How can a rough, mean and tough hood have anything in common with a sweet and thoughtful boy? In S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, Dally Winston, a tough greaser, and Johnny, an innocent, scared boy have many obvious differences, but despite the fact that they are so unalike Johnny and Dally have distinct similarities. Johnny and Dally have a few similarities. For example, both of the characters have neglectful parents. Dally Winston resents his parents so much that he doesn’t bother mentioning them much throughout the novel. Dally never mentions his mother, proving that he does not have much to say about her. The one time Dallas does mention his father is when explaining to Johnny and Pony what has been happening back home. He states “‘Shoot, my old man didn’t give a hang whether I’m in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in the gutter”’ (88). Since Dally does not say anything good about his father the one time he does mention him, it is obvious that he would rather not think of his parents. Ponyboy also remarks that “Dally had spent three years on the wild side of New York and had been arrested at the age of ten” (10). If Dallas had caring parents they would have never let Dally near the “wild side” off New York. Watchful and loving parents would have raised Dally to be a better kid. Likewise, Johnny’s parents have no chance of winning the “Parent of the Year Award” either. Johnny, from Ponyboys perspective, is like a lost, beaten up puppy. The reason to this mishap are Johnny’s parents. Ponyboy thinks to himself “If it hadn’t been for the gang, Johnny would never have known what love and affection are” (12). This suggests that Johnny’s parents never gave him the love or affection that he deserves. The only way Johnny ever experien... ... middle of paper ... ...zz. As Johnny is willing to hand himself in he mentions “‘I ain’t got no record with the fuzz”’ (87). To conclude, Johnny and Dally have many distinct differences which make them interesting characters in separate ways. S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders demonstrates how two completely different characters, Johnny and Dally can have significant similarities. Although Johnny and Dally grow up in very similar conditions the way that each reacts to it differs greatly. Johnny understands that love is important in the world, but with the little experience of affection thinks it is useless and will only break a person. Even though the two view life differently they both do not put much meaning in their own due to the past experience of feeling useless and a burden. To summarize, Johnny and Dally share a very similar burden but look at life differently as a result of it.
Dally breaks every law possible, while Johnny is very yielding of the law. Dally thinks he is above law, he goes around looking for trouble. For example, breaking Tim Shepard’s tires or sneaking into the drive-in when he has enough money to pay emission. He just wants to look cool, like the police and law do not own him. Ponyboy describes him as “Dally hated to do things the legal way. He liked to show that he didn’t care whether there was a law or not. He went around trying to break laws” (20). He even has a gun with him always unloaded of course, but he would only use it to scare people off. However, Johnny does not break the law as much as Dally. He only just started carrying a switchblade because he got beaten up badly. The rest of the gang has carried switchblades for a while. Ponyboy even says how Johnny is the most law following of them all “ Johnny, who was the most law-abiding of us” (34). Johnny, unlike Dally, does not talk back to cops. Johnny and Dally are very different people because of how they act to look cool and their ability to follow the
How can two different people be so much alike? How can one man who lives in a poor environment and neighborhood have so much in common with a man that lives in a rich neighborhood? But, in S.E. Hintons novel The Outsiders, these two characters do indeed exist. Dally Winston and Johnny Cade are very similar because they each have abusive and neglectful parents and they both care about each other. Besides the similarities, Dally and Johnny have much different advice for they friend Ponyboy Curtis and they each die with a different story, Johnny dying a hero and Dally dying a hoodlum. In addition to Dally Winston and Johnny Cade having huge differences they also have some important similarities that
...inks he is more important than anything else and will not even think about going out of his way to do anything nice for anyone or anything. Both Johnny and Dally’s similarities and differences balance each other out.
Dally is extremely straightforward. He is not afraid to speak his mind to anybody. If Dallas has a problem with you, he will not keep it to himself. He is even aggressive at points and quite a scary person. Dallas Winston fits the “greaser” stereotype perfectly. Most people are afraid of Dally, rightfully so. He comes across to people as a young, mean, criminal. He is extremely harsh and very hard to get used to, but the gang has and have learned to like him. While first meeting someone, he will be extremely rude and not very easy-going. This personality pushes many people away. A good way to describe Dallas Winston is, “Dally didn't give a yankee dime about anyone but himself, and he was cold and hard and mean.” (90) Someone who is extremely shy and easy-going is Johnny Cade. He is extremely quiet around new people and does not like to speak unless approached. He comes across as as a small boy. He will never be rude to someone he just met and he very nice. Not only is Johnny shy, he is also extremely sensitive. The smallest things hurt Johnny Cade’s feelings so the boys have to be extremely careful with what they say around him. They do not want to hurt his feelings. Johnny personality is explained well by Ponyboy, “he was sensitive and that isn’t a good way to be when you’re a greaser.” (88) Johnny has a very “quiet” personality. Johnny and Dally come across as two extremely different people and they have very different
Although Johnny and Dally share some homogeneous traits, they also have very vast differences. For example, Dally is a villainous, tenacious, and greaser while Johnny is a perceptive, polite, and craven greaser. Dally does not fear anything and Johnny is petrified of his own shadow. His own gang thinks that Dally is mean, and Johnny is the gang’s pet. Dally spent three years on the wild side of New York and gets harder and tougher there, when Johnny has not even left the neighborhood. The description befitting Dally in the book just makes him seem even scarier. “His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with the hatred of the whole world… He was tougher than the rest of us [them] tougher, colder, meaner.” (10). This shows the confident, and indignant look on Dally’s face. On the other hand, the description for Johnny just radiates empathy and sympathy, “If you can picture a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers, you’ll have Johnny… he had a nervous, suspicious look in his eyes…”(11). The difference between the two characters is evident in these descriptions, Johnny is like a puppy and Dally could be compared to a tiger. Another example of how Johnny and Dally are different is seen through the fact that Dally loves to fight and has a huge record with the police, while Johnny detests fighting and has no tr...
