Johnny's death

Johnny Cade's death in the hospital, moments after learning the greasers won the rumble, is the emotional climax of the novel, crystallizing the costs of the greaser-Soc conflict and triggering the final tragedy of Dallas Winston's suicide-by-cop.

The Final Visit

After the rumble, Dallas Winston, who had escaped from the hospital with Two-Bit's switchblade, dragged Ponyboy Curtis to Johnny's room. The doctor stopped them, saying, "I'm sorry, boys, but he's dying." Dally flicked out the switchblade, his voice shaking, and demanded, "We gotta see him." The doctor, unflinching, replied, "You can see him, but it's because you're his friends, not because of that knife." Dally put the knife away, and they entered the quiet, scary room. Johnny was very still, and for a moment Ponyboy thought in agony that he was already dead. Dally swallowed, wiping the sweat off his upper lip, and said hoarsely, "Johnnycake? Johnny?" Johnny stirred weakly, opened his eyes, and managed a soft "Hey."

The Last Words

Dally panted, "We won. We beat the Socs. We stomped them—chased them outa our territory." Johnny didn't even try to grin. "Useless... fighting's no good...." He was awful white. Dally, talking too fast and too calmly, said, "They're still writing editorials about you in the paper. For being a hero and all. Yeah, they're calling you a hero now and heroizin' all the greasers. We're all proud of you, buddy." Johnny's eyes glowed—Dally was proud of him, and that was all Johnny had ever wanted. Then Johnny barely heard Ponyboy come closer. "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold..." The pillow seemed to sink a little, and Johnny died.

The Aftermath

Ponyboy observed that Johnny just looked dead, "like a candle with the flame gone." He tried to say something but couldn't make a sound. Dally swallowed and reached over to push Johnny's hair back, saying, "Never could keep that hair back... that's what you get for tryin' to help people, you little punk, that's what you get..." Whirling suddenly, he slammed back against the wall, his face contracted in agony, sweat streaming down his face. "Damnit, Johnny..." he begged, slamming one fist against the wall, hammering it to make it obey his will. "Oh, damnit, Johnny, don't die, please don't die..." He suddenly bolted through the door and down the hall. Ponyboy walked down the hall in a daze, convincing himself that Johnny wasn't dead, that he was somewhere else—asleep in the lot, or playing pinball, or sitting on the back steps of the church in Windrixville. This denial would persist until he later read Johnny's final letter, which asked him to "tell Dally to look at a sunset" and affirmed that saving the children was worth dying for.