Dally

Dallas Winston (Dally) - the toughest, coldest, and meanest of the Greasers. He has been in and out of jail since the age of ten. He gives Pony and Johnny a gun and some money when they come to him after Bob’s death. He also tells them where to hide. During the rescue, Dally plunges into the burning church to rescue Johnny, who is trapped under a beam. Upset by Johnny’s death, he threatens the police with an unloaded gun after robbing a store. He dies without the world knowing about his qualities or the reasons for his delinquency.

Dally, the meanest and most cynical member of the Greasers, has an elfish face, high cheekbones, a pointed chin, small, sharp animal-like teeth, and ears like a lynx. His long blond hair is not greased, and his cold blue eyes capture the hatred and resentment that he feels for the whole world. Dally’s life has been particularly hard. He drinks excessively, lies, cheats, steals, rolls drunks, and jumps small children. His life of crime began very early, for he was jailed at the age of ten and has spent many days in prison for robbery and assault; he also spent three years living on the wild side in New York. It is no wonder that he is “tougher, colder, meaner” than the other Greasers. In fact, Dally states that he is hardened to life and even admits that he has no respect for the law. He thinks nothing of entering a drugstore and stealing two packages of cigarettes or of sneaking over the fence into the drive- in theater. In fact, the only thing that he seems to be honest about is automobile racing, which he enters and wins fairly.

In spite of his bad reputation, the Greasers can always count on Dally. When Two-Bit breaks the school windows, Dally takes the blame and goes to jail. When Pony and Johnny approach him for help after Bob is killed, he unhesitatingly does all he can for them; he gives them dry clothes, money, a loaded gun, and instructions for going to a hide-out. When the police question him about the whereabouts of Pony and Johnny, he misdirects them to Texas in order to protect his friends. He comes to visit them in the abandoned church to make sure that they are all right and do not need anything. When Johnny says he is going to surrender, he tries to talk him out of it, for he does not want his friend to become hardened in prison. When Johnny is trapped inside the burning building, he hits Pony across the back to keep him from going inside and saves Johnny himself, without thinking of his own safety. When Johnny, his “pet,” dies, Dally goes crazy. He robs a store and then points an unloaded gun at the police, inviting them to shoot him. It is as if life has become too much for him to bear.

Dally = the black sheep/rogue

- elfish face: high cheekbones; pointed chin; sharp animal teeth; eyes like a lynx p. 13

- the "real character" [ironic that Hinton would call him this because he is one of a few (p. 13) successful characters in the book.] p. 13

- seen as the member who was "tougher, colder, meaner" p. 13

- had a long criminal record p. 13

- Ponyboy "didn't like him, but he was smart and you had to respect him." p. 13

- evidence of Dally's soft-heartedness shows when it came to Johnny telling him to leave the girls alone p. 24

1) is he someone you would expect to get close to people?

2) when Pony says he is "smart" what might he mean?

- Dally is foreign. He has effectively created a wall around himself to keep others out - to distance himself.

- his physical description matches the devil himself (p. 23)

- with regards to "action is character," Dally is a successful character, unlike Ponyboy, because he is not controlled by the author - he chooses his own path when put into particular situations (p. 23)

- there is a definite breech in the wall Dally has constructed around himself - his relationship with Johnny is proof of this.

ex: "You'd better wise up, Pony... you get tough like me and you don't get hurt. You look out for yourself and nothing can touch you."

- for Johnny, Dally is a hero - he is the only character who possesses the necessary traits of courage and self-abnegation (depriving one's self of particular desires) required by a hero:

courageous

Dally = a tragic hero

dies because of a soft heart for Johnny

Dally dies "gallant" and as a hero of the silver-screen would (p. 134).