Who Is Johnny's Loyalty In The Outsiders

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The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is an elaborate book with many different themes to take away from it. The greasers can teach important life lessons to the reader. One of these themes is to stay loyal to those who are important to you. This theme is a major role in why the greasers act the way they do. Staying loyal has a huge impact on the plot of the story. It is the driving force behind why Johnny stabbed Bob to protect Ponyboy. Johnny cared deeply about Ponyboy and would do anything to protect him. Ponyboy was getting drowned by the Socs and Johnny was there witnessing it. Johnny didn’t want Ponyboy to die so he killed Bob to protect him. Johnny’s loyalty to Ponyboy led him to murder Bob, “‘You really killed him, huh, Johnny?’ ‘Yeah.’ His …show more content…

He wouldn’t do anything drastic like this. In this case, seeing his good friend Ponyboy getting hurt was not something worth watching. He picked up his switchblade and stabbed Bob. Johnny acted in a way different from his personality, but it was because of his loyalty to Ponyboy. After this disaster, Ponyboy is thankful for Johnny’s act. In return, Ponyboy accompanied Johnny in his getaway plan. Ponyboy is loyal to Johnny because following someone into an unknown place can be very dangerous. Even when Johnny says that Ponyboy should go back home, he denies it and says that they’re in it together, “‘You ought to go home. You can't get into any trouble. You didn't kill him.’ ‘No!’ I screamed at him. I'm in it as much as you are.’“ (Hinton 74) Ponyboy knows that Johnny is going to get in trouble. He decides that if Johnny’s going to get in trouble, he is going down with him. This shows loyalty because Ponyboy wasn’t the one who killed Bob, but he was willing to get in trouble with Johnny. After they left the church and came back to it, it was in flames. Children were stuck inside the burning church. Without hesitating, Ponyboy ran into the church. When he looked back, he saw Johnny running behind him, “I looked