Does anyone think that Dally was gay for Johnny?

[Sᴀᴅɪʏᴀ]

it was ritten in like the 1960's they didnt really have gay ppl then and i tink it was more like brotherly love

[Jen]

^ Actually, that's not true. Gays have always been around. They've just been keeping it hushed up for so long and now are finally embracing it and coming out.
As for Dally being gay, nah. I thought it about it a lot when I read the book but I agree with what others are saying. It was brotherly love (bromance! :D)

[Allyson]

Sara-Sadiya =D wrote: "it was ritten in like the 1960's they didnt really have gay ppl then and i tink it was more like brotherly love"

untrue, the gay movement started prior to the 1960's and by the time this book was published homosexuality was certainly, while not at the front of peoples minds, present.

I had never thought of it this way. This was my favourite book when I was a kid but I haven't read it in years. I think that I remember feeling that the connection between Johnny and Ponyboy felt more romantic than anything between Dally and Johnny though.
The whole running away, reciting poetry to each other thing :) (however, I'm gay and even then at 12 or 13 had an inkling that I might be queer so i was reading it through that lense)

[Regina]

Guys can love each other alot without being gay about it. for instance, sodapop and ponyboy!

[Allyson]

Regina wrote: "Guys can love each other alot without being gay about it. for instance, sodapop and ponyboy!"

different. They were brothers. and yes, men (and women) can definitely have friendships without there being anything sexual/romantic about it. However, there was definite homoeroticism between Johnny and Ponyboy... I could write a paper about this!!!

[Nathan]

Kate (Daughter of Zeus) wrote: "...when this book was written in the 1960's gayness wasn't as accepted as it is today. It hardly ever came up..."

To say that homosexuality hardly ever came up in literature in the '60's is a very broad and incorrect statement.

With that said, Dally wasn't "gay for" Johnny. He loved him like a brother that needed to be protected.

[Jen]

Allyson wrote: "Regina wrote: "Guys can love each other alot without being gay about it. for instance, sodapop and ponyboy!"

different. They were brothers. and yes, men (and women) can definitely have friendshi..."

I don't know about "definite homerotocism". I personally think that's subject to debate.

[[deleted user]]

i honestly dont care

[Sheila]

Just curious - does anyone think that the "questionable" nature (at least to some) of this relationship between Dally and Johnny, or Johnny and Ponyboy might have something to do with the fact that Hinton was a female, attempting to write about close relationships between teenage boys?

That was a problem I had with the book when I read it (30 years ago). I just looked at these characters and thought, "this isn't a book about how these guys feel, this is a book about how the author THINKS guys secretly feel." If I remember right, I had the same problems with Rumble Fish and That Was Then, This is Now.

I don't know. Maybe I have a problem with her books because it was pushed so hard on me when I was in school that this was a FEMALE author writing about the street life of boys, and their feelings, and how cool was that and so on and so forth.

[[deleted user]]

i dont care i thought the book was fine

[[deleted user]]

No, Dally Wasn't Gay.. He Just Genuinely Love/Cared About Johnny As A Brother...

[[deleted user]]

i agree with that and if all u care about is if dallybis gay u shouldnt be in this conversation

[[deleted user]]

This conversation started out as a question on whether the characters were gay or not. I agree that Dally wasn't gay, but keeping your mind closed to the possibility is rather narrow minded as well.

[[deleted user]]

very true i found out the name of the conversation after I sent the message. but i am not narrow minded and plus it takes one the know one!

[[deleted user]]

I've mentioned in all my posts that the possibility of Dally's sexual attraction has been open to opinion. I agree to the majority of people's opinion that Dally wasn't gay, but I still keep the option open that he might have been gay as well.

I can see it both ways so it doesn't matter much to me, although I read it in eighth grade so I recall it as a more protective love than that of passion, but if I reread it I might have noted something else in the book. Who knows.

