Ponyboy, the protagonist in the novel The Outsiders, changes and realizes something very important. As he is on his journey with his friends helping him on the way, he learns that his friends are like his family and are always there. He starts to notice it near the end of the novel when Dally and Johnny (his closest friends) both get killed. The theme for this book is better said as, a valuable friend can be more loyal than a brother. At the beginning of the novel Ponyboy's parents were killed in a car accident. Resulting in his older brothers to take care of him. His 2nd oldest brother Sodapop was very nice to Ponyboy and always encouraged him to do well in school. His oldest brother Darry on the other hand was not kind at all to his brothers. …show more content…
When they come home from the movies one night and Ponyboy pasts the time he is supposed to be home, Darry gets very angry at him. Darry ends up hitting Ponyboy in the face being of his anger. Ponyboy gets overwhelmingly upset and runs away to Johnny. This shows that Ponyboy is closer and goes to Johnny when he needs help. As Ponyboy is with Johnny, Johnny stabs a Soc to try and save Ponyboy from getting drowned. This shows true friendship considering we know that Johnny would never and is against killing in any way. As they escape Ponyboy relies on his gang members to help him get to safety away from cops. Later, Johnny and dally gets hurt from a burning church and has to go to the hospital. A couple days later, Johnny dies, but tells Ponyboy "Stay gold Ponyboy". Dally; a couple hours later gotten killed by the police from the anger of Johnny's death. Days after both Johnny and Dally die, Pony realizes that they were important in his life and that he feels empty without them and they're advice and support. Pony now doesn't have any close friends where he can just talk to about things. Although he has his brothers, he doesn't usually have positive conversations with them and he is afraid that they might do something and mess a certain situation. The theme for this novel is clear; a marvelous friend can be more loyal than a