"In three words, I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." Robert Frost (Brainy Quotes, 2014) In S.E. Hinton's realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, Ponyboy Curtis continues to get picked on by the Socs, a rich and snobby gang from the other side of town. As the novel continues, Ponyboy, part of the Greaser gang, and his life keep on getting worse and worse. Ponyboy learns how to overcome his problems. The theme of the novel is that life goes on because Ponyboy learns to move on after all of his problems.
At the beginning of the novel, Ponyboy learns yo get over things at quite a young age. In the start of the novel it reads, "Since Mom and Dad were killed in the auto wreck, the three of us get to stick together if we behave." (Hinton, 3) This shows me that when he was young, he face the loss of his parents, but it seems that he's coping with it just fine. He says that the gang is "close knit" and he has "grown up up with and consider family." (Hinton, 3) I see that he has found a way to fill the void of a complete family. Which shows me that at an early age he learned to carry on.…show more content… Instead of attempting to hit Darry back, Ponyboy controlled his anger and just ran, he moved on. This is demonstrated when "Darry wheeled around and slapped me so hard that it knocked me against the door." (Hinton, 50) I noticed that Ponyboy just moved on and didn't hit Darry, instead he just ran! "I turned around and ran out the door as fast as I could." (Hinton, 50) Now I know that instead of getting worked up, Ponyboy solved his problems differently. He carried on without too much violence, which is quite a smart thing to do and keeps him out of