Family is Key

Authors Note: This is a piece that has to do with the one of the main topics in the book, The Outsiders. The topic I am explaining is family. I explain why different movies relate to this topic and I explain why family and love is such an important thing.

What does family mean to you? Is it people who care about you? Is it people who love you? Or is it both? To me, family is both. Also, some people don’t have to be blood related to be family. My opinion relates to the book, The Outsiders. One of the main topics in the Outsiders is the definition of family.

First of all, in the Outsiders, the Greasers, otherwise known as the hoods, are the ones without a blood-related family. Ponyboy, Darry, and Sodapop are the only Greasers that are blood-related and have real family. Their Mom and Dad died years ago in an accident ;Darry, being the oldest one, had to work two jobs and lost any hope of going to college in his future years. He is now raising his younger brothers, Sodapop and Ponyboy. He’s a good guardian and takes care of them like a dad would.

While Darry being a father figure to Sodapop and Ponyboy is a big reason why one of the main topics in this book is the definition of family, the greasers being one big happy family is another reason.  The Greasers are one big happy family. Most of the greasers either don’t have parents or they do have parents, but they just don’t care about them. Two- Bit, Dally, and Johnny for example all have a mom and dad but they don’t pay much attention to them. Johnny although, gets beaten by his dad but he likes it because he knows that his dad knows he’s there if he beats him. A quote that shows that he gets beat a lot is “We were used to seeing Johnny get banged up- his father clobbered him around a lot, and although it made us madder than heck, we couldn’t do anything about it.”  How horrible! Dally however, is a different story; he is always causing trouble. He gets into fights, goes to jail, and even robs places; but does his old man care? No! Not even a little bit!

            Although the Greasers being one big happy family has to do with the definition of family in the Outsiders, the Greasers having such un-organized families also have to do with this topic. All the greasers consider themselves one big happy family because their blood-related families are so messed up! They sleep together, sometimes live together, and do everything together. The greasers don’t need parents. Darry is their father figure anyway. If anything gets out of hand, Darry can handle it. Also, the greasers all love each other like a family. A quote from the book is “Johnny, you don't know what a few months in jail can do to you, man. You get mean in jail; I just don't wanna see that happen to you like it happened to me, man. Understand?”Said Dally. This quote shows that Dally cares about Johnny and doesn’t want him to get hurt or change into a horrible person. If anyone gets hurt or gets into a big rumble, the rest of the Greasers will defiantly be there to back that person up. They get concerned about each other too, exactly like a family. An example from the story is when Johnny got beat by the Socs. He was so hurt that the Greasers found him in an alley, all beaten up. But this time it was different. The greasers had never seen anyone get beat up that bad in a long time. They treated Johnny like a little sibling. They carried him home and had him get warm and made sure to clean up the wounds. They know he needed help so they gave him some, just like a real family would.

             Finally, the topic of family relates to many novels and movies. For example, in the movie Snow White, snow white runs away from her family because of the evil queen. She stays with the 7 dwarfs for a while so they become really close. They care for her and understand her.  I as myself can also relate to the definition of family. I can relate because of a friend I have. Her name is Gracie. We have become so close over the years, we are family. We share clothes, drinks, but most importantly, we care about each other like family. We always know when one of us is sad or mad about something. And if one of us is, we will help each other out no matter what; we will always be there for each other.

            In conclusion, the definition of family is one of the most important main ideas in the book, The Outsiders. The greasers will always be there for each other no matter what. I will always be there for Gracie no matter what.  That is how it is going to stay. Between thick and thin, family will always be there for you, if you want them to or not.