Theme Of Safety In The Outsiders

As Dally falls down from the powerful gunshot, we all seem to think, “Why has all this bad stuff happened to everybody in The Outsiders?” Then an answer hits us. In The Outsiders, Socs and greasers do not tend to have a say in their own lives. It seems to be the environment is shaping the Socs and greasers lives, leaving them as victims of their environment in a world full of stereotypes through all social, emotional and economic aspects. Life from a social perspective in a city full of Socs and greasers can make life full of people that are victims of the environment around them. The Socs and greasers grow up in different parts of the city with different meanings of existence and different meanings of friendship. The Socs, being the spoiled …show more content…
However, is the emotional trauma caused by the environment? Emotional traumas in The Outsiders sometimes happen when, somebody has a negative event and cannot cope with it. This leads to a loss of safety (Carroll). The Socs and greasers experience a lot of negative events that lead to the loss of safety. Their parents can be the cause of trauma by not acknowledging the negative events going on in their lives. In Bob’s case when he came home drunk, his parents did not blame it on him, but themselves (Hinton 166). Bob wanted his parents to be mad at him so they could set boundaries for him. Since his parents did not give Bob the reaction he wanted, he could not cope with the situation and tried to do more negative actions with the desire for his parents to be mad at him. This caused him to have an emotional trauma leading to the loss of his safety. Yet, this happens because of Bob’s surrounding environment. Bob’s parents’ reaction causes Bob to fall into a trauma because Bob hated that his parents would not be mad at him. He becomes a victim of his environment because his parents’ reaction makes him traumatized. However, all of this makes us realize something. It makes us realize we do not hate Bob as much as we used to because we now know his situation. We feel slightly empathetic for him now because we know Bob had good intentions for himself, yet he …show more content…
However, how have the economic standards made these two groups, victims of their environment or society? The Socs have had everything that they ever needed given to them. Yet, in the long run this can affect them poorly because they have never been prepared for life. Bob’s parents clearly spoiled him rotten and gave him everything, but if Bob had lived, having everything would have affected his future poorly (166). Having everything in the beginning could mean that if he had gotten older, there would be nobody left to spoil him and help him get through life. This means that he could fail in the future and get into trouble because he was never taught how to start a life. Bob could have become like Lauren Chapin, an old sixties television star. Chapin used to be famous and is now sixty-eight and has done jail time and gone to rehab for drug abuse. If Bob was still alive, he could end up living in poverty or living in jail. Bob, once again becomes a victim of the environment because his parents never prepared him for his future. As the Socs were rich, the greasers lived in poverty. This made their lives harder because they had to work to get what they wanted. It makes them victims of their environment because Darry did not go to college to help his family. Instead, he works like an old man to pay for his and his family's impoverished lives. (16). He has a work ethic, unlike the Socs who have everything