Dally Winston chose to raise his gun because he had already known that in return, the cop would open fire and kill him because he always got whatever he pleased.
To begin with, Dally Winston chose to raise his gun because he already knew that the cop would open fire and kill him and that was his goal. Dally had wanted to be killed because he felt like there was no need to live anymore. He felt this because of the passing of his closest friend Johnny, which was the nearest thing he ever had that could compare with having a younger brother. The crew had found Johnny all beaten up and half dead in a dark alley after he had got into a fight with a group of Socs. On page 32 of the book, it states, “I think we all heard a low moan and saw the dark motionless hump on the other side of the lot at the same time. Soda reached him first. Johnny was lying face down on the ground. Soda turned him over gently, I nearly got sick. Someone had beaten him badly.” After that Dally had taken him in as his own and was very protective of him and stood up for him. Since then Johnny had looked up to Dally heavily and would do anything to make him proud of him.
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When Johnny had passed away Dally was furious and had stormed out of the room. On page 149 of the book, it states, “Damnit Johnny...he begged slamming one fist against the wall, hammering it to make it obey his will. Oh, damn it, Johnny, don’t die, please don’t die… He suddenly bolted through the door and down the hall.” Later on that night he had purposely set himself up to be chased by the police. He intentionally pulled out an unloaded gun because he knew the cop would shoot. This could be because he may have thought that if he got himself killed, he would be able to see Johnny again in the
As I stated above, Dally had proven that he cared about Johnny, many times throughout the book. Dally had practically taken Johnny in as his family. He was like a mentor to Johnny, he wanted him to do well and have a better life than him. Johnny was the greasers’ “kid brother,” meaning that everyone cared for him as a younger brother. On page 89, Dally says to Johnny, “Johnny, I ain’t mad at you. I just don’t want you to get hurt,” this tells us that he really cares about his feelings and doesn’t want any harm done to him. He continues with, “You don’t know what a few months in jail can do to you.” He cared about what would happen to Johnny, he didn’t want him to end up like the uncaring side of Dally. Indirectly, he mentioned caring about him, he didn’t want Johnny to end up like him if he turned himself in to the police. This proves that Dally has a caring side to
Dally only said some words to him and ran off. Dally only said a few words to Johnny because he feels bad for Johnny because of his home life getting abused. Dally views Johnny as his long-lost brother. In the quote, Dally says he doesn't want Johnny to get hard in jail. Dally is basically
Johnny is scared of his own shadow and Dally does not fear anything. His own gang thinks that Johnny is the gang’s pet and dally is mean. Johnny has never left the greaser neighborhood, when Dally spent three years on the wild side in New York and gets tougher and harder there.
The author writes, “Johnny’s eyes glowed. Dally was proud of him. That was all Johnny had ever wanted” (148). Johnny’s reaction is priceless. Out of the entire greaser gang, Johnny and Dally’s relationship is the strongest and most significant. When Johnny needs Dally the most, he is his staunchest supporter. In return, Johnny gives back the same, if not more, amount of affection to Dally. When Dally and Johnny die, Ponyboy makes a list of realizations. Ponyboy thinks, “But I remembered Dally pulling Johnny through the window of the burning church; Dally giving us his gun, although it could mean jail for him; Dally risking his life for us, trying to keep Johnny out of trouble.” (154). It is clearly proven that ‘tough’ Dallas Winston makes a substantial effort to make Johnny’s life better. If Dally would not make the effort for Johnny, then Johnny would have to experience life worse than it already is. Since Dally thinks of Johnny almost like a little brother, it would hurt Dally to see Johnny experience that kind of pain. Dally and Johnny are bonded by these similarities, but they are also bonded through their differences.
