Compare and Contrast: Johnny and Dally

Ever heard the phrase “Opposites Attract?” The idea of two completely different personalities adoring each other, is mind-blowing. With Dally being a hoodlum and Johnny being very frail, how could the possibly even like each other? In the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, two characters, Johnny and Dally come together despite various similarities and differences.

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...

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...hers. They cherish each other and look out for each other.

Apparently opposites do attract. Johnny and Dally clearly show this throughout this novel. Although the similarities between them make up for all the differences. Dally is hard and Johnny is soft, and Johnny is law abiding and Dally breaks any law he can. But, both are gallant and both children’s parents are abusive. Like the way a Bear protects her cubs, Dally safeguards Johnny and protects him from the dangers of the world. These very important characters from the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, come together through an inseparable bond that can be described as a bond of blood brothers. Both kids have nothing, the only thing they can live for is each other. All in all , Johnny and Dally share many similarities and also have some differences, but they completely cherish each other against all odds.