A coming of age novel is not like an ordinary story. A coming of age story is about a child/teen transitioning from being small and naive, to becoming a mature, wise adult. There are many hardships during this process. Usually a large event will greatly impact the way that a person sees the world and others around him. In the novel “The Outsiders”, the main character, Ponyboy, goes from being a punk in the gang “the Greasers”, to being a wiser and more sophisticated young man.
From the beginning, Ponyboy had it rough. His parents were deceased, and his brothers both worked at young ages to support the family. He was a part of the local gang, in which he made many friends that were as close to him as family. All of the boys were good kids, but they just got on the wrong path sometimes. Throughout the story, another gang, the Socs, would always attack the Greasers. When the gangs beat each other up, the members would feel apprehensive and on edge. Ponyboy would feel anxiety while doing simple everyday tasks like walking down the street or going to school. Events like this can really traumatize a person, and cause them not to trust anyone. Throughout the story, Pony had to trust the Greasers, because they were his only family.
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Pony was being drowned so Johnny stabbed Bob, who was drowning Pony. Although it was self defense, Johnny killed Bob which could put him in jail because murder is a serious crime. The two boys had to go hide out away from all of their friends. In this part of the story, Pony and Johnny felt very alone. Even though they were together hiding out, they realized that they missed their gang, and Pony missed his two brothers Darry and Sodapop. They had never felt more alone when they were hiding out in that church for days without their