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Analytical essay on the outsiders book
Analytical essay on the outsiders book
Analytical essay on the outsiders book
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“Unlike what the movies will tell you, one really doesn’t need to have superhuman powers à la comic book superheroes to be a hero yourself.” This excerpt from the Buzzle article What Makes a Hero applies to The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. While none of the characters in The Outsiders have superpowers, many of them are heroes. One such character is Johnny Cade. He is 16 year old boy from a poor neighborhood with parents who are either ignoring him or beating him and is a member of a group of other boys from the same poor neighborhood. Johnny is the most heroic character in The Outsiders because he is caring, responsible, inspiring, and self sacrificing. One of Johnny’s heroic traits is that he is caring. When Darry hits Ponyboy, Johnny comforts Ponyboy. “‘Easy, Pony’ he said softly ‘we’ll be okay.’” (The Outsiders pg 51) …show more content…
He is very strict and once he even hit Ponyboy when he did not follow Darry’s rules. “Darry wheeled around and slapped me so hard that it knocked me against the door.” (The Outsiders pg 176) Darry also criticizes Ponyboy too much. “‘And Darry, you ought to try to understand him more, and quit bugging him about every mistake he makes.’” (The Outsiders pg 176) Another one of Johnny’s heroic traits is that he is inspiring. He gives Ponyboy a note that inspires Ponyboy to tell everybody what the greasers are going through. “Suddenly it wasn’t only a personal thing to me.” (The Outsiders pg 179) He also tries to keep Ponyboy on the right path. “‘Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold’…” (The Outsiders pg 148) Johnny’s most heroic quality is that he is self-sacrificing. He sacrificed himself to save some kids from a burning church. “Their lives are worth more than mine…” (The Outsiders pg 178) He also stabbed Bob to prevent Bob from drowning Ponyboy, despite the potential consequences. “‘They put you in the electric chair for killing people!’” (The Outsiders pg
He is smart, and gets good grades in school. This is purposefully mentioned several times within the story, and people tend to be surprised to learn that he is a Greaser. In addition, some Greasers are nicer than people tend to think. When the church burned down, Ponyboy and Johnny run in to save the children without a second thought. They acted with selflessness, putting the safety of the children above their own. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, Ponyboy is asked if he and Johnny are "professional heroes". He responds by telling the entire story of how they're Greasers and Johnny is wanted for murder, shocking the man in the ambulance. It is difficult for him to believe that a group of Greasers would do something so heroic. Johnny dies as a direct result of their actions, but neither Ponyboy nor Johnny regretted what they
The Outsiders by SE Hinton is a great coming-of-age novel that is about gangs, violent but also at the same time about love and brother ship. In the book, the society suddenly thinks the greasers, Pony, Johnny and Dally, are heroes. That really got me thinking. What is a hero?
Boom! Johnny drops to the floor. Kids are screaming. This is when Johnny is a hero for the second time in the story, The Outsiders. Johnny is a hero because he saved kids from a fire and Johnny saved Pony from dying.
For instance, “It had taken more than nerve for him to say what he'd said to Dally—Johnny worshiped the ground Dallas walked on, and I had never heard Johnny talk back to anyone, much less his hero.” (pg. 24) This means that even though Johnny respected Dally because he was there for him when his parents weren’t, he took a risky step and stopped him from doing something wrong. By doing this, it shows that Johnny isn’t afraid to protect others like Cherry when the situation involved his friend Dally. More importantly, “I swear, you three are the bravest kids I’ve seen in a long time. First you and the blacked-haired kid climbing in that window, and then the tough-looking kid going back in to save him. Mrs. O'Briant and I think you were sent straight from heaven. Or are you just professional heroes or something?” (pg. 95) As shown, it is important to realize that Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dally wouldn’t only defend their gang members, but they would also endanger their own lives in order to save others. It proves that their act of heroism can be used in all situations. No matter what situation they are in, the Greasers use their heroic actions towards not only their gang members but other people
What comes to your mind when you hear the term hero? Is being a hero preventing villains from corrupting the universe? Yes, a hero is someone that stands up and tries to protect others from being harmed. In the book, The Outsiders, the Greasers proved to be the heroes of the story. It shows that no matter what your background is, you could always turn into a hero. They also showed that no matter how poor you are, you can still be a hero.The Greasers that I think showed bravery and fearlessness were: Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dally.
