The Theme Of Johnny In The Outsiders

681 Words2 Pages

The Outsiders: Johnny is Innocent In the novel, The Outsiders, the author, S.E. Hinton, discusses the conflict between two unalike gangs, the Socs and the Greasers. The two gangs have always had tension with one another due to the fact that each group lived on different sides of the town. There was five main greasers in the novel. The boys were the best of friends. They included, Ponyboy Curtis, Dallas Winston, Johnny Cade, Darrel Curtis, Sodapop Curtis, Two-bit Matthews. Johnny was the outcast of the group. Johnny was short and scrawny. The author described him looking like a ¨lost puppy¨ (Hinton, 11) or a ¨puppy that has been kicked too many times.¨ (Hinton, 11) Johnny was never known to hurt anyone. He was always the soft one of the group, …show more content…

The two girls have boyfriends but they had ditched them and chose to sit with the 3 greasers. As the movie was ending, they had left and started walking home. On their way, the girls’ boyfriends and their friends pulled up in a blue mustang. They were highly intoxicated. They took the girls and drove off. Later that night, Johnny and Ponyboy take a walk to the park, but only to find the same light blue mustang that they had encountered before. Five Socs leaped out of the blue mustang and headed straight to where Johnny and Ponyboy had been sitting, the jungle gym. The two gangs exchanged insults and it turned into a fight. Two Socs grabbed Ponyboy and threw his head into the fountain. Ponyboy tried to fight back but it didn't work. He was drowning and all Johnny could do was watch. Johnny wasn't much of a fighter but he'd do anything for the gang. He saw his best friend drowning and knew the only way to stop it was to physically hurt whoever was drowning Ponyboy, and that was Bob and David. He swung out his switch-blade and stabbed Bob. The gang was drunk and scared, so they had no choice but to ran away from the scene. Johnny saved ponyboys life. "They were drowning you, Pony. They might have killed you. "(Hinton, 56) This quote was chosen because it clearly states that Johnny was only trying to protect his …show more content…

The Socs were beating Johnny to ground. They each had blades, and Johnny was scared. Johnny shouldn't be blamed for what he did. He was being jumped and tried protecting himself. He knew that the Socs didn't like him and wouldn't care if he was dead. "And they had a blade...they were gonna beat me up...." (Hinton, 56) As you can see, Johnny clearly stated that he didn't it out of self defense, not out of intoxication or revenge from when they had previously jumped

Show More
Related

  • Stereotypes In The Outsiders

    477 Words  | 1 Pages

    Stereotyping is a constant theme throughout The Outsiders. It may seem as if the Greasers are the ones that really have to deal with presumptions, but the Socs also have quite a bit of stereotyping to deal with. While the outside world tries to force these stereotypes onto the gangs, they also tend to assume things about each other. This leads to divisions between them that most likely would not exist if stereotyping was not so abundant. The Greasers are pegged as nasty hoodlum troublemakers that are dropouts and criminals. On the other hand, the Socs are made out to be the opposite- crisp, intelligent young adults that have no real problems. Many cases of stereotyping between the two groups leads to violence between them.

    Read More

  • Comparing Johnny And Dally In 'The Outsiders'

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    The death of Johnny is a noble death. He dies from saving children and also Ponyboy. His death means something. Near the end of the story, he is still looking out for Ponyboy, telling him to “‘stay gold’”(148) and writing him the letter. Ponyboy says “Johnny was right. He died gallantly” (154). He dies still thinking of other people, he dies a hero. Conversely, Dally dies selfishly and only looking out for himself. He dies under the street lamp, happy with how things turn out, while Johnny dies in a bed, scared and wishing he had done more. Ponyboy says ¨Dally didn't die a hero. He died violent and young and desperate¨ (154). He does not die peacefully like Johnny, he dies a harsh death, just because he breaks for not being a hero like Johnny. Ponyboy and the rest of the gang all know he would someday die like this. Ponyboy went on to saying ¨two friends of mine had died that night, one a hero, the other a hoodlum¨ (154). Their death shows a clear difference between Johnny and

