Character Analysis Of Johnny Cade In 'The Outsiders'

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In the beginning of the novel, The Outsiders, written by S.E Hinton, the author portrays Johnny Cade as a weak and helpless character in the book. He`s seen as a dynamic character that has gone through extremely tough times that are difficult for him to handle alone. ``He was the gangs`pet, everyones` kid brother``, if it hadn`t been for the gang Johnny would have never felt love nor affection. He always seemed to have an anxious and suspicious look in his eyes, he was a nervous wreck. He struggled in the areas of self-confidence and loving himself, that even the idea of suicide popped in his head. Fortunately, anytime he ever told his gang about this death defying idea they would tell him killing himself is not the way to go, but sometimes he felt like he couldn't handle the physical and …show more content…

Throughout this experience I see him evolve as a character that becomes more brave and confident and less of a person who worries about the risks he takes.. In the situation where he even had to save the children from the burning church he seemed confident in what he was doing. Ponyboy looked over at him and thought ``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.`` By the end of the novel as he layed in his deathbed he told Ponyboy,``I don't want to die now. I wouldn't mind it so much if there wasn't so much stuff I ain't done yet and so many things I ain`t seen. It ain't fair.`` I think through this quote he shows the readers that he has a new perspective on life now, and that he doesn't want to be the ```puppy that has been kicked too many times`` anymore, that he realizes the value of life and that he wasted too many years being afraid of the wrong