The Outsiders: The Similarities Between Johnny And Dally

While at a movie theater, Dally is antagonizing and annoying several Soc girls. Johnny stands up to Dally, his hero, and states, “‘Leave her alone, Dally.’ ‘Huh?’ Dally was taken off guard. He stared at Johnny in disbelief. Johnny couldn't say ‘Boo’ to a goose. Johnny gulped and got a little pale, but he said, ‘You heard me. Leave her alone’” (24). It took all of Johnny’s bravery to stand up to his absolute idol. He was willing to stand up to a dangerous boy that could easily defeat him in a fight, to save others. Not only this, but when a church is burning down with children inside, Ponyboy states, ”Johnny wasn't behaving at all like his old self. ... he grinned at me. He wasn't scared either. That was the only time I can think of when I saw him without that defeated, suspicious look in his eyes” (92). Johnny gives his own life for kids who have futures. He charges into the church at full speed when necessary. Johnny becomes brave in the middle of the

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.

Another similarity that makes Johnny and Dally similar is through their value of life. Dally has never really cared about what happens to him. He goes around trying to break laws and getting caught, going to jail, getting out, and then repeating. He never really cares about how he turns out and what will happen to him. He has never respected his life. He gets in fights all the time and is mean. When he kills himself just because Johnny died, he gave up on the world. Everyone knew he would die like this, “I knew he would be dead, because Dallas Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted” (154). His value of his life is very little and when Johnny dies he brakes. Similarly, Johnny’s value in life is limited. In the letter he wrote to Ponyboy, he talks about how

He lacks decent behavior as shown when he smokes (pg. 12), stays up unreasonably late (pg. 58), and even harasses Cherry Valance as his way of “flirting” (pg. 24). His lack of any sense in general even goes as far as not knowing how valuable friendship is. Regardless of whether Dally is indeed a lovable caring person deep down inside, it really does not matter as he does not know how to express it properly towards the people he cares for; especially towards Johnny. Dally could not comprehend how critical Johnny’s condition was and that sometimes, the most important thing in life was actually near him. In Dally’s case it would have been Johnny’s friendship but he missed the opportunity to tell him how much he matters to him and instead says, “We beat the Socs. We stomped them-outta our territory” (pg.148). After Johnny’s death, Dally finally became aware of how meaningless his life has been this whole time after losing his friend, so he commits suicide by his own will by raising an unloaded gun tricking the police into thinking it was actually loaded after chasing him down for robbing a grocery store (pg.154). This fatal end for Dally just proves what a impulsive and thoughtless person he is as he simply just wasted his life. He could have been considered “gallant” if he gained courage and motivation to start his life over after Johnny’s death, but instead blew the

While Ponyboy is riding to the hospital after the church fire a man says, “‘I swear, you three are the bravest kids I’ve seen in a long time . . . “‘ (95) Johnny is part of the three that are considered heroes. After Dally died the author states that “Dally didn’t die a hero. He died violent, and young and desperate.”(94) Dally pulled an unloaded gun on the police and it made them draw their guns and shoot him. Dally basically committed suicide because the police did not know that the gun was not loaded, so they had to protect themselves while Dally was hung out to die.

Dally is a criminal who did many bad things, and had gone to jail many times. Dally has been involved in many gang related crimes. He lied, he cheated, and he stole. He also went to rodeos and rumbles. He even jumped people. Dally lived a life of crime and didn’t take any actions to turn his life around, he just kept doing the wrong thing. And after Johnny dies, Dally has the police kill him. He does this by pulling a gun so that the police will shoot at him; and they do. He died before he hit the floor.

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 share some alike traits, they also have many differences. For example, Dally is a tenacious, villainous, and a greaser while Johnny is a polite, perceptive, and craven greaser.

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

Dally and Johnny may be very different, but they have extremely important similarities. For example, both of these characters place very little value on their lives. Dally is first arrested at the age of ten and he loves to break

Johnny Cade comes from a broken home, his dad hits him, his mom does not care about Johnny, the only thing he has are his friends, the greasers. Ponyboy, one of his closest friends, is talking about everyone in the gang and when he came to Johnny he said, “Johnny had it awful rough at home”(4). Johnny unlike everyone else in the gang, except Dally, does not have someone in his family that truly cares for him. This affects him because it makes him upset that his parents do not care for him. If Johnny did not have it so hard at home, he would be more content and joyful, and even less scared. Johnny is a little bothered that his parents did not ask about Johnny so Dally goes on and says, “‘my old man don’t give a hang whether i’m in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in the gutter’” (88). When Dally is 10, he gets arrested and is on the streets of New York, which shows how little Dally’s father cares about him. Maybe if his father did care, Dally would be more kind and caring, and like Johnny, more joyful. If Dally’s dad cared, he may still be living with his parents and would not be a greaser. Dally and Johnny are

Friendships are like peanut butter and jelly, they are great by themselves, but even better together. If every person had a friend just like them, life would be boring. A friend that is somewhat similar, but also somewhat different is just right. In the novel, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Johnny and Dally share many similarities and differences.

As I stated above, Dally had proven that he cared about Johnny, many times throughout the book. Dally had practically taken Johnny in as his family. He was like a mentor to Johnny, he wanted him to do well and have a better life than him. Johnny was the greasers’ “kid brother,” meaning that everyone cared for him as a younger brother. On page 89, Dally says to Johnny, “Johnny, I ain’t mad at you. I just don’t want you to get hurt,” this tells us that he really cares about his feelings and doesn’t want any harm done to him. He continues with, “You don’t know what a few months in jail can do to you.” He cared about what would happen to Johnny, he didn’t want him to end up like the uncaring side of Dally. Indirectly, he mentioned caring about him, he didn’t want Johnny to end up like him if he turned himself in to the police. This proves that Dally has a caring side to

In what way can two people that have grown up with the same lifestyle be so different but at the same time so similar. It seems unrealistic. However, in S. E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders, two characters with such characteristics exist. Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston are two greasers that at similar because they both place little value on their lives and have parents who don’t give them the attention they need. Despite the similarities these two have, Dally and Johnny have their own divergence from each other such as giving different advice and getting in trouble with the law. Thus, their lifestyle and way of living Jonny Cade and Dallas Winston have some unique differences and strong similarities.

Johnny and Dally have similarities but they also have differences as Johnny dies a hero Dally dies a hoodlum. Johnny goes into the burning church to save those kids and that is heroic. Johnny also died because he saved those kids and put their lives in front of his. Johnny is a greaser and things don't go his way but he has it in him to save the kids which is a heroic act. Dally says “‘ They’re still writing editorials about you in the