I agree with you, Majo. I also think that Johnny and the greasers where always getting threatened by the socs without any reason at all. If the socs weren't hunting them 24/7 then Johnny would've obviously not killed Bob, but because the socs were going around like an annoying bee, then obviously a normal human being would've killed it because they had enough of it. This exactly happened to Johnny, he killed Bob for self-defense and to defend his "family".

I think that Johnny was justified. He killed someone who was trying to kill his best friend by drowning him, even though Pony Boy had done nothing. Also, Johnny did have the right to defend his best friend by someone who had threatened and punched him a million times for again, no reason at all. If it wasn't for Johnny getting to be brave (which never happens) Pony Boy would've have been killed by the socs, and the greasers might have blamed it all on Johnny because he didn't take any action at all. Example from the text, "I had to. They were drowning you, Pony. They might have killed you. And they had a blade... they were gonna beat me up....". On the other hand, I kind of doesn't like that Johnny killed a person. First of all, it is legally wrong to kill someone, this makes Johnny be in a tight spot because he could be sent to jail. I also think that Johnny could've had saved Pony Boy without having to kill someone. In conclusion, I think that Johnny did have the right to take action and defend Pony Boy, by killing Bob.