There are times when people feel like they have been bullied their whole lives, without any point of living anymore. In S.E. Hinton’s realistic fiction story, The Outsiders, Johnny Cade is a very tear-jerking kid that has endured painful hardships throughout his short life. The story takes place in the poor east side of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is narrated in first person by PonyBoy Curtis, who is Johnny’s best friend. Coming from an abusive family, Johnny Cade sees his gang, the Greasers, as his true family, who treats Johnny as the “pet” of the group. Johnny Cade changed from a weak, mistreated little kid to a dynamic hero by the time of his death; all starting with little things like standing up to Dally at the drive-in movie, then becoming a hero at the burning church in Windrixville. Johnny Cade was heavily abused during his early life- similar to my life, except my parents weren’t drunk. He had a very cruel family whose alcoholic parents either beat him or simply ignored him. His home left him without a safe place to reside, and the outside world was swarming with Socs (west side rich kids and enemies of greasers) and strangers. “Living in those conditions might have turned someone else rebellious and bitter, it was killing Johnny”, as said by PonyBoy in The Outsiders (Hinton 32). This, combined with a particular beating by the Socs, was the reason why Johnny was at first so fearful. He became scared of everything that moved, expecting pain and suffering every minute he lived. “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”, PonyBoy says. (Hinton 11). Luckily, Johnny has his gang, (named Greasers because they grease their hair a lot) who he treats as his true family. He heavily trusted his gang to protect him. Johnny Cade has the absolute worst role models around him, but he still follows his own ways and tried to be a good person.
There are times when people feel like they have been bullied their whole lives, without any point of living anymore. In S.E. Hinton’s realistic fiction story, The Outsiders, Johnny Cade is a very tear-jerking kid that has endured painful hardships throughout his short life. The story takes place in the poor east side of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is narrated in first person by PonyBoy Curtis, who is Johnny’s best friend. Coming from an abusive family, Johnny Cade sees his gang, the Greasers, as his true family, who treats Johnny as the “pet” of the group. Johnny Cade changed from a weak, mistreated little kid to a dynamic hero by the time of his death; all starting with little things like standing up to Dally at the drive-in movie, then becoming a hero at the burning church in Windrixville. Johnny Cade was heavily abused during his early life- similar to my life, except my parents weren’t drunk. He had a very cruel family whose alcoholic parents either beat him or simply ignored him. His home left him without a safe place to reside, and the outside world was swarming with Socs (west side rich kids and enemies of greasers) and strangers. “Living in those conditions might have turned someone else rebellious and bitter, it was killing Johnny”, as said by PonyBoy in The Outsiders (Hinton 32). This, combined with a particular beating by the Socs, was the reason why Johnny was at first so fearful. He became scared of everything that moved, expecting pain and suffering every minute he lived. “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”, PonyBoy says. (Hinton 11). Luckily, Johnny has his gang, (named Greasers because they grease their hair a lot) who he treats as his true family. He heavily trusted his gang to protect him. Johnny Cade has the absolute worst role models around him, but he still follows his own ways and tried to be a good person.