Community In The Outsiders, By S. E. Hinton

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“You take up for your buddies, no matter what they do. When you're a gang, you stick up for the members. If you don't stick up for them, stick together, make like brothers, it isn't a gang any more.” In S.E Hinton’s “The Outsiders,” living life as a greaser is impossible without others there, watching your back and protecting you, like a family- a community. The Outsiders is about a boy named Ponyboy who lives in Oklahoma city in the mid 1960’s. He lives in a house with his two brothers, Darry and Sodapop since his parents died in a car crash at a young age. Ponyboy, along with his brothers, are part of a gang called the Greasers, and they’re known for being “bad” and breaking the rules. Another gang in Oklahoma is the Socs and they’re the Greasers rich rivals.  The novel's main focal point is the idea of community. A community is a group of people sharing common characteristics and spending large amounts of …show more content…

He needs them to have his back when the Socs show up and try to pick a fight. As part of a community, the greasers all fight for eachother. For example, on the night that the Socs tried to drown Ponyboy, he was saved by Johnny who stabbed Bob, the assailant. Without Johnny there for him, Ponyboy could have easily died with no one stopping Bob. Dallas Winston, known as Dally, and part of the Greasers, demonstrate that the greasers protect each other. When Johnny kills the soc, Dally helps them out by telling them where to stay, what to do to not get caught, and by giving them a gun and money to help them survive. Another example of how Greasers protect each other is when Ponyboy confides that he is feeling unwell to Two-Bit, another greaser member. Two-bit continually checks up on Ponyboy and strongly suggests he doesn’t fight in the rumble. Although Ponyboy ends up showing to the rumble anyways, Two-bit’s concern shows that he cares for the members in his gang and wants to protect

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