Happiness must be earned. In the realistic fiction novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Ponyboy Curtis matures through grieving his friend’s absence. At first, his life consists of following the crowd and trying to satisfy his gang. His actions and words are constantly being influenced by his peers. However, when he loses his best buddy, Ponyboy discovers his true goals in life and learns to fight for what he believes in. Ponyboy’s grief over Johnny’s death initially results in denial, but the experience changes him for the better.

Ponyboy’s naive state often blocks him from speaking out and leading his own life. He lives among protective friends that are providing for him constantly. This often makes him unsure of who he is, and he wonders about what will become of his future. For instance, he believes,,“Darry’s gone through a lot in his twenty years, grown up too fast. Sodapop’ll never grow up at all.  [He doesn’t] know which way’s the best. [He’ll] find out one of these days”(2). As a young Greaser, Ponyboy lacks the maturity and sophistication necessary to handle his own life. His two older brothers are like polar opposites, for they have experienced life in different ways and led their futures in different directions. While one of his brothers lives for the moment and is constantly having fun and goofing around with the people he loves, his other brother is forever in distress, working hard to provide for, and support his younger siblings and gang by stepping up to a parent-like role after the death of both his parents. Ponyboy – although he has grown up alongside both of his brothers, watching their lives first hand – is still not sure what path will be best for him. In addition, this inner instability influences his choices to follow the crowd. He wants what everyone else wants, for he thinks that “Tough and tuff are two different words. Tough is the same as rough; tuff means cool, sharp – like a tuff-looking Mustang or a tuff record. In [his] neighborhood both are compliments”(12). Because he is insecure in life, Ponyboy always lives by his gang’s decisions for him. Due to his simple life as a child, Ponyboy does not know what he wants in his life; as a result, he relies on his gang and goes along with what they choose.

Through the grieving of Johnny’s death, Ponyboy gains maturity and control over his own life. After living a life filled with constant care in which he was protected from seeing life’s tragedies, the unexpected loss of a close friend strikes Ponyboy. Ponyboy finally finds what he truly cares about, and seeks success in his passions. When he realizes that he cares about stopping discrimination, he acts out in hopes that “maybe people [will] understand then and [won’t] be so quick to judge a boy by the amount of hair oil he [wears]. It [is] important to [him]”(179). Endurance through dark times teaches Ponyboy how to live life to its fullest, in a way that he will benefit from. Furthermore, only after gaining maturity through Johnny’s death does Ponyboy realize that to make good decisions in life, you must first reflect and look back on your past. He finally sees that the separation between Socs and Greasers has been a negative aspect on his life, and it will continue to be so. Additionally, he is even more motivated because he remembers Johnny saying in the hospital that fights and “rumbles” do not do any good for either gangs – they only make their hatred stronger. A newly developed compassion and a want to improve his society convince Ponyboy to begin making decisions for himself and serve as key components that ignite his desire for future success and self-satisfaction. When reflecting on what he has learned from Johnny and Dally’s deaths, Ponyboy thinks how one week had “taken both of them. And [he decides he can] tell people, beginning with [his] English teacher”(180). Ponyboy finds out that he is the only person who can tell himself what to do, and he must begin being the leader of his own life, especially as he gets older. After undergoing dark times that force him to endure and stay true to himself, Ponyboy comes to the realization that he can live doing whatever he chooses, regardless of what others say.

The depression that Ponyboy experiences due to Johnny’s death teaches him life-long lessons that make him a better person. When a true friend in Ponyboy’s life is lost, Ponyboy sees life as he has never seen it before. For one, Ponyboy starts to appreciate the people and things around him taken for granted by all others. Only after Johnny is gone does Ponyboy truly see how important Johnny was in his life.  He finally realizes that Johnny was “something more than a buddy to all of [the gang]. [He guesses Johnny] had listened to more beefs and more problems from more people than any of [the gang]. A guy that’ll really listen to you, listen and care about what you’re saying, is something rare”(178). Finally, after years of being in blindfolds, Ponyboy begins to open his eyes to all of the beautiful aspects of the world. He grows to accept that life comes with struggles, but that the good, special moments more than make up for it. As he looks back on his past, Ponyboy remembers “a handsome, dark boy with a reckless grin and a hot temper. A tough, towheaded boy with a cigarette in his mouth and a bitter grin on his hard face. Remembering – and this time it [doesn’t] hurt – a quiet, defeated-looking sixteen-year-old whose hair [needs] cutting badly and who [has] black eyes with a frightened expression to them”(180). Once exposed to the loss of someone great in his life, Ponyboy understands that all amazing things in life cannot stay forever, and this is no longer painful for him to think about. Although Johnny’s death results in many hard days, the event teaches Ponyboy a valuable lesson on accepting life’s flow that will stay with him for his entire life.

Ponyboy’s suffering matures him and allows him to see his future. He lives amongst the Greasers and, all his life, has been extremely unaware of all the aspirations for the future that he holds. Additionally, his actions are controlled by the people around him. It is only after depression strikes him and his gang that Ponyboy finds the ability to understand that regardless of who he is and what group he belongs to, what he truly cares about comes from the inside. After gaining this knowledge about life, his fate is sealed for eternity — the rest of his life will be dedicated to helping others who are discriminated against. The presence of light is taken for granted, but a true person can always reach it, regardless of the darkness in life.