Unhealthy Lifestyles In The Outsiders

How would being alone change you? With no parents and just no adults in general, how would that affect you? In The Outsiders, having no adults there to be responsible results in an unhealthy lifestyle for Greasers and Socs alike. With no adults around, the Socs lead very unhealthy lifestyles. One example of their unhealthy lifestyles is while they are drinking. Cherry picks up on these unhealthy choices when she states: “A little? You call reeling and passing out in the car a little?” But there are more, less obvious reasons of why the Socs are unhealthy. Pony explained this reason to Cherry by saying “Socs were always behind a wall of aloofness, careful not let their real selves show through.” But why would this be an example of an unhealthy …show more content…
Just like the Socs, one unhealthy choice they make is drinking. But another unhealthy choice that plays a more prominent part was their decision to smoke. All the boys (except for Darry) started smoking young as it was the norm in their neighborhood. “Everyone in our neighborhood, even the girls, smoked” Pony says. Smoking at an early age can result in heart disease, strokes later on in life, and even lung cancer. The boys know this as Dally asks Johnny for a “cancer-stick” while in the church. So, the Greasers decision to smoke even though they know the consequences is an example of unhealthy choice. But, even though the Greasers made unhealthy choices that negatively impacted their lives, some unhealthy choices were made that weren’t all that bad. One example of this is when Johnny and Pony rescued the children. As they had no parents to stop them, Johnny and Pony ran into the burning building to save the kids. It ended up being a rash, unhealthy decision as Johnny got third degree burns and ended up in the hospital for the rest of his life. But, they did end up saving four or five little kids from what Pony describes as “a red hell.” So their unhealthy choices did have some good endings