Gang Life In life, teenagers and adults join gangs for difficulties in their life. They feel that they need a group of people to understand and support them through the rough stage of their life. In the novel, The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton Ponyboy is a fourteen-year-old boy who is a part of the gang called the greasers. His whole remaining family are greasers.
Gang life can lead to death and trouble. In The Outsiders, Ponyboy is in a gang with all of the people he grew up with in the neighborhood, including his two brothers, Sodapop and Darry. In a fight against the socials, the enemy of the greasers, Ponyboy and another member of the greasers named Johnny were outnumbered five-two. In order to save Ponyboys life, Johnny killed a member of the socials named Bob. This proves that gang life can lead to death. After Johnny killed Bob, they went to their friend Dally to help them get out of their situation. Dally told them to go to an old abandoned church on the top of Jay Mountain. Dally told them to stay there until he got there.
On the fifth day Dally got there and took them to get something to eat. When they got back to the church, the church was on fire. As a crowd gathered around, Ponyboy and Johnny realized that there were children trapped inside. They both went in to rescue them. As they made their way out, a piece of timber caught him across the back and he was burned very badly. Ponyboy didnt get burned but got knocked out by Dally when he tried to go back into the fire to save Johnny. A couple of days later Johnny died.
If Johnny werent part of a gang, he would have never killed Bob and he wouldnt have been at the church running away from the police. As soon as Ponyboy got back from the hospital, a rumble between the greasers and the socials was about to take place. Ponyboy fought despite being hurt and sick. After the greasers beat the socials, Dally and Ponyboy went to the hospital to tell Johnny that they had beaten the socials. As soon as they told Johnny about the rumble, Johnny died. Dally sprinted out of the room.
When Ponyboy got back to his house, the whole gang was waiting for him. A few minutes later Dally called and said that he had robbed a grocery store and the cops were after him. He told them to meet him at the vacant lot. When the gang got there, Dally was just arriving. As the cops pulled out their guns, Dally pulled out a gun that was not loaded as a bluff. The cops didnt know that and shot him to death. If Dally werent in a gang, he would have never been so attached to Johnny. Once Johnny died, that led Dally to his death because Johnny was a like a brother to him.
He couldnt deal with the fact that Johnny had died. When somone is part of a gang, it increases the risk of them getting hurt, killed, or getting in trouble. This can also be proven in everyday life. Thousands of people all over the world is in some sort of a gang. As a result, they fight against each other and people get seriously hurt or killed. People should never join any kind of gang in their lives for two reasons.
They can get killed and it will get you in trouble.
Bibliography:
the outsiders. s.e. hinton.