If a family member isn't loyal, are they truly family? In the book The Outsiders by S. E Hinton, the protagonist is a young boy called Ponyboy, a greaser who stands out from his gang and desires the rival group, the Socs, to get along with the Greasers. In a fight, a Soc ends up getting killed forcing Ponyboy to flee with his gang member, Johnny. Their hideout burns to the ground, and as result, Johnny gets hurt. The gang is worried for both Johnny and Pony and stays loyal to both of them throughout the whole situation like family. A recurring theme shown in The Outsiders is family does not need to be bound by blood to be there for each other, instead loyalty makes a family. The author develops this theme in three important ways, such as the …show more content…
Dally is known for always being tough and a ‘true’ greaser. He has not had a soft spot for anyone but Johnny. After Johnny died, he did not take it well and took off from the hospital. After Dally disappears, Ponyboy questions, “How can I take it? I wondered. Dally is tougher than I am. Why can I take it when Dally can’t? And then I knew. Johnny was the one thing Dally loved” (Hinton 152). This demonstrates loyalty and family because Dally loved Johnny, meaning when Johnny died Dally could not live without him. Johnny was the only person that Dally had ever cared for, because all of his life he struggled and became ‘tough’ early on, thus reinforcing the idea that he should only care about himself. Someone blinded by their past like Dally would have trouble truly loving someone, but when it comes to one's family, one truly can. That means Johnny is like family to Dally. Above all, Dally loved Johnny and was upset when Johnny died to the point he was so heartbroken, that he decided to take his life. That is what true loyalty is, even if they are not …show more content…
After Ponyboy got rescued from the burning church and ended up in the hospital his brothers came to see him. Ponyboy and Darry fought an abundance of times, so Pony thought Darry disliked him. Ponyboy realizes that is not true when he and Darry embrace, “That was his silent fear then-of losing another person he loved. . . . I listened to his heart pounding through his T-shirt and knew everything was going to be okay. I had taken the long way around, but I knew I was finally home. To stay” (Hinton 98-99). This proves my theme because even though the Curtis brothers are related, they still are a true family because of their loyalty and love for one another. For example, the text says ‘That was his silent fear then-of losing another person he loved’ meaning that Darry cares and loves for Ponyboy, and was so scared of losing him that he cried - something Darry had not done in years. Darry was so deeply hurt and scared that he cried, only something a family member that was loyal to another would do. They are a family because of how close they are and how loyal they are to each other, which is the opposite of Johnny's home life proving they are not his real family. Ultimately, even though Ponyboy and Darry are related, they are still a true family because they are loyal and love each
If anybody messes and gets in his way, Dally will beat them up. Dally is the most meanest and unforgiving person in the gang. Pony doesn’t really like the way he acts to everybody. Dally has been aggressive all his life.
They have mostly grown up together and were always there for eachother. The Curtis brothers' family relationship is explored many times in the novel. His oldest brother who
He loves Johnny because he got Johnny out of trouble,he saved him from a burning church,and Dally killed himself because Johnny died. Johnny killed Bob because one of his friends was drowning Ponyboy. They had to find a place to hide so they had to ask someone to help them. Dally gave them his gun and his money to help them even though it could mean jail for him.(Chapter 4) This purely means that he loves Johnny because it means that he could go to jail.
Dally is a key character in The Outsiders and he plays a huge role in the story. He is seen as a “tough guy” and helps Johnny and Ponyboy throughout their adventures. Dally is misjudged in a more passive way, but it certainly plays a huge role in his eventual suicide. Dally is misjudged throughout the novel when the other characters forget to check up on his mental health, take the time to support him, or even ask how he is doing. He is known as tough and emotionless.
Ponyboy, what on earth is the master with you? Can’t you use your head? You haven’t even got a coat on.” However, for Dally he explains to Johnny, “You get hardened in jail… Like it happened to me…”
When it comes to Dally he views him as the “character of the gang” but also dangerous. In chapter 7, after Ponyboy and Johnny, Ponyboy’s best friend and member of the gang, had saved children from the burning church and Dally saved Pony from the flame on his back, the boys are in the hospital. Pony tries to comfort himself by saying ¨Dally’ll be okay, I thought. Dallas is always okay.¨(86).Pony’s perspective has slightly shifted to seeing Dally as more of a human with different sides rather than the figure he has painted for each member of the gang.
At the beginning of the story, Dally is tough, cold, and mean. He was neglected as a child and left to his own accords where he was on the streets at a young age making him grow up fast. He got in gang fights, he's robbed people, robbed stores, concealed weapons, he was incarcerated, and just not a good person to be around. Ponyboy tells the reader this when he said, “He was tougher than the rest of us tougher colder meaner.” (pg10)
Unlike Ponyboy and Johnny, Dally's innocence was lost long before the events of the novel. He has already experienced the brutality of life and has become desensitized to the world's hardships. However, through his interactions with Ponyboy and Johnny, Dally develops a protective and caring side, which indicates a glimmer of innocence. As Dally tries to save Johnny from the burning church, he exclaims, "Ponyboy, I ain't gonna let you get hurt... I ain't gonna let them hurt you" (Hinton, 92).
A couple days later the two brothers meet eye to eye, Darry immediately had tears rolling down his face, my heart sank reading this. Ponyboy hadn 't seen him like this even after the tragic death of his parents. Ponyboy at last knew his life could forever be lived happily. Also Darry has his back, he 's had it his whole life, although Ponyboy is just coming to realization. This letter gives Ponyboy a second chance, and I know that he will grasp this opportunity and create an unbreakable friendship.
“We’re all we’ve got left. We ought to be able to stick together against everything. If we don’t have eachother, we don’t have anything.” The quote is significant by connecting to an Essential question because Ponyboy and Darry’s relationship has been strained since their partners died and Darry became responsible for his little
Dally is not strong mentally (when he couldn’t let Johnny go), he really does not do good deeds, and he does not care about any other people than only Johnny, and he’s rude to others and bad at using words. A quotation that supports my statement is, “What for? Get back in here before I beat your head in.” (p.90) This quotation supports my statement because Dally said this to Ponyboy when he hopped off the car and said to see what the deal is when he saw the old church on fire, it proves that Dally does not care about other stuff that does not involve him and that he’s rude to others and using
Family is an important component in everyone’s life. S.E Hinton this The Outsiders there is contradiction between the gang’s biological family and their “family”. Johnny is a member of the gang that is not wanted and cared for by his parents but musters to find a strong bond with the gang. The Outsiders, a realistic fiction book by S.E Hinton, shows the importance that family is the one that cares about you even though many people say that your biological family can understand you more.
Darry has an extremely serious personality and loves Ponyboy with tough love. All three show love in different ways, but they still do love. Love is shown throughout all of the book The Outsiders in various ways, even though there is lots of violence. Dally and Johnny had a very close bond. They were very close all the time and really admired each other.
In this case "Blood is thicker than water. "-When Family Loyalty Becomes a Crime
(1.48) After Johnny died, Dally makes an enormous sacrifice that took away his life. He loved Johnny so much that he couldn't take the fact he was gone. Dally was known to be the most cold-blooded member of the gang but after Johnny's death, he was the one who showed the most affection. Dally wouldn’t have been shot if he didn’t love Johnny so much, and sacrificed himself.