S.E Hintons The Outsiders, set in the 1960's is a coming of age tale about the conflict between two entirely different social groups and their struggle with the consequences of their actions. Dallas (Dally) Winston, one of the main protagonists within the story, is cold hearted and rough. Hinton encourages the readers to view him as a misunderstood delinquent by using characters that define Dally by his past and actions. Hinton also builds the awareness of how misunderstood Dally truly is through her description of his true feelings towards Johnny. Hinton encourages the readers to view Dally as a misunderstood delinquent by defining him by his past and by his actions. He had grown up on the ghetto areas of New York and had been in and out …show more content…
Hinton has demonstrated the relationship between Dally and Johnny as being one of deep brotherly love and protection, as Dally sees Johnny as a broken reflection of himself and tries to protect him from what Dally has become. When Johnny commits a horrific crime, without hesitation hands him protection, money and a place to stay, even if it means going to jail himself. 'Dally risking his life for us, trying to keep Johnny out of trouble' (pg.187) He is so afraid of losing Johnny he will do anything in his power to protect him and keep him out of trouble. Hinton weaves their connection close together through their personal experiences and their hardships of life connecting them on a deeper level and building a stronger relationship. When Johnny dies, Hinton demonstrates the devastating effect it places on Dally, causing him to take his own life. ' I knew he would be dead, because Dally Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted […] And now he was a dead juvenile delinquent […] He died violent and young and desperate, just like we knew all knew he'd die someday […] But Johnny was
As I stated above, Dally had proven that he cared about Johnny, many times throughout the book. Dally had practically taken Johnny in as his family. He was like a mentor to Johnny, he wanted him to do well and have a better life than him. Johnny was the greasers’ “kid brother,” meaning that everyone cared for him as a younger brother. On page 89, Dally says to Johnny, “Johnny, I ain’t mad at you. I just don’t want you to get hurt,” this tells us that he really cares about his feelings and doesn’t want any harm done to him. He continues with, “You don’t know what a few months in jail can do to you.” He cared about what would happen to Johnny, he didn’t want him to end up like the uncaring side of Dally. Indirectly, he mentioned caring about him, he didn’t want Johnny to end up like him if he turned himself in to the police. This proves that Dally has a caring side to
Dally only said some words to him and ran off. Dally only said a few words to Johnny because he feels bad for Johnny because of his home life getting abused. Dally views Johnny as his long-lost brother. In the quote, Dally says he doesn't want Johnny to get hard in jail. Dally is basically
The author writes, “Johnny’s eyes glowed. Dally was proud of him. That was all Johnny had ever wanted” (148). Johnny’s reaction is priceless. Out of the entire greaser gang, Johnny and Dally’s relationship is the strongest and most significant. When Johnny needs Dally the most, he is his staunchest supporter. In return, Johnny gives back the same, if not more, amount of affection to Dally. When Dally and Johnny die, Ponyboy makes a list of realizations. Ponyboy thinks, “But I remembered Dally pulling Johnny through the window of the burning church; Dally giving us his gun, although it could mean jail for him; Dally risking his life for us, trying to keep Johnny out of trouble.” (154). It is clearly proven that ‘tough’ Dallas Winston makes a substantial effort to make Johnny’s life better. If Dally would not make the effort for Johnny, then Johnny would have to experience life worse than it already is. Since Dally thinks of Johnny almost like a little brother, it would hurt Dally to see Johnny experience that kind of pain. Dally and Johnny are bonded by these similarities, but they are also bonded through their differences.
Johnny’s actions are responsible for his death because when they were at Windrixville Dally told Johnny not to go into the church but Johnny took it upon himself to follow Ponyboy into the burning church. According to the text it says “ Dally sounded irritated “Get back in here before I beat your head in”. I knew Dally would have to park
“And even as the policeman’s guns spit fire into the night, I know that was what Dally wanted. He [...] then slowly crumpled with a look of grim triumph on his face.” (S.E. Hinton 154). Dally wanted to die, he died with a victorious smile, and he was happy to go be with his best friend. This quote proves that Dally is so loyal to Johnny that he would rather die than live without him.
The Outsiders is a novel written by a then 15 year-old by the name of S.E. Hinton. The tale of social divides revolves around a group of six teenage “greasers”. One of these greasers is Dallas “Dally” Winston. The greasers are the poor and underprivileged in society. The greasers as a group are in a constant struggle against the socialites, the high point of society, who are referred to as “socs”. Dally Winston is among the worst of them in terms of respect for the law. “He had quite a reputation. They have a file on him down at the police station. He had been arrested, he got drunk, he rode in rodeos, lied, cheated, stole, rolled drunks, jumped small kids--he did everything.”(11). Dally is said to have lived in New York for three years and had been arrested at the young age of 10. His behavior seems wild and unexplainable, but it can be deciphered through the means of Erikson’s theory on the stages of development, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs.
In S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, two gangs clash and deal with their own personal conflicts. Told through the outlook of Ponyboy, a fourteen-year-old greaser, the novel is set in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the 1960s. This expository essay analyzes many characteristics of three gang members in the story. Dally, Steve, and Johnny are three characters that will be described in much detail on their characteristics.
