Similarities Between Johnny And Dally

Another difference between Dally and Johnny are Dally love to fight and has a huge record with the police, while Johnny hates

As much as they are alike, they both are very different from another, such as Johnny is more law abiding, while Dally is the least. For example, Johnny Cade is the most law abiding greaser because he does not want any trouble with anybody. Johnny only had one offense with the police which is manslaughter, but it is clearly self defense. For instance, when the socs jump Johnny he does not fight back because he does not want trouble with them. Johnny tells Dally and Pony, ‘“I ain’t got no record with the fuzz”’(87). When Johnny is wanting to turn himself into the police after the killing of the soc. On the other hand, Dally is not law abiding at all. He always wants to be involved in fights or in trouble. He is proud of his record with the police. Ponyboy says, “‘He had been arrested, he got drunk, he rode in rodeos, lied, cheated, stole, rolled drunks, jumped small kids--- he did everything’”(11). He has quite a reputation with the police. Dally was in

“You’d be surprised how much you can have in common with someone completely different than you.” -Anonymous. This statement is true in S.E Hinton’s novel The Outsiders, two characters are very different, but have multiple similarities. Dally Winston and Johnny Cade are similar because they both have abusive parents and they both care about one another. On the other hand, they have opposite personalities and have different opinions on the law. Therefore, Dally Winston and Johnny Cade are very similar yet completely different.

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.

Although Dally and Johnny have a lot of similarities, they also have many differences. One of their many differences is that Johnny is law abiding and Dally is the complete opposite. Dally got in trouble with the police when he is ten years old. He likes to break laws and do things the illegal way. As Ponyboy says of Dally, “Dally hated to do things the legal way. He liked to show that he didn’t care whether there was a law or not” (20). Dally never follows the law. Conversely, Johnny is extremely law abiding and has absolutely no record with the police. When Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dally are all in Windrixville, Johnny decides he wants to turn himself in. He says to Dally, “‘I ain’t got no record with the fuzz and it was self-defense’”(87). He never gets in trouble with the police, and he feels that if he turns himself in, then he will receive a light sentence. This shows that Johnny has never had a complication with the police, on the other hand, Dally first got arrested at the age of ten and keeps getting arrested.

Johnny wants to turn himself in for killing bob. “ I ain't got no record with the fuzz... Johnny had a deathly fear of cops”(87). Johnny thinks that it is best for him to turn himself into the police for killing bob. Since he has no record he thinks he will be let off easy. Johnny is scared of the police which is probably why he has no record. Jolly doesn't like to break the rules. Even though, Johnny is very law abiding and play by the rules, Dally is the exact opposite In the beginning of the story the author is defining all the characters. “He has been arrested, he got drunk, he rode in rodeos, lied, cheated, stole, rolled drunks, jumped small kids”(11). Dally just about breaks every single law/rule. He has been arrested 3 times and the first is when he is just ten years old. He is in gang fights and a lot of other rumbles. Part of this might relate back to the fact that he is on his own and pretty much has no family. This is how Dally finds happiness by fighting and breaking laws.

Whenever Johnny gets abused, bullied by his parents, he would run off from home and find somewhere quiet to stay alone and rest, he prefers to take all the harm by himself, endure all injuries his parents have brought him, and never speak a word about it. "I had seen Johnny take a whipping with a two-by-four from his old man and never let out a whimper." (43) Whenever Dally get abused, or when someone offended him, he would just run off and have a fight with someone else in the neighborhoods, or he would rob something get the cops coming. " He went hunting some action--- booze or dames or a fight." "Mr. Curly Shepard spotted Dallas slashing their tires" (37) They also react differently in a fight.

