“Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies” (Aristotle). How can this happen when two characters are so different? How can they be similar? Dallas Winston and Johnny Cade from S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders have a connection deemed unlikely because of their extensive differences. While each being divergent from one another, their similarities come into play as to why they care so much for one another. Their differences stretch amongst a wide variety, but along with those differences comes their similarities. Differences among Dally and Johnny are not hard to come by. To begin, Johnny is the most law abiding of the group. He always follows the law. This continues until the day he kills Bob. When he kills Bob he knew that he broke the law. Out of nervousness he runs off to a church with Ponyboy that Dally sends them to. They camp out there for days not knowing whether or not to turn themselves into the police. Dally arrives at the church to stay with them and Johnny announces “We’re goin back and turn ourselves in”(87). He figures that since he currently has no record, he will get off easier; and he knows that it is the right thing to do. Unlike Johnny, Dally constantly breaks the laws. Dallas’s record makes him proud. He gets into a lot of fights and involves himself in many robberies. Going to jail has stopped effecting him and whenever crime occurs in the town the police question Dally early on. Dallas has a bad record, but that does not bother him because “he liked to show that he didn’t care whether there was a law or not” (20). Clearly it does not bother Dally when he gets in trouble with the police, or the fact he has a mile long record. Besides their record with the fuzz, both of them have diver... ... middle of paper ... ...d about was ripped from his hands. Johnny’s death broke him to the point where his life became even more worthless then he though. Johnny and Dally both face problems that go hand in hand. While being so different, it would be thought that similarities would be hard to come by. In this case Johnny and Dallas both have vast differences, and affinity towards each other. Opposite personalities that would not be thought to get along actually do. One who tries to break the law, and one law abiding. Although that separates them, their neglectful parents draw them together. They both put a very low value on their life. Perhaps it happens because neither one of them have parental influences. They do not have parents that love them and care about them, which may cause their life to be worthless in their eyes. The relationship they have is what keeps them going.
People look up to others because they are so alike each other that they feel connected, or they are so different, they aspire to be like them. Sometimes you can have someone who looks up to the other that is both, different and the same as them. This is the case for Johnny and Dally in The Outsiders, written by S. E. Hinton. They both have parents who do not care about them and they both do not value life. Johnny is more law-abiding than Dally and Johnny became a hero, unlike Dally. Johnny and Dally share differences and similarities that make them such unique characters.
First of all, Dally says “‘... don’t die Johnny, please don’t die…’” and then he “suddenly bolted through the door and down the hall.” (149). This shows that the boys all have a very close relationship with each other. They would do anything for each other and are devastated when one dies. Secondly, Ponyboy asks “‘You really killed him [Bob], huh, Johnny?’” (57). This demonstrates that the boys would do anything for each other. Johnny killed Bob in order to save Ponyboy, which really shows how strong of a relationship they have. In conclusion, the power of friendship is shown throughout the book when the boys had a few encounters in which their friendship and how strong it really is was
For example, Johnny is physically the smallest of the group and Dally is always the one there to look out for him and help him with everything that is going on. Dally never has these parent/guardian like feelings for anyone else in the group, he clearly likes and cares for Johnny the most. Even Ponyboy realizes it when he says, “Dally is tougher than I am. Why can I take it and Dally can’t? And then I knew. Johnny was the only thing Dally loved. And now Johnny was gone”(152). Pony makes it crystal clear that Dallas cares for each other unconditionally. Similarly, Johnny has great affection and care for Dally. He realizes he can always look up to Dallas for anything and Dallas always has his back whenever Johnny is in need of some help or advice. When Ponyboy says, “Johnny worshiped the ground Dallas walked on, and I have never heard Johnny talk back to anyone, much less his hero ”(25). Like Dallas, Johnny looks up to Dally as his hero and care so greatly about him. Very much alike with each other, Dally and Johnny Both care for each other unconditionally. Therefore, Dally and Johnny are genuinely similar in many
Johnny and Dally have many blaring similarities one of them being how they both place little value on their lives. Dally a tough, mean greaser, commits
Can some people so different be so a like? Can some people so alike be so different? Dally and Johnny are those two who are so different, but yet they are similar. In the book S.E. Hinton writes The Outsiders, Johnny Cade and Dally Winston come from two completely different backgrounds, and have completely different scruples. Yet, at the same time they are alike. Dally and Johnny’s parents both repudiate them, making Johnny and Dally mentally tough, and the boys do not value their lives. At the same time though they are different, Dally is stronger than Johnny. Though, Johnny has a soft heart and Dally would not even pay any attention if someone is dying right next to him.
Could a person live in a world without people who love and care for them? Could people survive in a world where they were judged by how they were presented on the outside? S.E. Hinton, the author of The Outsiders, discusses many universal themes, such as friendship, stereotyping, and change. In The Outsiders, two rival groups, the socs and the greasers, are separated by social class. The friendship between the greasers will be tested when an unexpected event changes everything. The greasers must learn that people experience many tragic events, no matter who the person is. Based on the universal themes, the readers will begin to understand how the characters in the novel grow and change, and how friendship and family help along the way.
