Examples Of Heroism In The Outsiders

A true hero is: someone who puts others needs in front of theirs and never does anything bad to hurt anyone. In The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, three law-breaking Greasers are said to be heros from saving a few kids from a fire. But, a hero stays with that sense of heroism forever, which Johnny and Dally don’t have, but Pony seems to be the only one that does. Even though, Johnny and Dally may have had a small sense of heroism when they were willing to risk their lives to save the children, there are too many other moments where they ruined their chances of earning a medal of honor. But, Ponyboy has the right sense of being a hero. Let's start out with Dally, who is the most unlucky to be a hero. Infact, anyone could go on for years explaining everything that he has done wrong. Here are just a few things that Dallas has done; “... lied, cheated, stole, rolled drunks, jumped small kids...” This is virtually every single sign of a non-hero. Also, on page 21 through 25, Dally hits on two girls even though they ask him to stop. Heros don’t disrespect anyone, no one should disrespect people, but Dally does and he likes to. This makes Dally a complete jerk, he does not deserve the gangs forgiveness or the pride of being a hero. …show more content…
But, that is the point, he does nothing; maybe he stuck up for a girl and saved some children, but other than that he doesn’t help anyone. In fact, page 25 mentions when Johnny stood up for the girl against Dally, Dally didn’t swing at him because he is the gang's pet. This may sound a little harsh, but Johnny's excuse always seems to be, since he is the gang's pet, no one can hurt him. In addition, page 11 mentions how the gang took in Johnny for his protection. Heroes can save other people and they can keep themselves safe too. But, if Johnny is unable to protect himself, how is he supposed to protect anyone