The Outsider

Early in the book Johnny shows that he is shy. But also brave and not scared to stick up for his friends. The Socs jumped Johnny and Ponyboy. They started to drown Ponyboy. Johnny defended him by stabbing Bob. Later, Pony discussed with Johnny, “You really killed him, huh Johnny?’ ‘Yeah.’ his voice quavered slightly. ‘I had to they were drowning

After running for a while they stopped in another parking lot with a fountain in the middle. While in the parking lot a blue mustang that belonged to the Socs that beat up Johnny a long time ago pulled up. They stepped out and started to insult Johnny and Ponyboy, Ponyboy snapped back and they grabbed him and shoved his head in the found as stated, “They grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back, and shoved my face into the fountain. I fought, but the hand at the back of my neck was strong and I had to hold my breath. I’m dying, I thought, and wondered what was happening to Johnny.” This showed that those Socs were even going to kill them just because they talked back, but they were also drunk which also shows how dangerous drunk Socs are. To save Ponyboy Johnny had to kill the Soc and afterwards they both had to run out of town to avoid being arrested. This changed Ponyboys identity into a outlaw.

Then Ponyboy runs out the door, finds Johnny, and goes to the park. There, however, the two young greasers run into randy and bob, with a huge group of their Socs friends. One of the Socs friends hold pony boy’s head under a cold water fountain, and Ponyboy blacks out. When he comes to, he is lying on the ground next to Johnny. The bloody corps of bob is next to them. To save Ponyboy, Johnny had to kill bob.

To begin, Johnny is innocent for the murder of Bob concidering that Bob was killing Johnny’s third party Ponyboy, leaving Johnny to use self defence. “ ‘I had

Johnny sacrificed his life to save the children from the burning building. Ponyboy risked his life to save the children from the burning building. Johnny feels remorse for killing Bob and decides to go back and turn himself in.

I listened intently as Ponyboy explained that it was almost four months ago when Johnny was jumped by a gang of socs with a blue Mustang. I flinched at that detail because Bob’s friend had a blue mustang that they would always cruise around in. I told myself it was just a coincidence. I kept on listening as he described that Johnny had been scratched up and bruised by a guy with a lot of rings on his hand. I could hear Ponyboy’s disgust in his voice. I paused at that. I was sure that I had gone completely pale and that Ponyboy noticed because he paused to look at

The Johnny gasped and turned white as a ghost then red with rage. While all of the other boys were looking at the Ponyboy who was drowning, Johnny pulled a knife out of his back pocket, I gasped I knew what he was going to do seconds before he did it. “Wait!” I screamed, but the boy didn’t even acknowledge me. I turned around, I couldn’t watch. This reminded me too much of Yaqui beating me up, but this was different, these boys fought unlike we did. The way we fought it wasn’t killing each other or anything like that, but it was almost worse. Being humiliated in front of the whole school. Both Ponyboy and I got hurt though mine was both mentally and physically. The only other thing that I could see that connected our two lives was that we both fought back. Well actually Johnny fought for Ponyboy, but it’s pretty much the same, in the end the bullies both got what they deserved. No, that’s not true, nobody (even Yaqui Delgado) deserves to die. By the time I turned back around the boys were driving away in their car and the boy who had been killed was slumped on the ground not moving. The other boy; Johnny was helping to pull his friend; Ponyboy out of the water

In anger and in fear he stopped Bob from hurting Pony(56), that left him with a feeling that distressed him greatly. He says to Pony, “Shut up about last night! I killed a kid last night…. How’d you like to live with that”(74)? This eats away at Johnny and makes him cry- “it took alot to make Johnny cry”(4). When Pony and Johnny go on the run because Johnny killed Bob, they leave everything behind and only stay in touch with Johnny’s hero, Dally. It hurt Johnny even more when Dallas had told him his parents had not asked about him after he ran away(88). He decided to turn himself in and stop running when he saw that it did more harm than good. Johnnycake knew that it wasn’t fair for Pony to be away from his family. On their way back to the church they see that it had caught on fire. Pony and Johnny knew that they had probably started the fire and ran in the church to try and save the children stuck inside. They rushed to get the kids out of the church window as embers fell on them. Though they go through these hard times they end up being heroes when they save the children and learn quite a few things.

In contrast to the removed Johnny shown early on, after the realization that he endangered several children, he boldly rushed to assist. After killing Bob in self-defense, Johnny bolts with Ponyboy to an abandoned church in the countryside. However, after presumably dropping a lighted cigarette, the church ignites in a blaze of fumes. Realizing there are children in the flaming church, Johnny and Ponyboy dart to aid. During the calamity, Ponyboy realizes that, “Johnny had been right behind me all the way” as he slips through a broken window and into the fiery church and notes that, “Johnny wasn’t behaving at all like his old self...That was the only time I can think of when I saw him without that defeated, suspicious look in his eyes” (92).

Towards the middle of the story, a boy named Johnny had killed a Soc that was drowning Ponyboy. He and Ponyboy fled the city to another town, and hid in an abandon church there for a week. When they were going to leave, they realized the church was on fire and there was kids trapped inside. Johnny and Pony were good friends and they decided to go help the children. After they rescued the children, they had to escape the burning, ravaged building. A flaming, steaming hot beam from the ceiling fell on Johnny. After this happened, Pony passed out, “ I leaped out the window and heard timber crashing and the flames roaring right behind me. I staggered, almost

After Johnny’s fight with the Socs in the park he utters, “‘I killed that boy … I had to’” (57). This is Johnny’s worst nightmare, he could never imagine being beat up by the Socs again. Johnny never stands up to others but it seems like second nature for him to save one of his “brothers”. While Johnny is in the hospital he exclaims, “Listen, I don't mind dying now. It's worth it.

The five Socs could have been armed with guns or each have a blade. All the Socs, especially these five were always known for being tough and always trying to get the last word in. They are also known for starting fights which is basically what they did with Johnny and Ponyboy. Johnny risked his life very much to save a friend that was more of a brother to him, as well as one of the only people that cared for him. “....they were going to beat me up…”

He was looked upon as a murderer for his actions. However, it can be argued that Johnny’s innocence can be defended because he stabbed Bob in an act of self-defense while protecting a third party, he sacrificed his life to save another, and to avoid having a drunk teenager kill them.

Readers could pick up from the book that Johnny is an agitated character because of that experience and his alcoholic, abusive parents. Then Ponyboy describes Johnny as a dark puppy that is lost, “If you can picture a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers, you'll have Johnny. He was the youngest, next to me, smaller than the rest, with a slight build. He had a nervous, suspicious look in his eyes, and that beating he got from the Socs didn't help matters. He was the gang's pet, everyone's kid brother.

Johnny killed Bob because he was drowning Pony in the fountain. They took refuge in a church, and