Can We Live Without Motivation?

 Authors note: This is and essay on how Dally from the book "The Outsiders" is a static character.

          

            Dally ran into the store knowing that if he stole anything they would call the police, because he’s a greaser, which is what he wanted. Shortly after that he burst out of the store carrying a pack of gum. As soon as he got out of the store he could hear the sirens blaring. Dally made his way to the lot as quickly as possible. It was there were the police finally caught up with him. He whispered to himself quietly “I have nothing to live for”, and then pulled out his unloaded gun. The police were unaware that Dally’s gun was not loaded, without hesitation they shot him.  Johnny was Dally’s only motive to live, and without him he had nothing to live for. 

He intentionally committed homicide; he got the police to kill him because he couldn’t do it himself. Dally is a static character because he never changes through the book, he was a nice guy before the book began but once the book begins he already lost his innocence. He was cold and hard throughout the book except when around Johnny. So when Johnny died he felt it was his time too. In the end he was controlled by anger and his tough attitude. Even in death Dally remained static, against all the socs and society in general.

Throughout the book “The Outsiders” written by S.E. Hinton, Dally was a tough, hard guy and Johnny was his life support. He felt that he needed to protect Johnny, who was his only reason to live. Dally got in many fights with socs, and even some with greasers. He stole whatever he wanted and he didn’t care if he got caught or sent to jail. At the end of the book it seemed like he wanted and was trying to change and become nice but then Johnny died. Johnny was his only motive to live, so when he died Dally is taken over and controlled by his anger and tough attitude and eventually intentionally makes the police kill him.

Another reason why Dally is a static character is because of his attitude towards the socs and the police never changed. He hated both groups because of many reasons. Some of them are, the socs jumped him many times for no reason and the police take him to jail just because he is a greaser. He thinks of the socs as just rich snotty kids and didn’t really care about their families. Because of this he treats them really bad and gets in fights with most of them. Even in the end of the book he gets in a big fit against the socs. When it comes to the police Dally doesn’t care if he goes to jail, and I know this because he never buys anything that he needs, he always just steals it.  He is like this in the beginning of the book and at the end because he goes to jail many times and at the end he steals a pack of gum from the store to make the police kill him.

On a different note Dally has a tough and an almost determined attitude and a figure that reminds me of Dally is Jon Krakauer from the book “Into Thin Air”. These two characters are alike because they both are trying to defy stereotypes; Dally by being a greaser while nobody thinks Jon can climb Mount Everest. Also both of these characters are determined to beat the odds, but only one of the two does. Dally seems like he is going to change at the end of the book and overcome Johnny’s death but he lets his toughness control him and purposely gets the   police to kill him. Jon on the other hand does overcome the odds and climbs Mount Everest when nobody thinks he can. Jon could’ve easily given up and let the circumstances determine his fate like Dally did, but instead he faced his challenges and overcame them. Jon and Dally are alike in many ways, but also have their differences.

 Everyone has differences and similarities. One similarity that everyone on earth has with each other is motives. Without realizing it we have many small things that motivate us to do certain things and without them we can get lost. In the story “The Outsiders” written by S.E. Hinton there is a perfect example of this. Johnny is Dally’s only motive to live so when he dies Dally loses himself in his anger and makes the police kill him. It wasn’t just the end of the book that he was like this. He starts off really tough and angry at everything, and in the end he is controlled by his anger therefore he never changed. This makes Dally a static character.

The Unforgettable Words

Author's Note: This is my response to "The Outsiders" for Main Idea/Topic.

“Stay gold, Ponyboy.” Johnny said these words to Ponyboy in his dying breath hoping that he would not lose his innocence. This saying relates back to the poem that Ponyboy recited on page 69 of The Outsiders book,

"Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then the leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.”

 To me this poem shows that eventually everyone loses their innocence.  Johnny knew that he Ponyboy could but he didn’t want him to lose his innocence, he did not want Ponyboy to become the stereotypical greaser, firm and unloving. Dally became this when he went to jail because he everyone in jail is really tuff and firm and it did not allow him to enjoy life anymore. Johnny and Ponyboy were different and Johnny didn’t want him to change. They always thought of other people before themselves as they did when they saved the little boys burning in the church. Johnny killed himself to save little the children, no one else would've ever done this, not on purpose at least. Going back to the original phrase "Stay gold Ponyboy" it makes me realize what the main theme of the book really is; the loss of innocence within the two different cliques. These unforgettable words that Johnny recited to Ponyboy in this devastating moment are one of the many things that he will never forget about Johnny's personality.

As The Years Go On

People don’t get to choose their groups, you are born into them. Cherry Valance is a perfect example. She was born into the soc group but it doesn’t seem like she wants to be there. Over a period of time she will start to drift away from her soc friends and start to hang out with the greasers.  My reasoning behind this prediction is that she doesn’t seem to like being a soc. She doesn’t judge the greasers like everyone else. . I think she will eventually “jump” groups and become a greaser. After this happens I think that her and dally will start to date. I think this will happen because her soc friend starts to judge him because she “heard” stuff about him but she doesn’t seem to mind. Then later that night she told Ponyboy that she might be in love with Dally. This will not happen in just a few days though; I think this will happen over the next few years of her life. It was never her choice to be a soc.