The Outsiders Argumentative Essay

Have you ever been in an argument where both sides make sense and the conclusion to it all just depends on the evidence provided? Well, in the young-adult fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, there is the argument of whether a boy named Ponyboy should stay with his older brother Darry or go into the system. Ponyboy should stay with darry for multiple reasons. For example, Darry cares very deeply about Ponyboy, and he makes certain Ponyboy gets all his work done for school and succeeds. Darry might be all tough and hard but he cares for Ponyboy immensely. An example of this being, “When I woke up, it was daylight and I was hot under all the blankets on me. I was thirsty and hungry, but my stomach was so uneasy I knew I wouldn’t be
Their example might be, “Two-bit left me sitting on the bench at the bus stop while he went to a gas station to buy some cigarettes (Hinton,126).” Although some might believe them to be a bad influence, there are examples to prove this belief wrong such as, “‘Ponyboy, listen, dont get tough. You’re not like the rest of us and don’t try to be…’ What was the matter with Two-Bit? I knew as well as he did that if you got tough you didn’t get hurt. Get smart and nothing can touch you… ‘What in the world are you doing?’ Two-Bit’s voice broke into my thoughts. I looked up at him. ‘Picking up the glass.’ He stared at me for a second, then grinned. ‘You little sonofagun,’ he said in a relieved voice. I didn’t know what he was talking about, so I just went on picking up the glass from the bottle end and put it in a trash can. I didn’t want anyone to get a flat tire (Hinton,172).” Despite Ponyboy always being around the gang, he knows well enough not to follow in their paths and be his own person. The gang is good enough as well to not want Ponyboy to follow them and “get tough and hard” showing that even though many think they are a bad influence, they really are not and actually help Ponyboy stay as