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The Outsiders By SE Hinton: Can Criminals Be Good People?

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Can criminals be good people? Well the Greasers, in the book The Outsiders by SE Hinton, are a gang of people who stick up for one another. Even though the Greasers are hoodlums, they are still honorable because whenever one of their gang members are jumped or is in a situation, they are there to help out. They also risk their lives to do stuff that they don’t have to do. To begin, Ponyboy and Johnny risk their lives to save others. When the church was burning, Johnny and Ponyboy jump in to save the trapped kids. Ponyboy also thought in his head “We started it!’We started it.” This shows that Ponyboy and Johnny are honorable because they started the fire and they have to do something to save the kids that are trapped inside. If they …show more content…

When Ponyboy got jumped by the Socs, his buddies came to rescue him. “Then someone had me under the armpits and was hauling me. It was Darry.” This shows that the gang is honorable because they are always around in case someone needed help. If they aren’t around, they might lose a gang mate. It proves that the Greasers care and love each other because they are like a family. Also, the Greasers protect themselves while protecting others. When Ponyboy was being drowned, Johnny saves him by killing Bob. Johnny said “I killed him. I killed that boy.” This shows that Johnny was being honorable because after the Socs get rid of Ponyboy, they might go after Johnny. He had to kill Bob to protect himself and Ponyboy. This shows that the Greasers is always there to help their buddies. Some may argue that it is never ok to kill someone no matter what the reason is. When Ponyboy is being drowned, Johnny saves him by killing Bob. This shows dishonor because killing someone is not nice and it can get you into a lot of trouble. This may be true but killing a person in a situation that is dangerous is ok because you have to protect yourself. When Johnny killed Bob, he was trying to protect himself and Ponyboy from getting hurt by the other Socs. The only way to make the other Socs run away was to scare them and that was what Johnny did. This shows honor because the Greasers care about each

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