[[deleted user]]

idk

[Dee]

This was the all time favorite book of my teen years. It became a cult among my friends, along with That was then and this is now also by S E Hinton. And of course our other cult favorite was The Pigman by Paul Zindel. I still have both of my original books, will neve give them away!!!

[Chinglam]

they aren't gay! they're just VERY good friends!!!

[[deleted user]]

Thank u for agreeing with me

[Chinglam]

no prob! just saying what i thought!

[[deleted user]]

yeah

[Chinglam]

but ya know, i never knew u said the same thing as me?!?!

[Jen]

Sheila wrote: "Just curious - does anyone think that the "questionable" nature (at least to some) of this relationship between Dally and Johnny, or Johnny and Ponyboy might have something to do with the fact that..."

I agree. This was my FAVORITE book ever when I was in jr. high, but looking back on it, it's obvious that this was a female author. The characters were all very in touch with their emotions.

[Chinglam]

really? i ALMOST thought this book was by a MALE author because almost every character is a boy?!?

[[deleted user]]

Yeah so did i

[Chinglam]

:)

[Allen]

not gay just had a lot of love.I mean at first Dally probably felt sorry and looked out for him. I mean Johny was that vulnerable kid who never defends himself and Dally is that big brother figure so they're perfect for each other you could say lol

[[deleted user]]

Yeah

[Chinglam]

interesting

[Jacob]

let's remember that this book was written by a girl which is why there is some affectionate parts. if it were written by a man, it pry wouldn't be as loving and would've been more violent. i'm bringing this up because some may find that the love between Dally and Johnny is unusual because boys don't usually show there affection, and that might be why one might think it's gay. i really don't think the author intended for them to be gay but if so, then thats the way it is. anyway, it's a great book no less.

[Chinglam]

Jacob wrote: "let's remember that this book was written by a girl which is why there is some affectionate parts. if it were written by a man, it pry wouldn't be as loving and would've been more violent. i'm brin..."

hey i think it is already enough violent, and that i think that a man WOULDN'T write that TOOOOO violent!

[Greg]

Slash Fiction!
"*Can* something gold stay, Ponyboy?"

[Melancholy]

i dont think Dally is gay...the love he had for Johnny was purely 'brotherly'...he knew and could feel what Johnny went through which is clearly shown in the novel..perhaps he could connect with johnny's soul...amidst all the chaos and hatred atleast he had someone whom he could love and be loved, so when johnny died he must have felt as if his world had come to an end...Johnny meant family to him...

[Mochaspresso]

No, I don't think there were any underlying gay romantic feelings. They loved each other like brothers. They had a "big brother/little brother" type of relationship. Johnny looked up to Dally and Dally always looked out for Johnny.

[Sandybeach]

No. Both of them came from horrible abusive families. They had no parents who really cared about them. The two of them were the real outsiders. Dally and Johnny were each other's family. They were brothers by choice and bound by circumstance and loyalty.

[Amber P.]

deffently

[Lisa]

I do not think he was "Gay" for Johnny. I think he realized that Johnny had a terrible life and was trying to protect him. To me he always seemed like the "Big Brother" type and wanted to look out for Johnny. I think his love for him was just that of a brother. This has to be one of my favorite books and I am just astonished that the author was only 16 when she wrote this book. My 8 year-old son was so excited when he finished it!

[Chinglam]

Lisa wrote: "I do not think he was "Gay" for Johnny. I think he realized that Johnny had a terrible life and was trying to protect him. To me he always seemed like the "Big Brother" type and wanted to look out ..."

i agree! XDXDXDXDXXDXDXDX!

[Leah]

hahahaha ive never thought of it that way... but yeah i can see that so clearly now

[Chinglam]

Leah wrote: "hahahaha ive never thought of it that way... but yeah i can see that so clearly now"

yeah i NEVER thought that Dally was gay 4 Johnny! XDXDXDXD!

