Johnny Cade

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Johnny Cade is a fictional protagonist of S.E. Hinton's novel, The Outsiders. Johnny's parents, as described in the book, don't care about him. His mother ignores him, and his father physically abuses him. This happens so much that he has become a nervous wreck when around people he doesn't know and he's very paranoid. He is called the gang's pet and is mentioned as the greaser they couldn't get along without, everyone's kid brother. He is sixteen years old, but looks young for his age and has failed a grade in school. Johnny is a very important character in The Outsiders and he plays an important role all throughout the book.

Johnny was jumped by the Socs before the book starts, and still has the scars on his face from Bob Sheldon's rings. Ever since he has carried a switchblade for protection, and as mentioned in the book, "He'd use it on the next person who jumped him." He gets the chance when he and Ponyboy get jumped by five Socs in the park. They take Johnny down and go after Ponyboy. They attempt to drown Pony but Johnny pulls out his blade and stabs Bob. After, they go to Buck Merril's house to tell Dally what happened because he'd know what to do. He gives them fifty dollars, a gun, and directions to an abandoned church in Windrixville. They hide out for a week until everything "cools down". Dally then arrives and takes them out to eat.

When they go back to the church they find it fully engulfed in fire while there are children inside. Ponyboy and Johnny rush inside to rescue the kids. They successfully do so but when Johnny tries to get out, a support beam falls and crushes his lower back. They take all three of them to the hospital, Johnny for his back, Dally for minor burns on his arm he suffered while rescuing Johnny from the church before the whole place came down, and Pony for smoke inhalation. Johnny, Dally and Pony are called heroes for risking their lives to save the kids in the church.

After the Greaser versus Soc rumble, Pony and Dally (who escaped from the hospital with Two-Bit's switchblade) rush to see Johnny knowing that his time is running short and to tell him they won the rumble. They get pulled over by the police and Dally has Ponyboy fake being injured, their excuse was he had a motorcycle accident. They receive a police escort to the hospital and get there in time to see Johnny before he dies. His last words are "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold." Nothing Gold Can Stay seems to be a motif, they are from a Robert Frost poem explaining how nothing that's good or pretty can be around forever.

He is portrayed by Ralph Macchio in the film adaptation.