    Read More

  • Johnny And Dally Similarities

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    A juvenile delinquent, Dally was put in jail when he was only ten years old. This probably is the outcome of him having a lack of a guardian when he was a youth. In addition, while on Jay Mountain, Johnny asks Dally whether his parents wanted to know about him. Dally replies saying “‘... They didn’t. Blast it Johnny, what do they matter? Shoot my old man don’t give a hang whether I’m in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in the gutter. That don’t bother me none’”(88). This is the only time Dally mentions his father in the novel and his tone suggests his disdain. Dally’s insolent behavior has to be because of his inadequate parents. Likewise, Johnny is also a victim of bad parenting due to his abusive mother and father. In The Outsiders the narrator, Ponyboy, describes Johnny’s personality and family atmosphere in the exposition. Ponyboy states about Johnny: “His father was always beating him up, and his mother ignored him, except when she was hacked off at something, and then you could hear her yelling at him clear down at our house”(12). Pony’s statement shows how Johnny Cade has a difficult life at him and so he relies on the Greasers for family. This evidence leads to the conclusion that Johnny and Dally both have neglectful parents causing them to rely on their gang for family

    Read More

  • The Outsiders Reckon A Hero

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    To save Ponyboy from the Socs, he kill the Socs Bob though he is really scared and terrified by them. He can take the consequence of killing a man because he needs to save his friend. Another example is that when the church is on fire Johnny not only saves school children but saves Ponyboy by pushing Ponyboy out of the church leaving himself in great danger of being crushed by the building’s falling timbers. He can die for his friend. So it is really sad that such a heroic character died after the church fire incident.

    Read More

  • The Outsiders: Is Johnny A Hero?

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although Johnny did kill someone these are reasons why a boy named Johnny is innocent. Johnny is innocent and is the hero of the gang because he had saved kids from a burning church and he kept Bob from killing Pony. This proves that Johnny is a hero of the

    Read More

  • Taking Risks In The Outsiders Essay

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    This situation occurs when Darry states,“ ‘I don’t know if you ought to be in this rumble, Pony,’ ”(134). Although what Darry says is in concern of his little brother, for PonyBoy, the fight is more important than his health at the moment. When Ponyboy ends up passing out for three days from the fight with the Socs, it may show that this risk did not go well(157). But, in a sense, it helped Ponyboy get his anger out and free his mind for some time. Overall, it did not hurt Ponyboy to get knocked out. Johnny says this after he killed someone instinctively, “ ‘I killed him,’ he said slowly. ‘I killed that boy’ ”(56). Shortly after Johnny kills Bob the Soc to protect Ponyboy, he realizes what he has done. Whether or not this was a good decision, in the end he saved his friend from dying. In any case, this was self defense. To add on to events that were risks, these two were great

    Read More

  • Johnnys Innocence

    818 Words  | 2 Pages

    I understand that I am going to attempt to keep Johnny out of jail because what he had done in my perspective was self defense. This happened in The Outsiders book. Hinton, S. E. The Outsiders. New York: Viking, 1967. Print. I feel that you may think that Johnny is guilty of homicide because he had killed Bob during the evening by the park. He had not attempted to kill him, he was using self defence, as the novel had stated in chapter 4, Johnny warns the socs that showed up that they were in a part of town that they were not supposed to be in but the socs ignored the warning and still provoked the fight. Later in chapter 4 it also informs us that the socs were starting to drown Ponyboy so Johnny had used his switchblade without really meaning to kill anyone. Johnny has informed me that he and Ponyboy Curtis were walking in the park in the evening and that a vehicle had shown up and some boys had gotten out and threatened them. These boys had pulled out a knife and threatened to use it against them. One of the boys then started to assault Johnny and another attacked Ponyboy. The one attacking Ponyboy then decided to move him to a fountain and tried to drown him. When Johnny realized what they were doing he had turned to them and pulled out a knife and flung at them without meaning to kill Bob. But keep in mind that Bob was drowning Ponyboy so this act was used in defense. I feel that Johnny is innocent because he was using self defense, but he should not have ran from the crime scene. Another thing in chapter 4 was that a little while later when Ponyboy came conscious again Johnny said, "I had to. They were drowning you, Pony. “They might have killed you. And they had a blade... they were gonna beat me up...." I found this informat...

