Johnny acts like a hero in two parts of the book. First of all he acts like a hero in the fire where he saves those kids, anyone that's going to risk their lives for someone else is a so called hero. Secondly he acts like a hero when he is on his deathbed at the hospital and Johnny comes in to talk to him before he goes, and he tells Ponyboy to “stay gold”.
He also gets beat up by his Dad and he is always yelling at him. He kicks him out of the house sometimes. His Mom is not very good either,