Dallas Winston In The Outsiders

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Pages: 4

Dallas Winston

In the literary work, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, the character Dallas Winston, or Dally, starts as a tough, strong thug, who is brutish and merciless, but evolves into a character who is more caring and heroic. In the beginning, his friend and fellow gang member Ponyboy describes Dallas as a brute who was part of gangs in New York. In the middle, Dallas began to help more and become friendlier. At the end, Dally had just lost too much, and revealed that he was actually a nice guy, who had a soft spot for Johnny, another fellow gang member. He always stood by his friends and was loyal to the gang, but when Johnny, the only person he ever loved, died, that led to his painful, suicidal demise. In the very beginning of the book, Ponyboy describes Dally as an antagonistic, arrogant, rebellious boy who is a delinquent and criminal. Dally seems to be a really tough guy, being from New York, where he was involved in many gang fights. On page 10, Pony describes him as “tougher than the rest of us- tougher, colder, meaner.” Clearly, people
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In the middle of the book Dally is very willing to risk everything by helping Ponyboy and Johnny escape capture after Johnny murders Bob. He seems very eager to help, and even visits them, making sure nothing bad happens to them. He cares a lot, but often doesn't show it. A quote explaining this is found on page 62, when Dally says, “‘Take care kid,...’”. Dally says this after giving Pony and Johnny supplies, and advice to run away. He says it softly, as if he is shy about the topic, but still means it. Another time which Dally shows this is on page 60, when he opens the screen door, and brings Johnny and Ponyboy into Buck Merrill’s house. The two of them are cold, wet, and looking for shelter, and Dally then takes care of them before sending them off to Windrixville to escape the