Character Analysis Of Johnny Cade In The Outsiders

One a Hero, the Other a Hoodlum

In the book The Outsiders written by S.E. Hinton there are so many heroes and plentiful amount of hoodlums. One main hero in the book is Johnny Cade. All he wants is to make one hoodlum proud. The hoodlum is Dallas Winston. He is young and reckless and doesn’t give a care. Even though they both have totally different views, they unavoidably need and depend on each other. Both go their deaths are significant in many different ways. Even though your life is already planned out, you do get to decide who you help, and who you hurt. In the book The Outsiders written by S.E. Hinton even though you may be a hoodlum, in someone’s eyes you are a hero; they are Southern gentlemen riding gallantly into a certain death.

When we first meet Johnny he is characterized as, “ a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers”, and, “ He [has] a nervous suspicious look in his eyes.” (pg. 11) Ponyboy describes as a lost puppy because he doesn’t know where he is going in his life. Johnny has a pretty rough life at home, and he is used to it. Once Darry slaps Ponyboy, he and Johnny are on the run. Johnny also killed Bob, a rich Soc, who just needed some support. Soon after Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dally end up in the hospital after heroically saving kids from a burning church building. Later, after the rumble, Dally and Ponyboy go to see Johnny because he is in a very bad predicament. He is severely burned and can’t feel anything from the waist down. When Dally talks to him, he wants him to be enlightened so he says, “They’re still writing editorials about you in

The hoodlum is Dallas Winston. Dally, as he is better known, is a juvenile delinquent and all around bad person. This is crystal clear when Ponyboy describes Dally when he says, “ One time at a dime store, a guy told him to move over at the candy counter. Dally had turned around and belted him so hard it knocked a tooth loose. A complete stranger too[!]” (pg. 24) This shows that Dally doesn’t give a care about anyone else, and he does what he wants. Dally is very tough and doesn’t really have emotions. He also thinks it is fun to commit different crimes. This is very evident when Johnny is describing killing Bob and then Dally says, “ ‘Good for you’ when Johnny told how he knifed the Soc.” (pg. 59) After Johnny and Ponyboy saved the kids from the burning church and the greasers beat the Socs, Johnny dies and Dally is enraged. This is evident when he says, “ ‘[Shoot], Johnny… Oh [shoot], Johnny, don’t die, please don’t die.” (pg. 149) After that he runs out of the hospital in a fury. Once he runs out of the hospital he is so upset he doesn’t know what to do. So he decides to rob a grocery store, and the police are after him. The gang rushes to his aid when Darry hangs up the phone and says, “ It was Dally. He phoned from a booth. He’s just robbed a grocery store and the cops are after him. We gotta hide hime. He’ll be at the lot in a minute” (pg. 153) Dally is so confused with what is going on, so he decides to do what he does best: break