External Influences In The Outsiders

1495 Words6 Pages

Life is full of choices, choices here and choice there. some are small like what you’ll have for breakfast and others are big like whether you’ll finish high school. But are they really your choices? Are people really in charge of their life like they claim to be ? A statistic shows that 40% of children in America are raised without a father and 50% of children have experienced divorce by the age of 18. Studies also show that children who have gone through divorce are more likely to get lower grades and are considered less pleasant to be around by their peers and teens who live in a single parent or blended home are three times more likely to need psychological help within a year. These choices are already made for the children and they have …show more content…

Really, the question is: are external influences more important that internal? Many people will agree that external influences are more important in making people who they are because external influences shape your attributes and point of view, when humans are born there is more bad than good inside you and you can only change by divine intervention. So, how is it that external influences shape people? Interestingly characteristics and attributes are determined by external influences because of the way our parents raise us, for example, if your parents always overemphasized the importance of education you will hold it in high esteem and therefore when choices arise you will choose education over having fun. Like Cherry said “It’s not just the money. Part of it is, but not all. You greasers have a different set of values..(38)” meaning that Socs and greasers were different because of how they were raised. There have been many examples of the importance of good parents, this is …show more content…

The Outsiders by S.E Hinton is a powerful book that has maintained its popularity because it is real and true. Pieces of evidence in this book have lead many people to the conclusion that external factors are more important than internal in forming identity. Becoming afraid of external circumstances is a regular occurrence for humanity; but learning, instead, to embrace circumstance is more beneficial for human development because God uses circumstance to make His children stronger. However, as a society, humanity should learn to help one another through these storms. The government should help those who are most vulnerable and help make their circumstances better. God is also calling each and everyone to go out there and make a change in another person 's life. This generation is blessed with abundance in so many ways. Restoring families, governments, cities, and the world is a daunting, but noble goal. Living with knowledge that God is faithful and has a purpose for everyone is the beginning of