[Chelsey]

I asked this question over a year ago, completely forgot about it, and look at all the responses! It appears that almost everyone believes that Johnny and Dally had a very deep but platonic relationship. You're all probably right and in no way did I mean to imply that men and boys can't have extremely close, non-sexual relationships with other guys. I think that the position I'm coming from (queer person, although certainly not one that speaks for all queer people) wants to interpret ambiguous sexualities as queer because there were no queer characters in the books I read in school. Even the books I read outside of school didn't contain queer characters unless the character's sexuality was the whole purpose of the book. So sometimes you get used to reading between the lines, because if you don't, you'll never see a character that's like you. I think I identified a lot with Dally's feelings towards Johnny, because when I read this book I was developing very strong feelings for a friend that seemed to go beyond ordinary friendship into something deeper.

You're all free to disagree, but I still think that Dally and Johnny were in love. It may not say so explicitly (if S.E Hinton intended for them to be in love, saying so directly would have meant no publisher for her book) but I think their love goes beyond friendship or "brotherly love". Dally was the toughest, scariest guy I had ever read about when I was 12-13. He had been through hell and more, and nothing could break him. He was at his tenderest when he was with Johnny, and when Johnny died, it completely broke him. He basically committed suicide over Johnny's death, this from the guy who could get through and escape anything. Johnny was the only thing that made his life worth living. I think that Johnny was as close to "in love" as Dally could get.

[Ally L.]

Alexandra (Alex) wrote: "I think you can feel like that for someone and not be in love with them, but love them. Dally considered Johnny like a brother and Johnny had a really bad family life as did Dally at his age. When ..."

same!

[Henry E]

No, I don't think Dally was gay because Dally needed somebody to treat like a brother. He was also smart enough to know that Johnny needed that, too.

[Chris]

dally is not gay he just care about is friend jhonny.

[Chinglam]

Chelsey wrote: "I asked this question over a year ago, completely forgot about it, and look at all the responses! It appears that almost everyone believes that Johnny and Dally had a very deep but platonic relatio..."

u re so long! XD

[Mickey]

Chelsey wrote: "I still think that Dally and Johnny were in love. It may not say so explicitly (if S.E Hinton intended for them to be in love, saying so directly would have meant no publisher for her book) but I think their love goes beyond friendship or "brotherly love".... He was at his tenderest when he was with Johnny, and when Johnny died, it completely broke him. He basically committed suicide over Johnny's death, this from the guy who could get through and escape anything. Johnny was the only thing that made his life worth living. I think that Johnny was as close to "in love" as Dally could get."

What you said can all be true, and it still not be a romantic love. No doubt that Dally loved Johnny, but all forms of intense love are not romantic. How about the bond between children and parents? Or lifelong best friends? Some siblings are also amazingly close to each other without any romantic feelings attached. To say that the strength of the bond means that it was romantic is to ignore the fact that so many of the closest and most intense relationships in our lives are not romantic.

[Darlene]

No, I just think Dally loved him as he would to a little brother.

[Chinglam]

Ana wrote: "Audrey wrote: "They were gay????"

NO WAY!!!!"

yea='.'=

[Sarah]

You're kidding right? No, that was never even implied anywhere. He just cared about Johnny because Johnny didn't really have anyone to look out for him like Dally did.

[Julia]

Actually, I kind of agree with Chelsey. At first, I doubted it because up to my grade (7th), I've never read a book with a canon (aka mentioned in book) homosexual, lesbian or gay. But now that I noticed, Dally didn't care about his parents. Ponyboy already said that. If his parents died, he wouldn't allow himself to die. But when Johnny died, he let the police kill him.

I think it's very possible that they just had a brotherly love, too, and that the writer made it sound like they had more. There's no need to have to deny and yell at us for thinking he could of been homosexual for him, anyways: it's just our thoughts. I don't mind yours, so don't be so narrow-minded, k?

And I agree with Johnny and Ponyboy being a bit gay, too. I mean, they did cuddle a lot in the church. Lol.

Also, this is coming from a girl who finds homosexuality between men attractive and not gross (don't kill me D:! It's just my opinion), so this may just be something I want, and that I'm just reading between the lines a bit too much.