in my 8th grade Language Arts class. The first thing that came to my mind was “hey, isn’t that the movie with that Cruise guy”. I had no clue that the story of Ponyboy Curtis would touch my heart in such a way. I had been going through so much that year, I felt as if I was Ponyboy. Middle school starts were kids finally come to a realization of

    Read More

  • Broken Families In The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton

    426 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is about a group called the greasers, a group called the socs and what’s different between the groups and what’s the same. The greasers are the kids with little money, who feel a lot, and are tough. The socs are rich kids with not enough emotions and they never get in trouble. The Greasers have it worse because they have broken families, are always getting jumped by the socs, and are expected to steal and be rude because of their backgrounds.

    Read More

  • Self-Concept In The Outsiders

    1490 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Since Mom and Dad were killed in an auto wreck, the three of us get to stay together only as long as we behave (2).” This explains why Ponyboy, Dally and Sodapop did not have parents. In the novel, this really effected their life and character. "…It was Darry. He hit me. I don't know what happened, but I couldn't take him hollering at me and hitting me too... He didn't use to be like that... we used to get along okay... before Mom and Dad died. Now he just can't stand me (2)." This shows that not having their parents anymore effected Darry’s character and how he treated Ponyboy, which in return effected how Ponyboy felt about himself in comparison to how he was treated. This illustrates that Ponyboy believes that Darry picks on him all the time. This shows that Darry was like a caring parent in a tough way,

    Read More

  • The Dysfunctional Family in Why I Live at the P.O.

    1327 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everyone wants a perfect family, but nothing is ever perfect. The family in “Why I Live at the P.O.” is most definitely less than perfect. When Stella-Rondo returns to her old home after leaving her husband and bringing her small child who she claims is adopted, much conflict in the family increases. Stella-Rondo turns every family member living in the household against Sister, her older sister, and every family member betrays Sister by believing the lies Stella-Rondo tells about Sister to them. Through much turmoil and distress, Sister becomes so overwhelmed with the unending conflict that she feels she must leave her home and live at the post office. In “Why I Live at the P.O.,” Eudora Welty strongly implies that the function of the family can rapidly decline when family members refuse to do certain things they should and do certain things they should not through her use of point of view, symbolism, and setting.

    Read More

  • Belonging In The Outsiders

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    I feel as though the novel The outsiders has many themes, but the most important one is belonging. The greasers are a group of poor, low class youth that don’t have much and live on the wrong side of town. They are always held accountable for their actions. On the other hand, the Socs are a bunch of high class youth that are very privileged and aren’t held accountable for their immature actions.

    Read More

  • Family Sticks Together In The Outsiders, By S. E. Hinton

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever stopped and thought about what everybody in the world has in common? Family is a very common thing. It could just be a group of people that you care about and love or it could just be a person. Family is always together and family never falls apart. Family is that one group that you love and worry about and it can be that one person. In the book The Outsiders by S.E Hinton family is a very important thing. Family is the best blessing to have. The theme S.E Hinton talks about is family always sticks together.

    Read More

  • The Three Deaths in Hinton's The Outsiders

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the course of the novel “The Outsiders” there are three linked deaths that change the relationships between the Curtis brothers in many different ways. The soc, Bob Sheldon, dies first. When Ponyboy and Johnny flee after Darry hit Ponyboy they run into their rivals Bob and his best friend Randy Adderson. Bob takes Ponyboy and starts drowning him until Johnny gets his switchblade out and kills Bob. After this, Johnny dies. Dally (a greaser with a criminal record) sends Ponyboy and Johnny to an abandoned church so they can hide after what they did. When they go to leave after a few days, the church catches on fire with a few elementary school kids trapped inside, so they go into the church to save them. When Johnny gets the last kid out, a piece of the roof falls on his back, breaking it. The last death is Dally. After Johnny dies, Dally goes crazy and robs a store. The police chase him and shoot him down because he pulled out a gun at them. As you can see at the beginning of the novel, the brothers are constantly getting into arguments about stupid little things, but after Darry hits Ponyboy, things change. After these deaths, Ponyboy’s grades start dropping and he starts to lose sight of himself. Him and Darry get into many more arguments until Sodapop Curtis tells them to promise to stop arguing because it’s tearing him apart. They both agree and it makes their relationship really strong at the end of the novel. Although the Curtis brothers do not have a close relationship at the beginning of the novel, after experiencing the deaths of Bob, Johnny, and Dally, it makes their relationship stronger.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Friendship In The Outsiders

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Out of all of the members of the gang Johnny and Ponyboy were the closest, because they were the youngest and also they were not as tough as the other boys. After Ponyboy got in a fight with Darry about being late at getting home, Ponyboy ran to the lot and told Johnny that they were running away. Without hesitation the two boys took off running. Johnny needed no explanation. He had a rough life at home and without the support from the gang he may have already killed himself. Johnny just wanted to be there and support his friend like they had been supporting him through everything. At many points throughout the novel Ponyboy teaches or shows Johnny something new. “You know Johnny said slowly “I never noticed colors and clouds and stuff until you kept, reminding me about them. It seems like they were never there before” (Hinton,78). When Johnny says that to Ponyboy is gives readers a glimpse of how Johnny having Ponyboy in his life makes it better. Another key point of their friendship in the novel is after Johnny kills the Soc. This is a key point because they run off to Jay Mountain to hide from the police and while they are there they discover more about each other and themselves. The boys are at that church for about a week before Dally came to check in on them and while they were inside that church they read Gone with the Wind. As they read Gone with the Wind they started to make connections

    Read More

  • The Outsiders Book Report Essay

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ponyboy Curtis - Ponyboy is a fourteen-year-old member of a gang called the Greasers. His parents died in a car accident, so he lives alone with his two older brothers, Darry and Soda. He is a good student and athlete, but most people at school consider him a vagrant like his Greaser friends.

    Read More

  • Sense Of Belonging In The Outsiders By E. Hinton

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    Despite all the challenges we are faced with there is always a strong sense of positivity through those who believe in hope, friendship and have a sense of belonging.Determination and a strong connection with the natural world can uphold a person's sense of hope, Dedication and friendship can promote a person’s sense of belonging and that through trust and loyalty you can always rely on friends to be there in difficult situations.This is a inspiring message represented in The Outsiders by SE Hinton a tale told through the eyes of a determined and courageous fourteen year old boy who through , loss ,pain and difficult challenges finds a impression of positivity as a result of hope, friendship and belonging. The Outsiders is set in Tulsa

    Read More

  • The Outsiders Book Review Essay

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Outsiders is about the life of a 14-year-old boy. The book tells the story of Ponyboy “Curtis” and his struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes that he is an outsider. Ponyboy and his two brothers, Darrel (Darry), who is 20, and Sodapop, who is 16, have recently lost their parents in an automobile accident. Pony and Soda are allowed to stay under Darry's guardianship as long as they all behave themselves. The boys are greasers, a class term that refers to the young men on the East Side, the poor side of town. The greasers' rivals are the Socs, short for Socials, who are the "West-side rich kids."

    Read More

More about The Fight For Family In 'The Outsiders'

Open Document