Similarities Between Johnny And Dally

How can two greasers who share a similar lifestyle be so different? Besides their financial troubles, how else are they similar? Yet, there are two characters in S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders who exist. Dallas Winston and Johnny Cade are similar because they both have abusive and neglectful parents and place little value on their lives. However, Johnny and Dally are very different because Johnny is the most law-abiding and Dally does not care about the law. Also, their personalities are different. Dally is mean and tough unlike Johnny, who is quiet, shy, and sensitive. Dally and Johnny both have significant similarities, but also have vast differences. One of Johnny and Dally’s significant similarities is that they both have abusive and neglectful

After Johnny dies Dally goes insane. He robs a grocery store and commits suicide. Pony acknowledges that “Dally Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted”(154). Dally could not take Johnny’s death so he commits suicide because he felt that he lost a part of himself. Likewise, Johnny places very little value on his life. Johnny and Pony run into the burning church to save the kids. The fire burns Johnny badly and he becomes paralyzed from mid-back and below. Johnny knows he is going to die so he writes a letter and sticks it in the copy of Gone With The Wind that he gives to Pony. As Pony opens the book the letter falls out. Johnny writes, “It’s worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for”(178). Johnny admits that he places little value on his life. He clearly has nothing to live for, especially because of his abusive and neglectful parents who pay no attention to him. The Soc’s also bully him and he can’t take it anymore. Therefore, Johnny and Dally are alike in the way that they both place little value on their

For example, Dally is mean and tough. Even the other greasers are scared of him. Pony mentions that no one says “no” to Dally. Pony comments that, “he was tougher than the rest of us-tougher, colder, meaner”(10). No one wants to mess with Dally. If Dally is your friend nobody will mess with you. Unlike Dally, Johnny is quiet, sensitive, and shy. Johnny turns white as a ghost whenever he sees Randy’s blue mustang. This is the same car the Socs were in as they jump him. Pony describes Johnny as, “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”(11). Johnny is crippled, and especially shy and sensitive. Johnny is afraid to stand up to his parents because they abuse him. Johnny would not hurt a fly. Their different personalities prove that they are very different