Round Characters In The Outsiders

Throughout the young adult fiction novel, The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hinton there are many examples of different types of characters like round and flat. Flat characters are very dull, only have one or two traits, and do not change much or at all. In contrast, a round character is “three-dimensional” and colorful with multiple sides, and they change throughout a story. For instance, Dallas Winston is a round character. In the beginning of The Outsiders written by S.E. Hinton, Dally is cold, bitter, and mean; he is very careless. Later in the novel, Dally dramatically changes as he learns to love and care. To illustrate this point, the text states, “Whirling suddenly, he slammed back against the wall. His face contracted in agony, and sweat streamed

In fact, he even died because he lost his treasure and felt he had nothing left to live for. In the same vein, S.E. Hinton also creates static and dynamic characters in the course of the novel. A static character is someone who remains almost the same throughout a story/ novel. On the other hand, dynamic characters are someone who undergoes an inner change in personality or the outlook in life. In the novel, The Outsiders, Dally is a dynamic character as he dramatically changes throughout the book. Specifically, Dally’s turning point was when he helped Johnny and Ponyboy get out of town. To demonstrate, S.E. Hinton stated, “‘Here’--- he handed us a gun and a roll of bills--- ‘the gun’s loaded. For Pete’s sake, Johnny, don’t point the thing at me. Here’s fifty bucks’” (53). This quote justifies Dallas is willing to help someone other than himself. He is willing to commit a felony in order to assist Ponyboy and Johnny. In conclusion, S.E. Hinton illustrated multiple examples of static, dynamic, round, and flat characters during the novel The Outsiders, with Dallas Winston only being one of many