Heroes. Everyone wants to be a hero, but sometimes, people lose sight of what a true hero really is. It does not have to be someone who flies around and saves innocent people from perilous monsters. A hero is simply someone that inspires others. In Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Junior was a hero because he rose above the expectations the world placed on him through his courage, passionate determination, and sympathetic perception.
He knows that Ponyboy has a chance because he is very smart. How they both reacted to not having parents shaped and effected who they are. “Johnny was high-strung anyway, a nervous wreck from getting belted every time he turned around and from hearing his parents fight all the time(2).” This explains how Johnny was effected by his parents. His parents constantly fighting and beating him made him who he was. A part of him was effected by all the chaos and pain he had to go through every day. “We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we're wilder, too. Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next. Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while. I don't mean I do things like that. Darry would kill me if I got into trouble with the police.” Social roles are a part of self-image that makes a person who they are. In the novel Ponyboy explains the groups that the Greasers and Sochs were split into. This
...t like the rest of the Greasers he wouldn’t kill or nothing no matter what. They could of said Johnny not no killer but don’t push him because he will go off but instead they made it seem like he was a kid that lived in a household that didn’t care about him and that he was a punk and never stood up for himself.
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
There is a hero in us all. A hero is someone who risks their own life to save or do good for others. Ponyboy is a hero because he risked his life to save children from a burning church. Johnny is a hero even though he killed someone it was to save his friend’s life but he also saved children from a burning church. Dally has been arrested, picks fights, and drinks, but when it comes to the people he is close with he has his soft spots for them. All bad boys have a good side.
Is there really a hero in The Outsiders. A hero is someone who saved the life of one or many people by risking their own life. Johnny is one of those people. Johnny is a person who is very shy until he starts standing up for himself and does things he never thought he would do. Johnny is the hero because he didn’t just save the life of one but of multiple people,he would do anything for his buddies, and he listens and comprehends people that is a real hero.
In S. E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders, all is well until the end of this section; the innocence of Ponyboy of Johnny lost to the murder of Bob.The loss of Johnny’s innocence is the heavier surprise. He has mainly been the victim of his problems with his situations, showing the innocence, before
Many heroes appear in the book The Outsiders. The characters that I think are heroes are Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dally. The definition of a hero for me is a person who is brave enough to do things to help someone even if it is a dangerous thing to do.A hero also cares for others and people can rely on them. Ponyboy was a hero because he saved peoples’ lives. Johnny died as a hero because he also saved the kids from the burning church and he was also relied on by his gang members. Dally was hero mainly because he cared for his gang and people relied on him. These three characters were heroes in this book according to my definition of a hero.
In The Outsiders it is given that through faith and devotion to one another Ponyboy and the gang use their close friendship in troublesome situations for instance when Johnny tells Ponyboy “i had to” he does this as an act of loyalty to Ponyboy to show him that he can trust him no matter what situation they are in. Most of the story is told from first person or Ponies perspective which shows us without exception every aspect of the story. When Johnny dies at the end of the book Ponyboy only then realizes the importance of him, and the gangs need for someone like Johnny to give them a sense of purpose after mentioning “we couldn't get along without him . We needed Johnny as much as he needed the gang.” Throughout all of Ponyboys hardships Johnny was always there to support him even when Ponyboy wanted to run away after darry slapped him, he never asked any questions.
Johnny once was a teen who wasn't cowardly, and stood up for his gang. He was a good man in a rumble and kept his mouth shut around the police, but things changed when he was jumped by the Socs. The assault left him more anxious than ever, and ended up carrying a six-inch switchblade in his back pocket, despite that he was the most law-abiding of the gang. In addition, Johnny didn't do well in school, he had failed a year in school and never made good grades (Hinton 65). But even so, Johnny is more than a quiet, anxious kid who does poorly in school. Notably, when Ponyboy and Johnny were hiding in the church, the pair occasionally read a book called Gone with the Wind in order to pass the time. While they were reading, Ponyboy remarked, "It amazed me how Johnny could get more meaning out of some of the stuff in there than I could--- I was supposed to be the deep one... and I guess his teachers thought he was just plain dumb. But he wasn't. He was just a little slow to get things, and he liked to explore things once he did get them" (Hinton 65). This shows that he is able to comprehend the message and/or significance of a story or concept, albeit it takes him a long period of time. Although he was high-strung, quiet, and seemingly believed to be dumb by his teachers, Johnny is, in truth, quite reflective and