Having Boundaries In The Outsiders Essay

As a child and a teenager, kids always think that their parents are setting too many boundaries for them, but there is a lot of proof that having boundaries is much better. In the books, The Outsiders By S.E. Hinton, One Flick of a Finger By Marybeth Lorbiecki, and All American Slurp By Lensey Namioka, there is a lot of proof that having boundaries is better. Having boundaries is better than not having boundaries because if you don’t have boundaries you could end up doing things that you shouldn’t, and not having boundaries could make you feel like your parents don’t care about you.

Having boundaries are very important for many reasons. The first reason why boundaries are important is because if you are not given any boundaries than you …show more content…
When your parents don’t give you boundaries, it can make a child feel like the aren’t loved. Johnny from The Outsiders definitely felt like his family didn’t love him. The text says, “I think I like it better when the old man’s hittin’ me...At least than I know he knows who I am...I walk in the house and nobody says anything. I walk out, nobody says anything. I stay away all night, nobody notices. At least you got Soda. I ain’t got nobody...It ain’t the same as having your own folks care about you.” He feels that his parents don’t care about him, they don’t love him. When Johnny is in the hospital, his mom comes and he does not want to see her, he tells the nurses “NO!”, and that is all because his parents didn’t care and he wasn’t given any boundaries. After Johnny killed Bob, Randy and Ponyboy were talking, and Pony found out that Bob wasn’t given any boundaries by his parents, which made him feel the they didn’t understand him and love him and if they did, he would be given boundaries. The text states in One Flick Of A Finger, Reebo was not given any boundaries by his father, who he said was always drinking or sleeping, doesn’t even care about him, and that made Reebo upset. In the story All American Slurp, the narrator felt like her parents did not care about her feelings because they did not set boundaries on how they would act in public.In The …show more content…
Many people have found that having boundaries can be too strict, and that kids need freedom, like in The Outsiders, Ponyboy, Dally and Sodapop always kept their door unlocked so their friends could come in, but they live in a dangerous neighborhood, where robberies are a big possibility. According to S.E Hinton, Pony’s family keeps their door unlocked all of the time. “Two-Bit’s mother warned us about burglars.” Pony says in The Outsiders. Another reason in that book is Bob. He was not given any boundaries. According to the text, and Randy, “They spoiled him rotten. I mean most parents would be proud of a kid that good lookin’ and smart and everything, but they gave into him all the time. He kept trying to make someone say no and they never did...to have somebody lay down the law, set the limits, give him something solid to stand on.” Bob wanted boundaries, because he was never given any so he just did whatever he wanted and that ended up getting him killed. Also, in One Flick of a Finger, people could say it is good that he has freedom, but because he has such little parental supervision, Reebo has easy access to a gun. In The Outsiders, keeping their door unlocked may make it a place to stay for their friends, but it can also make it a place for robberies, which is why you need boundaries. Not only does Dally need