'The Outsiders': Johnny As An Argumentative Hero

Judah Showalter

Mrs. Rios

Period 1

4/21/23

Argumentative Hero Essay

“Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed”-Bob Riley. In the novel The Outsiders, the character Johnny showed heroism because during the church fire the hero came out from within him, and he save the kids. When his friend was in danger, the hero showed up again and saved the day. Johnny is the real hero of The Outsiders because he demonstrates the traits selflessness and courage.

A particularly important trait to have as a hero is selflessness. A selfless person will always put others in front of themselves according to “Buzzle.” Take Tejinder Singh for example, he gave up his time and money to feed people in need of

He demonstrates this trait when he runs into the fire to save Johnny and Ponyboy. The text states, “… Dally swore at me and clubbed me across the back as hard as he could, and I went down into a peaceful darkness.” (Pg. 93) Dally saved Ponyboy and Johnny from the fire proving his bravery. However, Dally is not the hero because Dally robs a grocery store and points a gun at the police so that he can get killed. This displays Dally’s selfishness when the text states, “And even as the policemen’s guns spit fire into the night, I knew that was what Dally wanted” (Pg. 154) This shows Dally’s selfishness because he doesn’t think about everyone else. Dally just wanted to die but he didn’t think about the effects that he would make on any of the other Greasers after his death. That is why Dally cannot be the hero of The

Courageous people stand up against things that threaten them or people that they care about. An example of a courageous hero is Marine Corporal Kyle Carpenter, who dove on a grenade to protect another Marine. Similar to Kyle Carpenter, Johnny also obtains the heroic trait courageous. At the beginning of the story, Ponyboy describes Johnny as, “…a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times.” (Pg. 11) This indicates that Johnny is small and very scared. Later in the text it states, “I’m dying, I thought and wondered what was happening to Johnny,” (Pg. 56) and ‘“I killed him,’ he said slowly. ‘I killed that boy.”’ (Pg. 56) The socs were drowning Ponyboy, a person that Johnny cares about. When Johnny kills the soc, he is showing courage because he is standing up against a threat to a person he cares about even though he is small and scared. Having the trait of courage is essential for being a