Tuesday, September 2, 2014

In The Outsiders, what does Dally hate?

In The Outsiders, Ponyboy offers a description of Dallas, or Dally, in the first chapter. Ponyboy says, "His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world." From this description, it appears that Dally hates most everything. He seems to be somewhat different from the other Greasers according to Ponyboy. In most greasers, there was a "shade of difference that separates a Greaser from a hood." This is not present in Dally as he seems to have a toughness and coldness that the others do not.
Ponyboy also informs the reader about what the Greasers refer to as "rumbles." He explains that Greasers could never really beat the Socs. The Socs always win in the end because they "got all the breaks." Ponyboy speculates that perhaps this could explain why Dally is so bitter.
While Dally appears to be hardened, he is the one that Ponyboy and Johnny go to for help when they are in trouble. Dally even helps to save the boys from a fire after they attempt to rescue children from a burning church. Near the end of the novel, after Johnny dies as a result of burns and wounds from the fire, we see that perhaps there is something Dally doesn't hate. Dally is hurt by Johnny's death. Ponyboy observes that "Johnny was the only thing Dally loved."

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