When we first introduced to Dally by Hinton we learn that as a youth he served time in a New York for a murder charge. This made Dally the most paradoxical person in the story, you never knew if Dally would snap and beat you senseless or if he would protect you. But we soon learn that after witnessing Johnny’s death in the hospital Dally turned out more psychologically unstable. Thus, Dally chose suicide-by-cop. This was because Dally felt responsible for not protecting Johnny in life and felt that perhaps he could protect him in death. Both young men felt hero-worship for each other. Johnny looking to Dally for his devil-may-care attitude and Dally looks up to Johnny for his individuality and
Many times in literature we can make assumptions in which a few major characters from two completely different stories can have much in common. Authors like Coraghessan Boyle of Greasy Lake and Raymond Carver of Cathedral demonstrate this perfectly. We as readers of these brilliant works can find ways to compare and contrast these in the sense that they are quite similar. From what we can tell both the narrator in Greasy Lake and the Narrator in Cathedral have a lot in common even though they come from completely different worlds. In T. Coraghessan Boyle’s short story “Greasy Lake”, the narrator tells a coming of age story of himself and two other teenage boys who think that they epitomize the image of “cool” and go to the Greasy Lake to
When Johnny and Pony killed Bob, Dally covered for them and had them go hide out in the church until the cops were gone. Also, when Pony and Johnny went into the burning church to save the kids, Dally put out the fire that was on Pony’s back and he attempted to save Johnny. Johnny was heroic because he killed Bob when he was trying to kill him and Pony. Also, he was heroic because he went into the burning church to save the kids. Without Johnny doing that, the kids would’ve been burned to death or gotten seriously hurt. In conclusion, Dall is heroic because he helped Johnny out in the police situation, and Johnny is heroic because he saved the
On the way to see Johnny in the hospital Dally vents to Ponyboy about being hard, “I was crazy for wanting Johnny to stay out of trouble, for not wanting him to get hard. If he’d been like me he’d never have been in this mess. [...] You’d better wise up, Pony . . . you get tough like me and you don’t get hurt. You look out for yourself and nothing can touch you” (147). In this quote, Dally thinks it is to his avail to be tough. He would not change after the experience because he would realize that it is more beneficial for him to stay hard. Another reason would be that he has been selfish his whole life and it would be very hard for him to change now. Once Dally becomes fatally shot Ponyboy reflects, “Dally Winston wanted to be dead, and he always got what he wanted. [...] Dally didn’t die a hero. He died young, violent, and desperate, just like we all knew he would die someday” (154). Crude and hard, Dally would not be affected by this incident. He would stay “too cool” for this to change his attitude towards life. As Ponyboy and others thought, he would die young and desperate later due to his reckless personality. If Dallas Winston did not die, the end of the novel would be much
The book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, follows a horrific part of the life of a boy named Ponyboy Curtis. He is what you might call a Greaser, and has had a rough go at it in his life compared to others. It is difficult, but Ponyboy somehow manages to be himself and has the tenacity to stick through it all. He is in a gang with his friends and family and they are loyal to one another no matter what. A rival gang from the Socs crowd, a richer, more refined group, send him and his pals into a whirlwind of trouble and hurt. This book shows on multiple occasions that perseverance is necessary to get through life .
At what point does conformity become unacceptable and harmful towards an individual’s life? In the novel The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, a gang called the Greasers suffers from stereotype threat and external expectations cause internal expectations within the gang to lower. Expectations of Greasers are set by the Socs, and visa versa for the Socs. As a result of these expectations, Greasers think they can accomplish less than other members of society because that is what is expected of them. Not all expectations set by external people are harmful though. Darry, Ponyboy’s oldest brother, expectation for Ponyboy to rise above the rest of the Greasers is a positive expectation. A Greaser named Ponyboy and a Soc named Cherry is
Did you ever feel like you were not positive or you felt like you were not wanted. If so you should look at Lupe and Andrew. Lupe and Andrew are both tough. In the story, The Marble Champ, the Character, Lupe, is trying to win a Marble game. Her mom, and dad don’t think that she will be able to win, but Lupe proves them wrong, but in the story, Fly Away Home, by Eve Bunting, the character, Andrew, is also tough. He is living in an airport, with no real meals at night and no mom. Lupe and Andrew are similar because, they are both hard working, positive.
Out of all of the members of the gang Johnny and Ponyboy were the closest, because they were the youngest and also they were not as tough as the other boys. After Ponyboy got in a fight with Darry about being late at getting home, Ponyboy ran to the lot and told Johnny that they were running away. Without hesitation the two boys took off running. Johnny needed no explanation. He had a rough life at home and without the support from the gang he may have already killed himself. Johnny just wanted to be there and support his friend like they had been supporting him through everything. At many points throughout the novel Ponyboy teaches or shows Johnny something new. “You know Johnny said slowly “I never noticed colors and clouds and stuff until you kept, reminding me about them. It seems like they were never there before” (Hinton,78). When Johnny says that to Ponyboy is gives readers a glimpse of how Johnny having Ponyboy in his life makes it better. Another key point of their friendship in the novel is after Johnny kills the Soc. This is a key point because they run off to Jay Mountain to hide from the police and while they are there they discover more about each other and themselves. The boys are at that church for about a week before Dally came to check in on them and while they were inside that church they read Gone with the Wind. As they read Gone with the Wind they started to make connections
Despite all the challenges we are faced with there is always a strong sense of positivity through those who believe in hope, friendship and have a sense of belonging.Determination and a strong connection with the natural world can uphold a person's sense of hope, Dedication and friendship can promote a person’s sense of belonging and that through trust and loyalty you can always rely on friends to be there in difficult situations.This is a inspiring message represented in The Outsiders by SE Hinton a tale told through the eyes of a determined and courageous fourteen year old boy who through , loss ,pain and difficult challenges finds a impression of positivity as a result of hope, friendship and belonging. The Outsiders is set in Tulsa