    Read More

  • The Outsiders

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Outsiders is a book about Greasers And Socs. The Greasers are the poor east side kids they would wear their hair long and greasy and they will dress in blue jeans, T-shirts, or wear they shirttails out and wear a leather jacket and tennis shoes or boots. The Socs are the rich west side kids that worn nice clothes, drove nice cars, and had all the pretty lady’s. They both was gangs in Oklahoma. The Socs they would jump Greasers, wreck houses, and throw beer blasts for kicks.

    Read More

  • Monologue Of Johnny In The Outsiders

    166 Words  | 1 Pages

    Oh Johnny, Johnny, Johnny. Johnny was my best friend, a part of my family. I knew that I could always count on him whenever I needed him. Even though his family was violent with him, he was still there for me. He can also always count on me to be there for him. Other people don't know him as well as I do, I remember all the great times we had looking up at the stars at 1 a.m. in a lot. *pause* We also went to the movies. This one time there were these two pretty good looking girls there, and they were Socs too. They were sweet, nice and funny, they were even nice to us Greasers. Anyway, Johnny wouldn't hurt anyone unless he absolutely had to, Johnny didn't like to fight that often. The only time he would fight would be in the rumble, or if

    Read More

  • Examples Of Friendship In The Outsiders

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Ponyboy Is A Hero Essay

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    If Johnny would’ve never killed Bob, Ponyboy would’ve died from drowning. Johnny will put others before him. “Johnny shoved me toward the window ‘Get out!’ “ (pg. 93) Johnny could’ve taken that time to get himself out instead of telling Ponyboy to get out. What resulted from this was Johnny got third-degree burns and his back was broken from the piece of timber that fell upon him. He could’ve let Ponyboy get severely hurt and saved himself, but no he didn’t he let himself get hurt which shows he will put others before him. Johnny will risk his life to save friends or people he doesn’t even know. “It was a wonder I didn’t cut myself to death, now that I think about it. ‘Hey Ponyboy.’ I looked around, startled. I hadn’t realized Johnny had been right behind me all the way.” (pg 91) Johnny followed Ponyboy inside the burning church just to save a couple of children. He risked his life to save children he didn’t even know and after the saving the children he got injured which followed up to death. This shows that Johnny will put his life at risk and will save

    Read More

  • Why Jhonny Cade Should or Should not Be Tried for Murder

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    ..., 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.

    Read More

  • Sense Of Belonging In The Outsiders By E. Hinton

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Comparing Johnny and Dally in The Outsiders by SE Hinton

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    Johnny and Dally are both very contrasting characters in the book; however they do have their similarities. Also, they both look up to each other. In the novel, Johnny is the character that reflects sensitivity and weakness. Johnny is constantly beaten by his father and is ignored by his mother. He has lost many things in life that others may take for granted. A quote from the novel describes Johnny as a “dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers” on page fourteen. Johnny’s soft and delicate personality is evident in that statement, especially when he is referred to a “puppy”. The image of a puppy implies vulnerability, a reflection on Johnny’s personality. Whereas Johnny is the vulnerable spot in the Greasers, Dally is on the other hand, the exact opposite. Dally is cold-hearted and hard, and plays the character of the devil in the novel. A quote from the book describes Dally’s eyes as “blue, blazing ice, cold with the hatred of the whole world” on page fourteen. This quote describes Dally as a cold character, and refers to the fact that Dally has seen many more hardships in his life than happiness. You can see that Johnny and Dally are both very different. However...

    Read More

  • Social Class In The Outsiders

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Socs and the Greasers have a feud that has been going on for a long length of time. In the story, S.E. Hinton created characters that try to portray themselves as tough in the public eye, when actually they are normal human beings with a healthy spirit. After Johnny was hurt,

    Read More

More about The Theme Of Johnny In The Outsiders

Open Document