Dally then threatens the police with an unloaded gun and the police shoot him in self defense. “He was jerked half around by the impact of the bullets, then slowly crumpled with a look of grim triumph on his face. (Hinton, 154)” The reason why Dally commits these crimes is because he feels like he failed to protect Johnny, thus causing a tragic

(154)” The only one Dallas cares about is gone. Dally does not want to live anymore because he lost Johnny, so he decides to end it. Likewise, Johnny is being affected by his homelife so much, he has threatened turning to suicide multiple times throughout the book. Whenever Johnny is left to his thoughts, he reflects on his life. Johnny hates how his life practically revolves around fighting, the very thing he hates. After meeting Randy and Bob, Johnny tells Ponyboy, “ ‘ I can’t take much more’ Johnny spoke my own feelings. ‘ I’ll kill myself or something.’ (47)” Johnny does not want to deal with all of the stress that is being induced on him. Johnny and Dally both place as little value as possible in their lives.

Johnny and Dally have both had hard lives. Both of their parents were abusive and uncaring.

Pony says of Dallas, “I knew he would be dead, because Dally Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted”(154). Dally dies a hoodlum, because he wants to die. How and why Johnny died helps prove their significant differences in both personality and

Being a hero causes Johnny’s death, but he knows it is worth it. When the gang visits Johnny in the hospital, after his accident, Dally tells him, “‘Yeah, they’re calling you a hero now and heroizin’ all the greasers. We’re all proud of you, buddy,’”(148). Johnny saved children from a burning building, but in consequence, he ended up in critical condition. More than just the gang believes that Johnny is a hero, since the whole town reads his story in the newspaper. Sadly, Johnny dies shortly after this, but in good spirits. He dies as a hero instead of a murderer. Dally is an extremely different story. Unlike Johnny, Dally never executes a heroic action, but he breaks the law at every chance he gets. When the gang watches Dally pull a gun on the police, and they shoot him down, Ponyboy says, “Dally didn’t die a hero. He died violent and young and desperate, just like we all knew he’d die someday,”(154). Regardless that the death of Dally was unexpected, the gang knew that no matter how long he was alive, he would not change his ways, and that Dally would die a criminal. Overall, Dally and Johnny are very different in the sense that Johnny dies a hero and Dally dies a

Something important to realize is that before Dally intervened Johnny just said, “‘We’re goin’ back and turn ourselves in’. . . Johnny nodded. ‘I’m sure. It ain’t fair fair for Ponyboy to have to stay up in that church with Darry and Soda worryin’ about him all the time”’(Hinton 87). This is saying that because he doesn’t want Ponyboy to be in hiding and his brothers worrying about him, this had an effect on Johnny’s decision since he didn't want them getting hurt for something he did. Overall it proves how the gang had an influence on Johnny’s decision to turn himself in because he didn't want Darry and Sodapop to suffer that Ponyboy was gone. Moreover, Dally responds to Johnny by saying to him, “‘Johnny, I ain’t mad at you. I just don’t want you to get hurt. You don’t know what a few months in jail can do to you. . . You get hardened in jail. I don’t want that to happen to you. Like it happened to me”’(Hinton 89-90). In effect, Dally tried to explain to Johnny why he didn't want him to turn himself in, as doing so would change him if he went to prison. In that case Johnny’s decision was influenced by multiple gang members to turn himself in or not. Under those circumstances Johnny decided to drop the conversation for now, not making a decision just

Johnny and dally both have one very significant Similarity which is, That they both have abusive parents that do not care about them. Dally’s parents are the reason why he is what he is today ,because they never disciplined him and that’s why at age 10 dally was arrested running around with a gang . Well for one dally never did talk about his his mom not even once, but talked about his dad once or twice when when him and pony were visiting johnny dally told johnny . “‘ ….My old man don’t give a hang whether i’m in jail or dead in a car wreck or dead in the gutter . that don’t bother me none”’ (p.88) . Plus Dally has no where he can call home pony says “Dally who lived anywhere he could” (105). While on the other hand Johnny has somewhat of a home has very abusive parents. Johnny usually sleeps outside or at ponyboys . Ponyboy describes johnny 's life at home saying “ His father was always beating him up, and his mom ignored

But I knew that was what he wanted” (154). Even though Johnny got burned when he was saving the lives of the little kids in the church he still does not regret it, “It’s worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for” (178). Johnny’s cause for dying was to save lives, Dally’s death just cost him his