Johnny Cade Hero Essay

What do you consider a hero? What do you consider a villain? Can someone be both a hero and a villain? Well in the realistic fiction novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, there are two gangs, the greasers and the socs. The greasers are very loyal to each other, and they even treat each other like family, but there is this one character named Johnny Cade, who is pretty shy but could be a hero and a criminal. Therefore, I believe that Johnny Cade is both a villain and a hero. The reasons why I believe this are because of what happened at the church, the drive-in theater, and when Johnny was gathering supplies.

To begin with, Johnny Cade is a hero when he stands up to Dally to protect Cherry. This is shown on page 24, where it says, “Johnny gulped and got a little pale but he said,”You heard me. Leave her alone” (Hinton). This proves that Johnny Cade stood up to Dally to protect Cherry. In my opinion, this was pretty heroic because Johnny is usually quiet and timid around Dally. On the other hand, he is a criminal because he is hanging out with Dally, who is a criminal. This is shown on page 22, where it says,“You ought to see my record sometime, baby” (Hinton). This proves that Dally is a criminal because of what he

This is shown on page 91, where it says, “I’ll get them, don’t worry!” (Hinton). This proves that Johnny is willing to sacrifice his life to save the kids from the church. In my opinion, this is the most heroic thing Johnny Cade has done because he risks his life to save some random kids he doesn’t know. On the other hand, Johnny is a criminal because he started the fire. This is shown on page 91, where it says,”I bet we started it,” (Hinton). This proves that Johnny believes that they started the fire. To say it in a different way, Johnny Cade is a hero because he saves the kids from the burning church, risking his life, and a villain because he started the