The Outsiders Essay

This is a essay about how Johnny Cade is the most dynamic character in The Outsiders.

The definition of dynamic is someone who changes from when you first met them to the end. The change could be small or very different. The change will affect those around the person and the person’s environment. In The Outsiders there are many dynamic characters, but the most is Johnny Cade.

In the book, Johnny is described as a little puppy that had been kicked too much. By that they meant that he had been beaten by his dad and jumped by the socs a bunch of times. He was the smallest of the gang, even though he was older than Ponyboy. He got jumped twice in the in the story, and the fights had taken their toll. He had bruises and cuts and a big scar on his face. That must have also taken a mental toll too. His parents not only beat him, but they neglect him too.

Although in the beginning of the story everybody acts like he is the “kid” of the gang, after he gets into yet another fight, he is looked at differently by the gang, the socs, and the whole town. Bob, the soc with the mustang that jumped Johnny before, is drunk and almost drowns Pony boy in a water fountain. That is, until Johnny takes Bobs’ life(but in his defense it was purely self defense).

Going from the gangs pet to a murderer is a pretty big change. I don’t think that anyone who knew Johnny would have ever expected that from him. Some of the characters do not change a whole lot. Like Dallas Winston, who doesn’t change at all during the story. He is always picking fights and drinking and all that stuff.

The reason that I chose Johnny as the most dynamic character is that he changes the most. The only other character that I think changes the 2^nd most would have to be Pony boy because, he goes from a kid who gets good grades likes to read and is a respectful person, to a criminal who aides Johnny (who at that point is a murderer) and is on the run hiding from the cops. Other than that the other characters who don’t play as big a role as those two, don’t really change. That is why Johnny Cade is the most dynamic person in The Outsiders.