"Sixteen years on the streets, you can learn a lot. But all the wrong things..." What may the boys of The Outsiders have wanted to learn?The...

This quote comes from Johnny Cade while he lay dying in
the hospital following the fire. Johnny had often thought about killing himself, but he
now realized that he wanted to live. He had not seen enough or lived enough. The 16
years spent on the street taught him a great deal about fighting, survival and staying
tough, but he had seen little else of the world. His trip to the church in Windrixville
had been the only time he'd left his neighborhood. He knew he would never walk again,
and he told Pony and Two-Bit that "It's not fair." Johnny would probably have liked to
forge a better relationship with his parents, finish school, enjoy having a girlfriend,
and walk around his neighborhood again without having to look over his shoulder for
Socs. Instead, he had learned the ropes of being a gang member.