For the boys in The Outsiders, their family isn’t blood related, they aren’t cousins or aunts or uncles. Their family is their gang. They all are closer to the gang than relatives for different reasons; Johnny’s parents are abusive, mentally and physically. Dally’s parents don’t give two thoughts about him, and he feels the same way about them. Two-Bit’s mother is fine, he just feels closer to the gang for reasons not mentioned. Steve’s parents aren’t mentioned at all, and Ponyboy, Sodapop, and Darry’s parents had passed. The gang is the closest thing most of them have to family, and throughout the story they come to realize who and who they can’t live without.
In chapter 6, Johnny asked Dally if his parents asked about him, and that set Dally off for some reason, what he said to Johnny in response was “No, they didn’t. Blast it, Johnny, what do they matter? Shoot, my old man don’t give a hang whether I’m in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in the gutter. That don’t bother me none.” Dally may not care about his parents, but Johnny does. Johnny cares a lot about what his parents think, and wants them to love him. Near the end of the book, though, when Johnny is about to pass, his mom comes to visit. His parents have abused him so much, so much hurt, that he didn’t want his own mother to visit him in the hospital. He wanted the gang instead, because the gang was always there for him. They are his family, not his mom.
After Johnny’s passing, the gang breaks apart. Dally ran off and Ponyboy doesn’t seem to believe what has just gone down. Everyone seems to be devastated. Johnny is the one person in the group who they would never be able to live without, and now he’s gone. Not only is Johnny gone, but leading after that, Dally faced death too, and now two important people in all of the gang member’s life are gone and can’t be brought back. At that point you would think Ponyboy would be sad for Dally, and he was, but he said he could live without him, but Johnny gone is something he would probably never really get used to.
The Curtis brothers probably wouldn’t be greasers if they’re parents hadn’t died, but after reading the book I can’t imagine them as anything else. If their parents hadn’t of died, the gang probably wouldn’t exist, and most of what did happen, wouldn’t have. Darry would be in college instead of taking care of Sodapop and Ponyboy. Sodapop probably would have never dropped out of high school, because his parents might not have let him. Everything would be different; Darry, Ponyboy, and Sodapop would most likely have a “normal” family.
Normal doesn’t really exist with the greasers, nothing is normal for them, family life especially. Personally, I could never imagine being closer to friends than I am with my family at home. For the gang that’s not the case, and in all likelihood never will be. To them, family is who you can trust with your life and the people you always go to first, or who you always feel comfortable with. It doesn’t always mean you are related, the overused saying “My best friend is like my sister/brother.” is basically what the gang feels about each other.
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