Dality In The Outsiders

How has a petty criminal and a compassionate boy become like brothers? How do two opposites form a bond as tight as brothers? Two boys befriend despite the odds. In S.E. Hinton’s novel, The Outsiders, Johnny and Dally are bonded by similarities and differences to become like brothers.
Johnny and Dally are similar in the sense of a bad home life. Johnny lives with his mother and father, who constantly beat him and argue with each other. “His father was always beating him up, and his mother ignored him except when she was hacked off at something...”(12). It is awful for him with his cruel parents and their empty hearts that hold no love for him. If Johnny’s parents loved him, then he could still be alive. Johnny is not in a good household environment,

Throughout the book, Dally does not care for his life too much, due to him constantly committing crimes and such. “I knew he would be dead, because Dallas Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted”(154). Finally, Dally has gotten what he wanted his whole life. The only view of life that he has, due to him thinking that he is not worth being alive. Dally does not see life as a good thing, but a dread similarly to Johnny’s thoughts on life. Johnny has wanted to die for most of his life. “‘I’ll kill myself or something’”(47). He believes life is not worth it for himself. Johnny thought that life does not matter and that if he kills himself then everything would be better. If Johnny lives in a better home, then he may not want to kill himself. Unlike before, Johnny and Dally are bonded by their

When Johnny dies, he dies a hero. “Two friends of mine had died that night:one a hero... “(154). When Johnny dies, he is a hero for his city, when he saves children from a church fire. If Johnny does not save the children, then he may live, but he would not be a hero. When he dies, he dies gallant, in contrast to Dally who dies a hoodlum.Dallas Winston dies, not as a hero, but as a nobody. “Dally didn’t die a hero”(154). He dies as a common criminal, not a hero like Johnny. Dally chose to die on purpose when he pulled out the gun and pointed it at the police, he made his choice. He decides that he would die a criminal and a hood.Dally and Johnny are two very different people, with similar attributes that bonded them as