Can the characters make connections in the world in The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner?

A common theme throughout every story of this collection is the individual's inability to assimilate into a repressive society. This is the very nature of criminality, and of course in stories like "Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" and "The Rise and Fall of Frankie Buller," criminals are the subject.

At the heart of this story is an expression of the debate between nature versus nurture. Smith has been, to use his phrase, an "out-law," a person born to steal, lie, and break rules. This is his nature, and when he is acting as a criminal, he is being an honest person (to his mind), as he is not behaving contrary to his nature. He considers those who stay within the law, "in-laws," as timid cowards who many times are behaving in dishonest ways, that is, ways contrary to their nature. In this way, the author has turned the notion of "honesty" on its head; it is a powerful way to get the reader inside the head of the protagonist and see things from his point of view. The governor wants Smith to promise to be an "honest" person when he gets out of Borstal; that is, to play by the rules, to work for what he earns. The governor believes he can teach (nurture) Smith and the other boys in his care to become honest men. To Smith this would be a dishonest living, as he would have to be someone other than himself.

One consequence of Smith's logic is that rehabilitation becomes impossible, and thus the principle behind Borstal (to reform young delinquents) and the governor as Borstal's headmaster is a sort of lie. Honesty and lies is a constant theme in the story, from Smith's intent to ruin the race to Smith's straight-faced lying to the policeman trying to nab him for the baker's theft. The "out-laws" and the "in-laws" cannot co-exist, they are "at war" as Smith realizes, and so most any interaction Smith might have with "in-laws" is necessarily mendacious. This is a pessimistic view of human nature, insofar that the reader could never imagine Smith ever integrating with society.