Loss And Grief In 'The Outsiders'

“That survivor's guilt can be a very, very slippery slope.” (Hughes and Dastagir) Many of the greasers in The Outsiders experience grief after their friends die, and begin to cope in different ways. The damage of loss and grief is a recurring theme in The Outsiders because the members of the greaser gang are forced to deal with traumatic events. The Outsiders is a book based on two different gangs rivaling against each other, The Greasers and The Socs. Ponyboy, a young greaser, sticks together with his brothers and gang, going through dangerous experiences throughout the way.
Dally’s actions became more impulsive after the situation with Johnny passing away. “Dallas is gone, he ran out like the devil was after him. He’s gonna blow up. He couldn't take it.” This piece of evidence shows how after Johnny died

“Oh pony, I thought we’d lost you… like we did with mom and dad. That was his silent fear, of losing another person he loved.” This quote was from when Darry went out of his way to look for Ponyboy when he ran off. After the passing of Darry’s parents, Darry then gained a fear a losing a loved one. From then on he did his best to protect the closest people to him. “Darry had only stood there, his fists in his pockets and that look on his face, the same helpless, pleading look he was weaning now.” At the Curtis’ funeral Darry didn't cry or react at all. This is likely because Darry needed a bit more time to process everything, for example this quote from the article about grief and loss,“You should also make room for the possibility that your son will process this loss at a different time. We sometimes push down our grief and allow our tears to fall at more opportune moments.’’ This shows how some people take longer to process loss, like Darry processing the loss of his parents. Darry had a hard time processing his parents death but overcame it and became more caring and cautious for his