Meaning of Family

Author's Note: This a piece about the book I read named The Outsiders. This writing piece is to show how I can present the main idea/topic in my writing. This will also show my organization skills in my writing.

           

You come home right after you just got into a huge fist fight with a gang. Your parents are sitting on the couch, watching TV and don’t even notice you are home or even that you left! How would that feel if that happened to you? What kind of family doesn’t care about their own child? In “The Outsiders” family is everything to everyone. My definition of family is someone who cares about you and is always there for you.

 In The Outsiders, most of the greasers do not have any blood related parents or family that care about them. They basically all take care of themselves. One of the main ideas of the story is that you don’t need blood related family to feel wanted or cared for. If your friends are basically all you have, make sure you do not lose them. Even though you don’t have to have a blood related family to care for you, everyone wants one. Who wouldn’t?

 Ponyboy, Darry and Sodapop all lost their parents in a car accident. They were living the life, but then the accident happened. Darry had to quit school and work two jobs to take care of Ponyboy and Sodapop. Darry became hard and cold to everyone. Losing their family changed their entire life. Another person who is affected by family is Johnny Cade. Johnny is abused by his dad and gets ignored by his alcoholic, crazy mother. “We were used to seeing Johnny get banged up- his father clobbered him around a lot, and although it made us madder than heck, we couldn’t do anything about it.” This quote shows how dysfunctional his family is and how the greasers care more about him than his real family. Another quote that shows how important family is to Johnny is, “If it hadn’t been for the gang, Johnny would have never known what love and affection are.” The last person that is affected by family is Dally. When Johnny died, he went crazy. Johnny was all Dally cared about and now he was gone.

The Outsiders relates to many people in different ways! This story relates to me because I have blood relative family that love me and take care of me. Sure, I have my friends but they are nothing like my real family. The Greasers and I are exactly opposite! This story relates to other novels or stories because usually in every book, somehow their family is messed up. In Ruby Holler, by Sharon Creech, the twins do not have a family. They keep getting shipped from family to family looking for the perfect home. ` The twins in the story relates to the greasers because they both do not have blood related family to love them. Darry, Sodapop and Ponyboy only have each other and so do the twins.

Overall, family is the most important theme in this book. Family is affected by everyone in The Outsiders. The definition of family is different to everyone but I think family means someone who always is there for you no matter what and will always love and care for you. Family affects me and other characters in novels too! Without family, what would happen? Could you survive without family?