Although Johnny and Dally have multiple differences, they are similar because they both care about each other. When Johnny tells Dally he wants to turn himself in, Dally pleads for Johnny not to turn himself in. Dally talks to Johnny in a tone he never uses and says “‘You get hardened in jail. I don’t want that to happen to you. Like it happened to me . . .’” (90). Dally cares about Johnny because he sees Johnny as the person he would be if he would be like if he is not cold and
But I knew that was what he wanted” (154). Even though Johnny got burned when he was saving the lives of the little kids in the church he still does not regret it, “It’s worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for” (178). Johnny’s cause for dying was to save lives, Dally’s death just cost him his
The Outsiders is a novel written by Susan Eloise Hinton, also known as S.E Hinton. The setting of the story takes place in the 1960s. The Outsiders is written in first person view, by Ponyboy Curtis. The story revolves around the greasers and Socs. The Socs are the west side rich kids, they wrecked houses and “threw beer blasts for kicks”. While the Greasers were the east side kids, they “drove old souped-up cars, held up gas stations and had gang fights once in a while.” One of the conflicts the characters face is man vs man, which is because the greasers and Socs don’t get along, this is because they feel superior to each other. They both had different ways of lives, they did different things for fun, and they did not understand each other. This conflict was later resolved towards the end of the story when Ponyboy speaks to Randy about no longer fighting after Bob’s death.
The 1967 novel The Outsiders by S.E Hinton is about the social outcasts; the Greasers and their rivalry against the high class Socs. In the beginning of the book the characters values and attitudes are revealed to the reader through the point of view of Ponyboy. As the book progresses and the lives of the characters take a turn for the worse there is a significant impact on the characters resulting in an alteration of their values and attitudes. Ponyboy, Dally and Johnny experience these changes due to the death of Bob the Soc and the chain of events that follow.
Besides his protective attitude, he is also very emphatic when he joined Pony at the hospital. They went to visit Johnny right before he died to say goodbye. Dally had told him that they won the rumble and that he was still a hero. He then told Johnny, “‘We’re all proud of you, buddy.’ Johnny’s eyes glowed. Dally was proud of him. That was all Johnny had ever wanted”(148). This demonstrates his genuine character by how much compassion and sincerity is in his voice. He tells Johnny he’s proud of him, but he truly means it, not just as a way for him to pass happy. In other words, Dally is genuine in many ways, such as when Pony, Johnny, and Dally were on their way back to the church. Johnny had just decided to turn himself in, but Dally disagreed even after Johnny tried to convince him. He knew what would happen to him if he went to jail: “‘Johnny, I ain’t mad at you. I just don’t want you to get hurt. You don’t know what a few months in jail can do to
Ponyboy said he would be dead if he didn't have the gang members. Johnny is the youngest in the gang. He was jumped by Socs and was seriously injured that he almost died. He had psychology impact on the Socs, he would shiver and be frighten whenever he sees a Soc. On the day he left with Ponyboy, they met a group of Socs. Since the Soc called Bob almost drowned Ponyboy to death, he killed Bob. Johnny admired Dally a lot. He wishes Dally could be proud of him for even just once. He wanted to be as tough and cool as Dally but he never succeeds. Johnny was kicked out of school and that was how Ponyboy thought he wasn't clever. Sometimes Johnny understood things better than Ponyboy in the book which was called Gone with the Wind. Johnny had the interest and talent in reading books but no one in the gang except Ponyboy was good enough to talk about these. He wasn't really close with Ponyboy before they ran away together so they didn't have a talk. Johnny also loved to watch sunsets and sunrises but no one in the gang could have spared time to watch or even talk about this. All Johnny couldn't express mad him alienated from the gang members. The only one he was close to was Dally. Dally cared for his all time and would risk his life for whatever happens on Johnny. Such as lending a gun or killing a Soc. Dally wouldn't hesitate as long as it was for
But once he sees Johnny it gives him something to love and care about. He made sure that Johnny didn’t become violent. He says in the book multiple times he cares about Johnny he said “Johnny…I just don’t want you to get hurt.” A quote also says that “Johnny was the only thing that Dally loved. And now Johnny was gone.” Later in the book Johnny dies and it is too much for Dally and he gets himself killed. Dally was so distraught, he wanted to be dead.
“The Outsiders” identifies the 60’s, illustrating the violence between groups, often involving a group’s social class. For instance, the violent tensions between the Socs and Greasers lead to Bob’s death, Johnny’s death, as well as many injuries throughout both gangs. The book “The Outsiders” is written by S.E. Hinton and is portrayed through the eyes of a high school student in Tulsa, OK where S.E. Hinton grew up. Hinton began writing “The Outsiders” in 1965 at the age of 17 and the book was finally published in 1967 when she was 19. The difference in perspective upon the society and social class creates issues throughout “The Outsiders” and since the Socs and Greasers assume the problems will be solved with violence, they take action.