Without parents, or at least good ones, where would you be today? In a gang, in prison or even dead? This is the lifestyle that too many children and young adults face and it is no different in The Outsiders, by SE Hinton, where good parents and an entire family are few and far between. Almost everyone in the gang, from Johnny to Bob, is experiencing or has at some point experienced parental issues and this rarely has anything to do with the fact that they are in a gang and have gone through mental and/or physical trauma. Hinton skillfully allows readers to infer the underlying theme of such common problems among gang members. By the end of the book, it is quite clear that parenting, and family as a whole, is an important part of how people develop and how they live their lives. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One of the first and most important examples of this in the novel is Johnny's horribly violent case. His parents beat him and make him feel unwelcome to the point that he practically lives on the streets. Due to his family's destructive behavior, Johnny joins a gang to get even a tiny glimpse of what it means to have a family. Even when he is in the hospital, weak and vulnerable, his parents' cruelty has never been forgotten. “A nurse appeared in the doorway. "Johnny," he said softly, "your mother is here to see you." Johnny opened his eyes. At first they opened wide in surprise, then they darkened. 'I don't want to see her'. His parents' abuse of Johnny even leads him to find himself on the streets when he is attacked by the Socs and kills one of them, which subsequently leads to his death. Due to his dire circumstances, Ponyboy even describes him early in the novel as "a little dark puppy who got kicked too many times and got lost in the crowd of strangers." While this judgment may have seemed harsh at the beginning of the book, this is exactly who Johnny was, and the quote proves that the reason he found himself in a gang was because he was "kicked too much" by his parents. . Johnny could have been a tremendously different and stronger person if it hadn't been for the iron fist with which his parents held him. While it's not as apparent in the novel, there are some pretty broad hints that the Curtis boys would have been very different and much more successful in life if it weren't for the death of their parents and a car accident. It is mostly implied that Darry would have finished school and done something with his life before the need for a parental figure appeared in the Curtis family. Because of this instantaneous succession and the need to play the part of two parents to three children, Ponyboy makes a remark early in the book that sums it up well. “But then, Darry has been through a lot in his twenties, and he's grown up too fast. What Ponyboy is stating here is that Darry has matured very quickly and later remarks that he dropped out of school to take care of Sodapop and Ponyboy. "One time, Steve made the mistake of referring to him as 'all brawn, no brains,' and Darry nearly shattered Steve's jaw... Darry never really got over not going to college." Darry obviously would have become a different person than he was in the book if his parents were still alive due to him feeling like he needed to drop out of school and him becoming the father figure and maturing very quickly. Being.