Happy End in The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

What if one of the things you love most, or even the only thing you loved was ripped away from you, without you even having a chance to say goodbye? This was the case for Dallas Winston and the other Greasers in S.E. Hinton’s book, The Outsiders. Having what you love ripped away from you can make you angry at the world, and could even lead to you doing something very drastic. Dallas, mostly, becomes so devastated that it leads to him taking measures into his own hands.

As it turns out, losing the only thing you love can really mess you up inside.

Johnny Cade was the only thing that Dallas Winston loved in this world. Johnny looked up so much to Dallas, and all he wanted from Dallas was his approval. Johnny was the anchor that kept Dallas from ending it all. The same can be said for Johnny. Johnny was even the only one who could keep Dallas calm.

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As stated in chapter 2, “ If it had been me, or Two-Bit, or Soda, or Steve, or anyone but Johnny, Dally would have flattened him without a moment’s hesitation.”(Hinton 24). This shows that Johnny’s and Dally’s bond was stronger than strong. It’s no wonder that when Johnny dies, Dally does the only thing he can think of: killing himself.

Now, Dally did not directly kill himself. No, he committed suicide by cop. Dally was so devastated by Johnny’s death, that he went into a grocery store, and robbed it with an unloaded gun.

He could have gotten away, he really could of but he didn’t want to. He wanted the police to catch up with him. He took the time to get into a phone booth, dig out change from his pocket, dial the number, and talked to Darry. This might have been Dally’s way of indirectly saying goodbye. As stated in chapter 10, “I knew he would be dead, because Dally Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted.” (Hinton 154). This shows just how devastated Dally was by Johnny’s death. He just couldn’t live without Johnny. And so it leads to his indirect suicide.

Ponyboy Curtis is the youngest of the Curtis brothers, and also the main character of the book. After Johnny’s death, Ponyboy walks out of the hospital in a daze. He was so confused and when Dally died, this only amplified it. Instead of just being confused, now he was in a state of denial, claiming that he had been the one to kill Bob, not Johnny. And he had tried to convince himself that Dally and Johnny were still alive. As stated in chapter 12, “I had just thought that if I played like Johnny wasn’t dead it wouldn’t hurt so much.” (Hinton 177). This shows how Ponyboy wanted the pain to stop, and he couldn’t convince himself that Johnny and Dally were dead.

Overall, you can be seriously messed up if you love something and didn’t even get to say goodbye. This can be very well represented by Dallas Winston and what happened to him and Johnny Cade. Now, I will not say that the book had a happy ending, but I’ll leave you with this. You shouldn’t take those closest to you for granted. As you never know when they will be taken away from you.