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Character Analysis Of Johnny In S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders

532 Words3 Pages

Certain circumstances often lead to change in a person. Johnny’s character has changed dramatically from the beginning of the book to chapter 6 of the Outsiders, written by S.E. Hinton. Johnny, at the beginning of the book, was described as very paranoid, nervous, and timid and described as a little lost puppy that has been kicked too many times by Ponyboy. “If you can picture a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and lost in a crowd of strangers, you’ll have Johnny” (Hinton 19). “He had a nervous, suspicious look in his eyes…” (Hinton 20). With this, it is evident that Johnny has been through something which led to his constant nervousness and his lacking of trust in people. Hinton’s word choices and the overall mood projected …show more content…

He is now a completely different person, almost the opposite of his old self. When Johnny and Pony realize that the church they were hiding in caught on fire while they were out, they immediately take action after being informed of the presence of children inside of the burning building. As the pair of boys ran into the church, “Johnny yelled, ‘Shut up! We’re goin’ to get you out” (Hinton 100). “I caught one quick look at his face; it was red-marked from falling embers and sweat-streaked, but he grinned at me. He wasn’t scared either”’ (Hinton 101). This shows the drastic change in Johnny as a person, becoming brave, courageous, and fearless when in an extreme situation with the means to save other people. Despite the deadly circumstances, he still stayed both optimistic and valiant, making sure to tell the children stuck inside of the burning church that they would get out safe. The fire was also presumably started by either Johnny or Pony, so it shows that Johnny is no longer afraid of taking accountability. He did the right thing in said situation by not sitting there and waiting while people are in danger at his fault, even with the possibility of dire consequences haunting him. By this point, it is easy to tell that Johnny has majorly changed as a person, his character traits from the start of the book becoming almost exactly the opposite of what they are by Chapter 6. This proves that major events, or even sometimes minor events, can lead to intense change in a

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631 Words | 3 Pages

Johnny had not purposely but out of fear killed a Soc to protect his friend. Johnny was brave and noble to be able to protect Pony and help the kids at the church. He had been beaten before and was not wanting that to happen to them. He bravely protected his younger friend Pony from the Socs. He had jumped into a burning church without hesitation to save a group of younger school kids.

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366 Words | 2 Pages

Johnny encounters a truly unpleasant life all through the novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. Johnny's guardians constantly beat him up and disregard him. On top of that, he doesn't motivate enough to eat and is even attempting suicide, the greater part of that makes him the gang's pet. "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." Johnny was terrified of his own shadow after he was jumped by the Socs when he was sixteen.

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253 Words | 2 Pages

In the book The Outsiders, author S.E Hinton changes Johnny’s character from shy and nervous in the beginning to brave. She uses the fire scene in chapter 6 to reveal this new side of Johnny by having him heroically rescue the children and save Ponyboy’s life. Firstly, Johnny is so shy and nervous around people he’s always quiet and can barely say hi. The text states, "“Johnny wouldn’t open his mouth unless he was forced to.”

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318 Words | 2 Pages

People believed Johnny was a great young man different from the rest of the gang. However, some people may think Johnny is not a hero. Some people may not think Johnny is a hero because he ran into a burning building without thinking about himself. When Johnny saw the burning church he ran inside without hesitation, in the process he did not think about how he could be hurt or even killed.

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462 Words | 2 Pages

(page 92-93) When reaching the church, Johnny immediately runs toward danger, instead of running away, Johnny had always been sympathetic, so when Ponyboy needed comforting, Johnny was there for him. After Darry hit Ponyboy, Ponyboy went back to Johnny planning to run away. Johnny didn’t ask Ponyboy any questions and calmed him down. “‘Come on, Johnny, we’re running away.’ Johnny asked no questions.

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501 Words | 3 Pages

and I know it was worth it.” This shows that he was focusing on what mattered to him the most with the little time he had. That is the main reason that Johnny started

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489 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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853 Words | 4 Pages

In page 56 it states “ I’m drowning, I thought, they’ve gone too far …” and “ I killed him,” he said slowly. “I killed that boy.” This shows where Johnny saved Ponyboy from drowning. Johnny is also a hero when he helped get the little kids get out of the church that was on fire. In the text it states “ He looked over his shoulder and saw that the door was blocked by the flames, then pushed open the window and tossed out the nearest kid.”

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763 Words | 4 Pages

Also, Johnny was only the one who serves as a vent to his parents’ anger. Days pass and years pass, Johnny was horribly scared of violence. According to the saying of parents are the best teach- ers to children, the violence was just like a seed which was kept in Johnny’s heart and grew gradual- ly day by day. That was all

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787 Words | 4 Pages

Do you yearn to get into the deranged minds of criminals like the infamous Jeffrey Dahmer? When you become a highly trained doctor of forensic psychology, you get to do the job of the hit T.V show characters Dr. Huang from Law & Order: SVU and Dr. Reid from Criminal Minds. Police, judges, juries, and lawyers are all unable to determine if felons are mentally insane or fit for trial, nor are they able to counsel victims. However, the recently sought-after study of forensic psychology is able to consolidate the divide between legal matters and the mental processes of these criminals. Become part of a field that is recognized as one of the most undeniably important parts of today 's legal system by becoming a forensic psychologist (Watchel).

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569 Words | 3 Pages

Instead of fearing for his life, he went past his comfort zone and protected PonyBoy. Johnny also acted independently with no instruction from Pony in a high pressure situation with a lot on the line, including his life. Even After being brutally beaten by Randy and Bob he still stood his ground, even when he was afraid he still confronted them and fought both of the Socs till the bitter end. As shown from multiple parts in the chapter Johnny was truly brave at the park. “Never contest a man with

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813 Words | 4 Pages

At the beginning of the novel, Johnny lacked confidence and self-esteem. At times he thought about attempting suicide. S.E. Hinton describes Johnny as, “A little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and lost his crowd of strangers” (11). This is because Johnny 's parents are abusive: his mother verbally and his father

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848 Words | 4 Pages

From the beginning of the novel to the end, Johnny’s personality changes a lot. At first, he was tense and scared, but later on, he became more open to Ponyboy (one of the other main characters) and brave. Early in the novel, Johnny is tense and scared. In the book, Johnny and Ponyboy are at the movies.

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686 Words | 3 Pages

(Hinton, 92)—Johnny takes control of the situation and rushes into a burning building to save lives, not thinking about himself. After his heroic, selfless act he was rushed to the hospital and only to died a couple days later. Johnny didn’t have to save the kids, Ponyboy had went in first so he could have stayed

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907 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel, “The Outsiders” that was written by S.E Hinton, one of the characters within the book that has changed a lot was Ponyboy Curtis. Ponyboy Curtis’ change was a slow process, but a lot happened to him throughout the novel. He goes through many events at the start, middle and at the end of the novel too. At the start of the novel, Ponyboy was just an innocent and smart kid who lived with the gang known as, “The Greasers”, but by the end of the novel, Ponyboy is a different person compared to how he was in the beginning. The events that took place in the middle of the novel has some key events that make him change his personality and opinion on life, and that the reader learns that his personality and opinion changes because of the dramatic events he goes through like how Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston’s death.

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