Johnny is a dynamic character because e starts off as a shy little boy to a confident and noble teenager. In the beginning of the story, Johnny is a sad little boy. Pony describes Johnny as “a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers… ” (Hilton, 11). This quote shows how Johnny appears in the eyes of his gang members, but Johnny was not like this from the time he was born. After being jumped by the Soc and being abused by his parents, he acts suspicious all the time.
And if he was not being abused by his arenas, he would be ignored, and to escape this torture, he stays away from home for long periods of time. He lives in constant fear of something bad happening to him even though he has his whole gang supporting him and preventing him from committing suicide In the middle of the book, Johnny tells Dally to stop harassing the Soc girls. Dally stops and the girls thank Johnny for standing up for them. He starts to speak up for himself and people acknowledge him for doing so. Later on in the story, Johnny kills Bob for trying to drown Pony in the fountain. L killed him,’he said slowly. ‘l killed the boy. ‘… ‘l had to. They were drowning you Pony. They might have killed you’ (Hints, 56). Johnny is willing to do anything to save a friend’s life, which demonstrates his generosity and audacity. When they were driving back to the church, they see it burning probably from a cigarette they lit earlier. Pony sees a group of children in the back of the church having a picnic and Johnny is determined to save them. He is very heroic. This is a turning point in the story because we can see a change in
Johnson behavior when he and Pony enter the church even though they knew that they were risking their lives. Throughout the story, Johnny does great acts of courage thus altering his personality. Towards the resolution of the novel, while Johnny is lying helplessly on the bed while the Greasers and Soc battle, Johnny realizes how fast life can end, and that fighting is useless to solve a conflict. All the people in his gang love to fight, but Johnny wants to avoid it and stay young. He utters his final gold, Pony. Stay gold… (Hilton, 148) This shows that he cares about Pony’s character and how he will affect the world once he dies. Johnny is generous and kind to all people. Johnny’s last words tells Pony to preserve his innocence and be open to the world. Without a doubt, Johnny is a dynamic character in The Outsiders. He begins the story as a nervous child who is afraid to try new things and ends up being an independent teenager who dies in noble way. At the beginning, he feels that no one in his life loves him, but the gang saying they love him and are eke family to him.
Next, Johnny realizes that his innocence is slowly slipping away and he becomes more like Dally after he kills Bob, so he rescues the kids stuck in the church to show his heroism. Finally, Johnny understands the meaning of the poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and shares it with Pony, which inspires Pony to continue living life to the fullest after the tragic deaths of Johnny and Dally. Johnny learns valuable lessons that help him and his friends look at life in a whole new perspective.
