When I was just a kid, I read The Outsiders and my favorite character was Dally. His tough demeanor made me admire him a lot. Even after rereading the novel, I still think Dally was the coolest.  Throughout the book Dally is always described as mean and cold-hearted. Ponyboy often says how he likes Dally the least out of the gang. In fact, most of Dally’s interactions with other characters would almost always turn out to be negative. However, as the story goes on the reader as well as Ponyboy get to see glimpses of Dally going out of character or doing things that he normally wouldn’t do. These moments typically happen with Johnny around.

An example would be when Dally and is driving Ponyboy and Johnny when Johnny asked “I don’t guess my parents are worried about me or anything?”(87). Dally attempted to protect Johnny by saying how the boys were all worried, but when Johnny persists, Dally gets angry. “Blast it, Johnny, what do they matter? Shoot my old man don’t give a hang whether I’m in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in the gutter. That don’t bother me none” (88). Here we get to learn about Dally’s family for the first time, and it’s important because we never knew anything about him before except how he was in jail, fought, stole, etc. Ponyboy always said how Johnny was the gang’s pet and that’s why Dally treated him differently. From this passage we can see that Dally avoids giving the news straight to Johnny and when he does, he tries to show him how tough he is without his father’s care and how little it means to him. This moment doesn’t just show how much Dally cares about Johnny, it also draws a comparison between them. Dally had no parents’ love and it can be assumed that it was a reason he became the “cold hoodlum” he was.

Although his attitude, looks, and actions initially give off a heartless vibe, as time went on the way he treated Johnny and Ponyboy started to contradict Ponyboy’s description of him. He even went into a flaming church to save Johnny. The final evolution of Dally’s character can be seen during Johnny’s death. Before he goes in to see Johnny, he says “I was crazy, you know that, kid? Crazy for wantin’ Johnny to stay outa trouble, for not wantin’ him to get hard. If he’d been like me he’d never have been in this mess” (147). I see this as the beginning of Dally breaking down, knowing that Johnny might not make it. Even Ponyboy was confused at how he talked because “he never talked like that”. Dally goes on, “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”(147). Dally’s words here can be seen as a front, trying to convince himself that not caring about anything is the only way to not get hurt, yet he winds up getting attached to Johnny and the opposite happens. I feel as if Dally saw Johnny as a version of himself. A boy with no one except his gang and when that one person he cared about died, he just couldn’t deal with the feelings of grief that he had. He never truly loved anyone like he loved Johnny, and when he lost him, he decided to follow suit. Dally was a tough, cold greaser. I don’t think he was one by choice. Possibly due to neglect, abuse, or situations that were out of his control, he had to become tough to survive. He really was a tragic character. One thing he wasn’t though, was heartless.