Similarities Between Dally And Johnny In The Outsiders

In the book the outsiders the character Johnny not only a victim of violence he is also capable of inflicting violence seen in one major part of the book. Pony boy describes Johnny as a “lost puppy that has been kicked too many times”. This is a metaphor to compare the treatment of Johnny over his life to an abused puppy. Eventually abused puppies learn to fight back this is the same situation with Johnny and the Socs. This allows the reader to see he is largely affected by bullying

He didn‘t make a sound, but tears were running down his cheeks. I hadn‘t seen him cry in years, not even when Mom and Dad had been killed and in that second what Soda and Dally and Two-Bit had been trying to tell me came through. Darry did care about me, maybe as much as he cared about Soda, and because he cared he was trying too hard to make something of me and ―that was his silent fear then—of losing another person he loved.” Ponyboy and Dally have always had a rocky relationship. Ponyboy resents Dally as he thinks he is too controlling.

The story changed in many ways when Dally died. First off, the gang is really torn apart. Second off, Ponyboy couldn’t tell Dally what Johnny wanted him to tell Dally. Third off, It caused a lot of stress on the rest of the gang. And finally, Pony now has a story to tell about how Johnny and Dally died on the same night.

But once he sees Johnny it gives him something to love and care about. He made sure that Johnny didn’t become violent. He says in the book multiple times he cares about Johnny he said “Johnny…I just don’t want you to get hurt.” A quote also says that “Johnny was the only thing that Dally loved. And now Johnny was gone.” Later in the book Johnny dies and it is too much for Dally and he gets himself killed. Dally was so distraught, he wanted to be dead.

A very important comparison Dally and Johnny have is their parents. Johnny’s parents do not care about him. They either beat him or ignore him completely. “His father was always beating him up, and his mother ignored him” (12). His parents are alcoholics and do not care if he comes home or not. Likewise, Dally parents also do not care about him. If he was put in jail by age ten, then his parents clearly do not care enough to discipline him. He rarely talks about his parents, but when he does, he has nothing nice to say. “‘Shoot, my old man don’t give a hang whether I’m dead in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in the gutter’” (88). Dally talks about his father with disgust, like he never did anything for him, which may be true. The way Dally’s parents and Johnny’s parents both do not care about them makes these two characters very similar.

The way in which Dally reacts to problems he’s given is weak and reckless. How he reacts to Johnny’s death is perfect example of how Dally can’t deal with any problem headed his way. When Johnny dies, Dally can’t handle his grief, so he attempts to rob a store, leading to his eventual demise. If Dally was strong enough to handle Johnny dying, he never would’ve done something so reckless and get himself killed. Pony boy says that he “knew that was what Dally wanted.” (154) Dally is used to life of a criminal, and he knows better than to do what he did. He made the police believe that he had a loaded gun on purpose, not as a heat of the moment

This causes Dally to become reckless and finally ending in him being killed by the police, Ponyboy tells the reader “Dally Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted.” (p.187). From this the reader can gather how the events had modified Dally, creating a more emotional and caring character, weakening his value for himself and in return, strengthening his value for others.

How can two characters that have such a similar lifestyle, be so extremely different? In the novel, The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, the author proves that such instances happen. Dallas Winston and Johnny Cade have very similar lives, but are completely different people. Johnny is more of a sensitive person and always likes to follow the rules. While Dallas on the other hand, loves to break the laws and do the wrong thing. These two characters are very similar on the inside, but are very different on the outside.

“Opposites attract?” Have you ever heard that saying? In the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, two characters show many similarities, but also difference. Dally is a hoodlum, that breaks every law and Johnny is afraid of his own shadow, how could they even have one common thing?

In the letter that Johnny left for Ponyboy,“‘There's still a lot of good in the world. Tell Dally. I don’t think he knows’” (179). The note Johnny left for Ponyboy to tell Dally, but it was too late for that. Ponyboy says, “Johnny worshipped the ground Dallas walked on”(25). This shows that Johnny is just Dally’s pet. Johnny knows that Dally cares about him but he does not show it because is a tough person. All in all, Both characters care for each other.

The author writes, “Johnny’s eyes glowed. Dally was proud of him. That was all Johnny had ever wanted” (148). Johnny’s reaction is priceless. Out of the entire greaser gang, Johnny and Dally’s relationship is the strongest and most significant. When Johnny needs Dally the most, he is his staunchest supporter. In return, Johnny gives back the same, if not more, amount of affection to Dally. When Dally and Johnny die, Ponyboy makes a list of realizations. Ponyboy thinks, “But I remembered Dally pulling Johnny through the window of the burning church; Dally giving us his gun, although it could mean jail for him; Dally risking his life for us, trying to keep Johnny out of trouble.” (154). It is clearly proven that ‘tough’ Dallas Winston makes a substantial effort to make Johnny’s life better. If Dally would not make the effort for Johnny, then Johnny would have to experience life worse than it already is. Since Dally thinks of Johnny almost like a little brother, it would hurt Dally to see Johnny experience that kind of pain. Dally and Johnny are bonded by these similarities, but they are also bonded through their differences.

Ponyboy said he would be dead if he didn't have the gang members. Johnny is the youngest in the gang. He was jumped by Socs and was seriously injured that he almost died. He had psychology impact on the Socs, he would shiver and be frighten whenever he sees a Soc. On the day he left with Ponyboy, they met a group of Socs. Since the Soc called Bob almost drowned Ponyboy to death, he killed Bob. Johnny admired Dally a lot. He wishes Dally could be proud of him for even just once. He wanted to be as tough and cool as Dally but he never succeeds. Johnny was kicked out of school and that was how Ponyboy thought he wasn't clever. Sometimes Johnny understood things better than Ponyboy in the book which was called Gone with the Wind. Johnny had the interest and talent in reading books but no one in the gang except Ponyboy was good enough to talk about these. He wasn't really close with Ponyboy before they ran away together so they didn't have a talk. Johnny also loved to watch sunsets and sunrises but no one in the gang could have spared time to watch or even talk about this. All Johnny couldn't express mad him alienated from the gang members. The only one he was close to was Dally. Dally cared for his all time and would risk his life for whatever happens on Johnny. Such as lending a gun or killing a Soc. Dally wouldn't hesitate as long as it was for

The author of The Outsiders is S.E Hinton. Johnny is a sad beat up kid who is not loved by his parents. His role model in life is Dallas Winston, He is his role model because Johnny thinks he is living proof that you can grow up without a family or anyone that loves you. He is the gang’s pet and everyone in the gang likes him.

Johnny and Dally have many similarities between each other. Johnny and Dally both have abusive parents that do not pay attention to them . Dally´s abusive parents don not care about Dally at all. In fact, Dally never mentions anything about his parents anything except on page 88 where he says, ”Shoot, my old man don't give a hang whether I am in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in the gutter.” Dally basically says that his dad does not care where he goes

As soon as Johnny died, Dally couldn't take it. Pony hadn’t gotten the letter from Johnny. So Dally exploded. “He begged, slamming his fist on the wall, hammering it to obey his will. ‘Oh , Dammit Johnny, don’t die,’”(149). Dally couldn't take Johnny dying, it was too much. Johnny was the only thing in his world left that he cared about. Then he was gone. They both couldn’t make it without the other, they cared too much.