Johnny Cade Character Analysis

The Evolution of Johnny Cade: From Kicked Puppy to Hero
In S.E. Hinton’s book, The Outsiders, one essential character is Johnny Cade. Johnny was a 16-year-old boy who was part of a social group called the greasers. He was known as the gang’s pet and everyone’s kid brother. He grew up in an unstable home where his parents verbally and physically abused him. Johnny was smaller than the rest of the greasers with big dark eyes and a tanned face. He kept his black hair heavily greased (hence the term “greaser”) and combed to the side. However, as a result of its length, it fell in bangs across his forehead. Although his physical appearance stayed relatively the same, he evolved a great deal throughout the book. Johnny went from an easily frightened

He had been “kicked too many times” predominantly by his parents who injured him both physically and verbally. He had also been attacked by the Socs. The attack did not aid his situation but rather worsened it. He was immensely frightened at this point in the story; even the slightest sudden movement caused him to become upset. Being “lost in a crowd of strangers” signifies that Johnny did not have that many people in his life. As a result of his parents being abusive, he did not have a family, besides the greasers, to turn to for support. Consequently, Johnny kept most of his emotions hidden and did not express them to anyone, except for Ponyboy. Despite this, the greasers were helpful and crucial to shaping Johnny into who he evolved to be. This sense of family and protection is what helped him to turn this frightened and lost boy into a courageous young man later in the

He started to carry a switchblade on his person, for protection, and he stood up for Cherry and Marcia, something he would not have likely done in the beginning. One choice that Johnny made was when he stabbed Bob to protect himself and Ponyboy. In this quote, “[Johnny’s] voice quavered slightly. ‘I had to. They were drowning you, Pony. They might have killed you…they were gonna beat me up….’” (S.E. Hinton 57), the narrator, Ponyboy, states that Johnny’s voice “quavered slightly”, signifying that Johnny was nervous about this decision. However, following that statement, Johnny says that he “had to” since they could have killed Ponyboy. It takes a huge amount of courage to protect one's friends in the extreme way Johnny did, and, even though this did result in Bob’s death, this was Ponyboy and Johnny’s second time being attacked by the Socs. Considering the damage it caused Johnny the first time, it would not be a stretch to imagine Bob would, without a moment's hesitation, let David drown Ponyboy, had Johnny not