“Running away won 't help.” Johnny was right. Ponyboy had people that loved and cared for him...they just didn 't know how to show it!” In the book The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, proves that no matter what type of Social class you are; Greaser or Socs, family is most important and will help you get through the difficult parts in life. Ponyboy, a greaser, was one of the young boys that was matured throughout the book because of his hardships. Ponyboy 's relationship with his older brothers, Darry and Sodapop, is a key factor in how Ponyboy matured throughout the book. An example of Ponyboy almost maturing from the influence of Darry and Sodapop, is when their parents were killed in a car crash. When their Parents died it caused them to get closer and look out for eachother more (#3). Darry then decided to step up and “come of age” to try to be a father like figure for Ponyboy. Ponyboy doesn’t seem to think that Darry cares for him because of the way Darry treats Ponyboy so Ponyboy turns to Sodapop more, “Sodapop is different from anybody; he understands everything...almost. Like he 's never hollering at me all the time the way Darry is, treating me like I’m six instead of fourteen,” (#2). This shows that Ponyboy is annoyed of Darry 's strict father-like figure because Darry is always telling Ponyboy what to do instead of being their for him. But Darry’s strict Father-like figure isn 't so bad, it did do some good…..it made Sodapops and Ponyboy 's relationship better and