Friendships In S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders

“Life is like a prism. What you see depends on how you turn the glass.” Though Jonathan Kellerman, a doctor who specializes in the treatment of children, said this and it applies to the character Ponyboy from the book, The Outsiders. Ponyboy had a troubled past with the death of his mother and father, but with the help of his friends, he overlooks that. S.E. Hinton teaches the theme that friendships may be stronger than family in her novel The Outsiders by the protection Darry provides, Johnny’s death, and the fact that the greasers were Dally’s family.

The theme that friendships may be stronger than family is revealed through the protection that Darry provides. Ponyboy, Sodapop and Darry where a normal family before the death of her mother …show more content…
Dally doesn’t care about his parents and they don’t care about him. “‘ Shoot, my old man don't give a hang whether I'm in jail or dead or in a car crash or dunk in a gutter. That don't bother me none.’” This proves that friendships can be stronger that family because even though Dally does have parents, they are not involved in his life at all. After the rumble and the death of Johnny, Dally did not know what to do while all the other greasers were at Ponyboy’s house. On page 153, Darry got a phone call. After he hung up, he told the greasers, “‘It was Dally. He phoned from a booth. He’s just robbed a grocery store and the cops are after him. We gotta hide him. He’ll be at the lot in a minute.”’ This implies that friendships can be stronger than family because the first people Dally called when he was in trouble was the greasers, not his family.

Throughout The Outsiders, Hinton uses the theme that friendships are stronger than family. Even when times get tough, the greasers stuck together as a family and provided each other with the things they all needed. While friendship can be an off and on thing, the greaser's friendship was much more, their friendship was like