Although Dally and Johnny have a lot of similarities, they also have many differences. One of their many differences is that Johnny is law abiding and Dally is the complete opposite. Dally got in trouble with the police when he is ten years old. He likes to break laws and do things the illegal way. As Ponyboy says of Dally, “Dally hated to do things the legal way. He liked to show that he didn’t care whether there was a law or not” (20). Dally never follows the law. Conversely, Johnny is extremely law abiding and has absolutely no record with the police. When Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dally are all in Windrixville, Johnny decides he wants to turn himself in. He says to Dally, “‘I ain’t got no record with the fuzz and it was self-defense’”(87). He never gets in trouble with the police, and he feels that if he turns himself in, then he will receive a light sentence. This shows that Johnny has never had a complication with the police, on the other hand, Dally first got arrested at the age of ten and keeps getting arrested.
Dally is a criminal who did many bad things, and had gone to jail many times. Dally has been involved in many gang related crimes. He lied, he cheated, and he stole. He also went to rodeos and rumbles. He even jumped people. Dally lived a life of crime and didn’t take any actions to turn his life around, he just kept doing the wrong thing. And after Johnny dies, Dally has the police kill him. He does this by pulling a gun so that the police will shoot at him; and they do. He died before he hit the floor.
Dally gets in dangerous fights and slashes tires knowing if he will get beat up or caught it's not like his parents will care. Dally thinks there's no good in the world and will not care if he goes to jail. Ponyboy thinks “You blasted fool. They don't know you’re only bluffing. And even as the policemen's guns spit fire into the night i knew that was what Dally wanted”(154). By Dally wanting to get killed, he is putting little value on his live. Likewise Dally, Johnny also puts little value on his live. Johnny wants to turn himself in when he kills the soc because he knows if he does it won't matter, because he thinks no one would be worrying about him. Johnny writes in his letter to Ponyboy “ Listen, i don't mind dying now. It's worth it. It's worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine”(178). By Johnny saying there lives are worth more than mine means that he doesn't place value on his live as he doesn't mind dying. In the end Johnny and Dally place little value on their lives.
But I knew that was what he wanted” (154). Even though Johnny got burned when he was saving the lives of the little kids in the church he still does not regret it, “It’s worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for” (178). Johnny’s cause for dying was to save lives, Dally’s death just cost him his
Throughout the story, we see Dally do many reckless things, but it all starts in the beginning when Ponyboy introduces Dally to the readers. “He has been arrested, he got drunk, he rode in rodeos, lied, cheated, stole, rolled drunks, jumped small kids- he did everything.” (Page 11) From this quote, we learn that Dally will do anything- even if it means jail for him. He has a miniscule sense of self control, and we see that through his actions. Another quote that shows his recklessness is when Dally breaks some news to Pony and Johnny. “ ‘We can’t walk alone at all. I started carryin’ a heater…’ ” (Page 83) EVen though Dally keeps the gun not loaded, the police do not know that. If Dally pulls the gun out, which he does in chapter 11, the police will shoot him down. By carrying the gun, he is putting himself in danger, but he does not care. The final time where his reckless shines through is on page 29, when Dallas slashed the tires on someone’s car. EVen though the consequences will be serve, Dally does not think about what he is doing and does it anyway. Through his actions, he proves that he has no self control and really is reckless. This trait goes hand in hand with one of his other traits- he is a hothead and has a short
Before one begins to truly understand who Dallas Winston really is, it’s necessary to first examine how he was viewed by his friends as being cold-hearted and tough. While trying to figure him out, Pony comments, “It would be a miracle if Dally loved anything. The fight for self-preservation had hardened him beyond caring.” (Hinton, 1995, p.g. 59). Because Dally’s been through so much in his life, he’s put walls around himself which makes him seem indifferent and helps to keep himself stable. Without making himself seem cold-hearted, he’d be revealing his true nature and would ruin the reputation he has amongst his friends. This can also relate to why Dally appears to be tough. As we were being introduced to Dallas in the beginning of the book, the main character Ponyboy describes him by saying, “Dally had spent three years on the wild side of New York and had been arrested at the age of ten. He was tougher than the rest of us- tougher, colder, meaner.” (Hinton, 1995, p.g. 10). This shows the audience that Dally has a reputation for being tough and mean by the way that he was arrested at such a young age. To be able to live on the rougher side of New York, toughness is also almost a staple trait one must have. His past has made his friends think that this is his true self when in all reality, he is actually very loving.