Johnny Cade is a small boy that manages to keep the peace in this rough group. A young boy with a kind heart is the glue that sticks to everyone and keeps them all together. It is said, without Johnny, The Greasers would all fall apart. “But, Johnny was the gang’s pet, and Dally just couldn’t hit him.” Ponyboy had said after Johnny told Dallas off without consequence.
Johnny how he would not like Johnny to go to jail because he does not
After killing Bob Sheldon, Johnny goes into hiding. Later, Johnny reveals to Dally how he would not mind turning himself in. Johnny says: ‘“I ain’t got no record with the fuzz”’ (87). Johnny has not been in trouble with the law before, so he assumes the police are going to let him off the hook. On the other hand, Dally Winston breaks the laws whenever he gets the chance. Dally discreetly sneaks into the movies, when he could simply pay. When Ponyboy is in the ambulance he tells Jerry: “‘Dallas has a record with the fuzz a mile long’” (95). Dallas disobeys the laws so often, it almost feels as if Winston breaks the laws as an enjoyable leisure activity. During the duration of the story The Outsiders, Dallas breaks the laws constantly, while Johnny avoids those types of dangerous
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
...n they are in the hospital when Johnny, Ponyboy and Dally return from Windrixville and Johnny is dying. Ponyboy realizes that Darry does actually care about him; he is just strict because he wants him to be better. At that point Ponyboy thinks that everything is going to be all right because he understands Darry now, but it just goes back to normal with all of the arguing. Finally Sodapop steps in after Dally dies and everyone is sad and feeling helpless. He tells Darry and Ponyboy to promise to never argue again because he doesn’t like it, and they agree. All of these conflicts in the novel “The Outsiders” started with Darry hitting Ponyboy in the face. This lead to many different relationship problems between the Curtis brothers and three deaths that made the relationship very strong.
Dally felt as if he wouldn't be able to sustain on this planet after he lost something “Gold” to him. Dally felt connected with Johnny because he had been abandoned by his parents too and could relate to Jonny’s pain, that was also his. Sometimes the worst has to happen for the toughest people to have a breaking point in life, and Dally’s was when Johnny had finally died. Which is displayed on page 154, “I knew he would be dead because Dally Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted.” This picture conveys the emptiness that Dally was feeling the moment he knew that the one thing that kept him living was no longer alive. Dally didn't feel important or loved, he thought he was worthless like the Socs told him. And he acted at that by consistently fighting all the time. He ended his life without realizing that he was loved by his friends and they would miss him and that they might not pull through without his strength. Ponyboy knew that he wanted to die and he didn't do it for no reason, that there was the reasoning behind this one action he
At the end of the book there was a rumble and Dally showed up even though he was injured.”Don’t you know a rumble ain’t a rumble unless I’m in it?”(144) This means that no matter what Dally would like to be in a fight of some kind. Dally likes to fight because he feels that their is no got in the world. On the other hand, Johnny does not enjoy fighting.’”useless… fighting’s no good…”’(148). This means that Johnny would not like to be in a fight especially when he is injured. Johnny does not like fighting because the socs have beat him up multiple times badly. Dally and Johnny are different because Dally likes fighting and Johnny does
..., even by Ponyboy, who is the youngest of the group and two years younger than Johnny. Dally, the toughest and the meanest guy in The Greasers, is Johnny’s idol and seeing how he acts in situations probably influenced Johnny’s choice of action. Watching these bigger guys close in on him and Ponyboy being drowned, he was probably thinking, ‘what would Dally do what would Dally do?’ So he did what he thought Dally would do he pulled out the knife and stabbed Bob Sheldon so he would have extra hands helping him to fight off the rest of the guys, but that did not happen because they ran off in fear of Johnny.
In the beginning you can see that Dally not only finds it fun and amusing to break rules but also views it as one of his talents. The first sign of this is when Johnny,Ponyboy,and Dally sneak into the drive in movies.Ponyboy says that they have enough money to get
Through the development of the story impression of belonging seems to lack however despite these challenges through perseverance and support from other members of the gang they expand their grasp on belonging. At the start of the outsiders Ponyboy mentions “I lie to myself all the time but i never believe me” In this extract it is clearly displayed through the tone of disbelief that ponyboy being the youngest of the gang and his family he often feels removed and does not realize that later the people closest and the friendships you make are where you belong the highest. Subsequent to this event a metaphor used to describe Johnny “a little dark puppy kicked too many times” exposes that after his parents abused him he did not feel as though he had a family, nevertheless through friendship Johnny promptly discovered that he belonged and that was with the Greasers as they made him feel needed. Remarkably at the introduction of the story most gang members didn't feel as though they belonged but since The Outsiders coveys a bildungsroman it demonstrates that the characters are continually developing and maturing throughout the story.