"Your circle of influence dictates your path"-Jon Bielecki. Everyday the social environment of a person affects the outcomes of their decisions and the direction of their life is essentially chosen by society. Everyone chooses the people they hang out with and in return those people impact everything they do. For Johnny, the gang means everything to him because they protect him, care for him, and most of all, they love him. Therefore, every decision they make impacts Johnny, but these choices affect his way of thinking and his judgment as well. The gang's rivalry with the Socs, family-like environment, and the way they made sacrifices to protect each other influenced Johnny's decisions.
The bitter conflict with the Socs made Johnny realize …show more content…
To explain, Johnny decides to turn himself in, "'I got a good chance of bein' let off easy,' Johnny said desperately, and I didn't know if it was Dally he was trying to convince or himself. 'I ain't got no record with the fuzz and it was self-defense. Ponyboy and Cherry can testify to that...His big black eyes grew bigger than ever at the thought of going to the police station, for Johnny had a deathly fear of cops...It ain't fair to Ponyboy to have to stay up in the church with Darry and Soda worryin' about him all the time" (Hinton 87). Each and every one of the members of the gang have surrendered parts of their life to help Johnny Cade live his life. The 16 year old boy thinks that since the gang made drastic sacrifices just to protect him, he will not drag his family into the mess he made. Even when Johnny is terrified of the cops, he still chose to give himself up, but Dally and Pony acknowledge this fear and try to convince him otherwise. In addition, when Dally pleads Johnny, "'Johnny,' Dally said in a pleading, high voice, using a tone I had never heard from him before, 'Johnny, I ain't mad at you. I just don't want you to get hurt. You don't know what a few months in jail can do to you. Oh, blast it, Johnny' - he pushed his white-blond hair back out of his eyes - 'you get hardened in jail. I don't want that to happen to you. Like it happened to me...'" (Hinton 89-90). Dally, who is …show more content…
In the novel, almost all of Johnny's choices throughout the whole book were impacted by the gangs behavior. As a result, Johnny learns valuable lessons about love, protection, and rivalry. Being around a family-like environment opened his eyes to a world of devotion and emotion. Having a rival made him realize violence is irrelevant and unimportant. The sacrifices of others helped him discover how much the gang has done for him. All the events caused by the older boys, later changed Johnny's way of thinking and his point of view. As stated before, "Your circle of influence dictates your path"-Jon Bielecki. Johnny's circle of influence, the gang, controlled the decisions he made throughout his short lived life all the way to the
The bitter conflict with the Socs made Johnny realize …show more content…
To explain, Johnny decides to turn himself in, "'I got a good chance of bein' let off easy,' Johnny said desperately, and I didn't know if it was Dally he was trying to convince or himself. 'I ain't got no record with the fuzz and it was self-defense. Ponyboy and Cherry can testify to that...His big black eyes grew bigger than ever at the thought of going to the police station, for Johnny had a deathly fear of cops...It ain't fair to Ponyboy to have to stay up in the church with Darry and Soda worryin' about him all the time" (Hinton 87). Each and every one of the members of the gang have surrendered parts of their life to help Johnny Cade live his life. The 16 year old boy thinks that since the gang made drastic sacrifices just to protect him, he will not drag his family into the mess he made. Even when Johnny is terrified of the cops, he still chose to give himself up, but Dally and Pony acknowledge this fear and try to convince him otherwise. In addition, when Dally pleads Johnny, "'Johnny,' Dally said in a pleading, high voice, using a tone I had never heard from him before, 'Johnny, I ain't mad at you. I just don't want you to get hurt. You don't know what a few months in jail can do to you. Oh, blast it, Johnny' - he pushed his white-blond hair back out of his eyes - 'you get hardened in jail. I don't want that to happen to you. Like it happened to me...'" (Hinton 89-90). Dally, who is …show more content…
In the novel, almost all of Johnny's choices throughout the whole book were impacted by the gangs behavior. As a result, Johnny learns valuable lessons about love, protection, and rivalry. Being around a family-like environment opened his eyes to a world of devotion and emotion. Having a rival made him realize violence is irrelevant and unimportant. The sacrifices of others helped him discover how much the gang has done for him. All the events caused by the older boys, later changed Johnny's way of thinking and his point of view. As stated before, "Your circle of influence dictates your path"-Jon Bielecki. Johnny's circle of influence, the gang, controlled the decisions he made throughout his short lived life all the way to the