The Outsiders Chapter 1 Summary

Fast forwarding to the part in the church, Johnny had run into the church for two reasons. One is that he wanted to help and the other is that he was going to keep Ponyboy safe no matter what happened and he did a great job of it.

While at a movie theater, Dally is antagonizing and annoying several Soc girls. Johnny stands up to Dally, his hero, and states, “‘Leave her alone, Dally.’ ‘Huh?’ Dally was taken off guard. He stared at Johnny in disbelief. Johnny couldn't say ‘Boo’ to a goose. Johnny gulped and got a little pale, but he said, ‘You heard me. Leave her alone’” (24). It took all of Johnny’s bravery to stand up to his absolute idol. He was willing to stand up to a dangerous boy that could easily defeat him in a fight, to save others. Not only this, but when a church is burning down with children inside, Ponyboy states, ”Johnny wasn't behaving at all like his old self. ... he grinned at me. He wasn't scared either. That was the only time I can think of when I saw him without that defeated, suspicious look in his eyes” (92). Johnny gives his own life for kids who have futures. He charges into the church at full speed when necessary. Johnny becomes brave in the middle of the

Terrified and confused, the two greasers hurry to find Dally, the one person the think can help them. Dally sends them with a gun and some money to an abandoned church near Windrixvill, where they hide out for a week, they cut their hair to disguise their appearances. After a week, dally comes to check on them, and says that since bob died, the Socs and the greasers have become worse then ever, a giant rumble is to be held the next night to settle the matters once and for all. Cherry feels responsible for the whole problem, acted as a spy for the greasers. Johnny surprises Dally by declaring his intention to go back to Tulsa and turn himself in. Dally drives them back, but as they leave, the notice that the church has caught on fire and it had a large group of schoolchildren inside. Ponyboy and Johnny rush inside the church to save the children. Just when they get the last child through the window, the roof caves in and Ponyboy blacks out again.

Have you ever been part of a social group? Did you ever feel like an outsider? The book The Outsiders took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the 1960’s. This book is about two teenage groups, the Socs and the Greasers. Both the Socs and the Greasers sometimes felt like outsiders. But which group was the real outsiders? Or, are the outsiders the people who see beyond society groups? I believe that the real outsiders are the people who see beyond society groups.

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.

Sometimes, things can be rough. In this fantastic book by S.E. Hinton- The Outsiders, the story starts off with a boy named Ponyboy. WHen his brother gets mad at him, he runs away, expecting to return the next morning. That is all turned upside down when his friend Johnny kills a boy. They run away to Windrixville together. Then, on their way back, they spot a burning church and run inside and save the children trapped in the back. Johnny is seriously injured by a piece of burning wood. Throughout the next chapters, the boys are preparing for the big fight against an enemy gang, the Socs. After the fight, which they win, Pony and his buddy Dallas WInston go and see JOhnny in the hospital one last time before he died. Dallas, who is overrun

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 is portrayed in the novel as fearful and scared because he has been attacked multiple times by the Socs, the Greasers rivals. He also has an abusive home life, described by Ponyboy as “if it hadn’t been for the gang, Johnny would never had known what love and affection are” (page 14) Johnny also shows this through his actions, by flinching at the sight of Bob after he was attacked, or his reaction to when he killed Bob, shocked at himself and pale. Johnny isn’t just seen as fearful though, as in the later chapters he is portrayed as

Dally and Johnny may be very different, but they have extremely important similarities. For example, both of these characters place very little value on their lives. Dally is first arrested at the age of ten and he loves to break

Johnny overcame many life problems that would have turned someone bitter or a coward. He was raised in a terrible home, with his physically abusive father and verbally abusive mother. Ponyboy claimed that, “If it hadn't been for the gang, Johnny would never have known what love and affection are.” Johnny found

In anger and in fear he stopped Bob from hurting Pony(56), that left him with a feeling that distressed him greatly. He says to Pony, “Shut up about last night! I killed a kid last night…. How’d you like to live with that”(74)? This eats away at Johnny and makes him cry- “it took alot to make Johnny cry”(4). When Pony and Johnny go on the run because Johnny killed Bob, they leave everything behind and only stay in touch with Johnny’s hero, Dally. It hurt Johnny even more when Dallas had told him his parents had not asked about him after he ran away(88). He decided to turn himself in and stop running when he saw that it did more harm than good. Johnnycake knew that it wasn’t fair for Pony to be away from his family. On their way back to the church they see that it had caught on fire. Pony and Johnny knew that they had probably started the fire and ran in the church to try and save the children stuck inside. They rushed to get the kids out of the church window as embers fell on them. Though they go through these hard times they end up being heroes when they save the children and learn quite a few things.

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

In contrast to the removed Johnny shown early on, after the realization that he endangered several children, he boldly rushed to assist. After killing Bob in self-defense, Johnny bolts with Ponyboy to an abandoned church in the countryside. However, after presumably dropping a lighted cigarette, the church ignites in a blaze of fumes. Realizing there are children in the flaming church, Johnny and Ponyboy dart to aid. During the calamity, Ponyboy realizes that, “Johnny had been right behind me all the way” as he slips through a broken window and into the fiery church and notes that, “Johnny wasn’t behaving at all like his old self...That was the only time I can think of when I saw him without that defeated, suspicious look in his eyes” (92).

Johnny and Dally have a lot in common, and one of them is that they do not really have people to call their family, so they call their gang their family. When Darry hits Ponyboy, Pony runs to Johnny, who is sleeping in the lot, and tells him they are running away because of what Darry did to him. Johnny then explains to Ponyboy that he does not have family and Pony yells at him saying, “‘Shoot, you got the whole gang. Dally didn’t slug you tonight ‘cause you’re the pet. I mean, golly Johnny, you got the whole gang’” (51). Even though Johnny’s parents do not treat him nicely, he still needs to understand that he has people that care for him, and that he is not alone. Later on in the story, Johnny is dying. While he is still alive his mother comes to see him, but he does not want to see her because she will give him grief. When Johnny dies, Dally is devastated. He is so angry that he goes and robs a grocery store. As the police chase him, he goes to a phonebooth and calls the Curtis home. Darry

And just when they were about to leave, the church which they had stayed in, was on fire, with kids inside, this is when he put his new found confidence to use. “I looked around, startled. I hadn’t realized Johnny had been right behind me all the way. I took a deep breath and started coughing.(pg. 91-92, S.E. Hinton, 1995) This is the time that Johnny performed the confidence he recently gained. With this it just shows that even someone else in the book realized his confidence. So, Johnny followed Ponyboy into the burning church, but at that point in the book nobody knew how Johnny was feeling but what happened next explained a lot. This next quote from the book, does explain what was going through the mind of Johnny while saving the children. And the in the text Ponyboy says, “He wasn't scared either. That was the only time I can think of when I saw him without that defeated, suspicious look in his eyes.” (Pg. 92, S.E. Hinton, 1995) As Pony did realize Johnny’s confidence while saving the kids, it seemed to show that Johnny was that much more confident. So as one these character changing decisions was to leave town for a week, it brought out a new confidence that was put to good use saving some small children from the