Use Of Flashback In The Outsiders

“The Outsiders Essay”
By Samantha Gittens

In the novel “The Outsiders” the author S.E. Hinton uses flashbacks from Ponyboy’s point of view to characterize his gang. Based on these flashbacks, we saw how Dallas Winston became a hoodlum but at the same time loved and cared for Johnny so much. We saw throughout the novel the pain and suffering that Dallas went through, from flashbacks to when he was a young kid living in New York to his adult life with the rest of the gang, but even with these hardships, the one person that kept him civil was Johnny. Through Ponyboy’s perspective, we saw how Dally was tough but needed and loved Johnny more than he could have ever known. Ponyboy’s flashbacks

His parents never cared about him, so that resorted to him was always causing trouble, whether it be robbing stores or fighting. He was always up to no good. Something that made him so different from the gang and the other greasers was his personality. Dallas was mean, tough, and never listened to anyone, along with having little respect for people but more specifically, women. Ponyboy even writes, “His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world.”. However, we saw a different side of Dallas when he, Johnny, and Ponyboy went to the Drive-in, where they met Cherry, who Dally found interest in. Dally constantly made rude comments to her that she didn’t find amusing. She asked him to stop several times, but he ignored her. These remarks only stopped when Johnny interfered and

From the age of ten, Dally had stolen and gotten into many fights. The novel even says, “Dally had spent three years on the wild side of New York and had been arrested at the age of ten.” Nevertheless, when he was with Ponyboy and the gang, he lied, cheated, stole, and jumped kids. Dallas never cared about the law affecting him, but he did care about it when it came to Johnny, especially when Johnny wanted to turn himself into the police after killing Bob. Dallas completely stopped him though, because of the many experiences that he had. This part of the text said, “Johnny, you don’t know what a few months in jail can do to you, man. You get mean in jail, I just don’t want to see that happen to you like it happened to me, man. Understand?” That impactful moment showed that Dallas knows that he is mean and cold, but he couldn’t afford for Johnny to lose all of the good parts of himself, the parts that Dallas needed the most, the ones he lost when he was younger. This matters and shows how much he cares for Johnny because Dallas knows how it feels to be empty and alone, and he couldn’t let that happen to Johnny, who has a good heart, who is selfless, and has so much more to live for. Dallas needs him to stay this way because Johnny is everything that Dallas couldn’t be and his only reason for living. I believe that the flashbacks come into play in this pivotal