The Outsiders Group

Question:

dragonoid
dragonoid
Student
High School - 9th Grade

In "The Outsiders", why did Dally rob the convenience store after Johnny died?

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Posted by dragonoid on Saturday May 23, 2009 at 6:06 PM and tagged with characters, convenience store, dally, rob.

Answers:

  1. lhc
    lhc Teacher
    Middle School

    eNotes Editor

    Dally had just come from the hospital after Johnny's death.  He went into the convenience store in a state of shock and disbelief, and responded to the clerk's simple request by pulling a gun on him.  There is no rational explanation for what Dally did, but at this point in the novel, the reader knows that pulling a gun on someone was not out of character for Dally under normal circumstances, so it's certainly easy to believe that when he snapped under the extreme stress of losing Johnny, his first impulse was to strike out and threaten someone with a weapon.  This made a bad situation worse, and led to his own destruction at the hands of the police.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/outsiders/

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    Posted by lhc on Saturday May 23, 2009 at 7:19 PM


  2. dswain001 Teacher
    Middle School

    eNotes Editor

    Best answer as selected by question asker.

    Dallas took Johnny's death really hard. Despite his tough exterior, Dally truly cared about Johnny and seeing him die did something to him. Johnny was the only thing that Dallas cared about and now that Johnny was dead, he saw no reason to live. Dally robbed the store in a fit of anger. He lashed out and wanted to do something, anything, to take the pain away.

    Readers often discuss how Johnny "needed" the group, but Dally's behavior shows us that he needed Johnny just as bad. For Dallas, Johnny represented all the innocnece and goodness that no longer resided in him. Dally always encouraged Johnny to be "tuff", but it is possible that he wanted the opposite to happen.

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    Posted by dswain001 on Saturday May 23, 2009 at 10:29 PM

  3. ilovedallaswinston
    ilovedallaswinston Student
    High School - 11th Grade

    becaz it tellz us that Dally haz hardened hizself beyond caring but it turnz out that Johnny az tha onli thing that Dally evr loved even tho he cared 4 all the boiz in the group..seeing az Dally nvr loved anibodi then he culdnt hv lost anibodi he loved so wen he did lose Johnny mi gez iz he didnt no how 2 handle tha pain of losing the onli thing he loved...we dont no if he planned it all out or if he jus did something but he robbed the convient store so tha copz wuld come after them..i gez he called the rest of tha group and told them 2 come 2 tha lot becaz mayb he didnt wana die and he did want them 2 hide him but he mite of just wanted them 2 c how he died amd so wen he pulled out tha gun tha police started shooting at him and Ponyboy sayz that even az tha polices gunfire rained down he new that wat Dally wanted waz 2 be dead and Dally Winston alwayz got wat he wanted

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    Posted by ilovedallaswinston on Sunday October 11, 2009 at 7:38 PM

  4. bjg0001
    bjg0001 Student

    Since Johnny died, Dally " couldnt live with it" so he robbed the place so that he could lash out on something, and also he wanted to die, Because he lost the person he cares about most

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    Posted by bjg0001 on Tuesday November 24, 2009 at 3:45 PM