Furthermore, Johnny is very loyal to the gang. Johnny did not have much of a family, so the gang was his family. He was so loyal that he followed Ponyboy into a burning building to save the children. Johnny was the gang pet if it was not for him everyone would be fighting. Johnny died a slow painful death so others could live because he said their lives were worth more than his. If Johnny had lived he would face jail time for killing Bob. Out of the whole gang Johnny and Dally had the tightest bond. When Johnny died it was to much for Dally to take. “Johnny, don’t die, please don’t die. He suddenly bolted out the door and down the hall” (Hinton, 149). Dally took it really hard because he lost the best person in his
He lacks decent behavior as shown when he smokes (pg. 12), stays up unreasonably late (pg. 58), and even harasses Cherry Valance as his way of “flirting” (pg. 24). His lack of any sense in general even goes as far as not knowing how valuable friendship is. Regardless of whether Dally is indeed a lovable caring person deep down inside, it really does not matter as he does not know how to express it properly towards the people he cares for; especially towards Johnny. Dally could not comprehend how critical Johnny’s condition was and that sometimes, the most important thing in life was actually near him. In Dally’s case it would have been Johnny’s friendship but he missed the opportunity to tell him how much he matters to him and instead says, “We beat the Socs. We stomped them-outta our territory” (pg.148). After Johnny’s death, Dally finally became aware of how meaningless his life has been this whole time after losing his friend, so he commits suicide by his own will by raising an unloaded gun tricking the police into thinking it was actually loaded after chasing him down for robbing a grocery store (pg.154). This fatal end for Dally just proves what a impulsive and thoughtless person he is as he simply just wasted his life. He could have been considered “gallant” if he gained courage and motivation to start his life over after Johnny’s death, but instead blew the
Another similarity that makes Johnny and Dally similar is through their value of life. Dally has never really cared about what happens to him. He goes around trying to break laws and getting caught, going to jail, getting out, and then repeating. He never really cares about how he turns out and what will happen to him. He has never respected his life. He gets in fights all the time and is mean. When he kills himself just because Johnny died, he gave up on the world. Everyone knew he would die like this, “I knew he would be dead, because Dallas Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted” (154). His value of his life is very little and when Johnny dies he brakes. Similarly, Johnny’s value in life is limited. In the letter he wrote to Ponyboy, he talks about how
Ponyboy said he would be dead if he didn't have the gang members. Johnny is the youngest in the gang. He was jumped by Socs and was seriously injured that he almost died. He had psychology impact on the Socs, he would shiver and be frighten whenever he sees a Soc. On the day he left with Ponyboy, they met a group of Socs. Since the Soc called Bob almost drowned Ponyboy to death, he killed Bob. Johnny admired Dally a lot. He wishes Dally could be proud of him for even just once. He wanted to be as tough and cool as Dally but he never succeeds. Johnny was kicked out of school and that was how Ponyboy thought he wasn't clever. Sometimes Johnny understood things better than Ponyboy in the book which was called Gone with the Wind. Johnny had the interest and talent in reading books but no one in the gang except Ponyboy was good enough to talk about these. He wasn't really close with Ponyboy before they ran away together so they didn't have a talk. Johnny also loved to watch sunsets and sunrises but no one in the gang could have spared time to watch or even talk about this. All Johnny couldn't express mad him alienated from the gang members. The only one he was close to was Dally. Dally cared for his all time and would risk his life for whatever happens on Johnny. Such as lending a gun or killing a Soc. Dally wouldn't hesitate as long as it was for
But once he sees Johnny it gives him something to love and care about. He made sure that Johnny didn’t become violent. He says in the book multiple times he cares about Johnny he said “Johnny…I just don’t want you to get hurt.” A quote also says that “Johnny was the only thing that Dally loved. And now Johnny was gone.” Later in the book Johnny dies and it is too much for Dally and he gets himself killed. Dally was so distraught, he wanted to be dead.