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The Outsiders Loss Of Innocence Essay

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The Outsiders Loss Of Innocence Essay
Teenagers have struggles, pains, and insecurities. These struggles leave people emotionally and physically scarred. Today, young adults witness and experience abuse, addiction, and poverty. This is a lot for an adolescent mind to handle. In S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, the teenagers are faced with extremely mature issues. They are partially to totally scarred from what they experienced. They lost their innocence either by choice of by force. As a result of the dismal situations the characters in The Outsiders experienced, they have been robbed of their innocence and will be damaged for the rest of their lives. The reality of the world is very eye-opening and horrifying. Experiencing these realities at a young age can have negative repercussions …show more content…
There are multiple instances of stabbings, shootings, fights, and muggings. People who witness death tend to be victims of trauma in the future. For example, in the Vietnam war there were many killings and traumatic situations. Thirty-one percent of the veterans of this war have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a constant mental or emotional stress due to extreme psychological shock (Post-traumatic). In The Outsiders, the main character, Ponyboy, is present for Johnny murdering Bob. Although the book doesn’t say that Ponyboy actually saw the killing happen, he may experience negative effects later in his life. These negative effects could be PTSD or something related. After acquiring PTSD, Ponyboy could experience bad dreams, frightening dreams, and flashbacks reliving the traumatic event. Due to all of the violence, Ponyboy could experience psychological issues in the future. The characters in The Outsiders have faced very mature situations at a very young age. These scenarios have left them scarred. Having their whole lives ahead of them, they must be able to make decisions in the present that will benefit in the future. That is something that people today need to do along with the characters in the book. How will you protect yourself now to help yourself in the

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