Dally's robbery and death

Dallas Winston's robbery and death form the novel's final, devastating action, a deliberate suicide-by-cop that follows directly from Johnny Cade's death and reveals the depth of Dally's emotional collapse and his inability to live in a world without the one person he loved.

Background and Character

Dallas Winston, known as Dally, is the toughest and most hardened member of the greaser gang. He has an elfish face with high cheekbones and a pointed chin, small sharp animal teeth, and ears like a lynx; his hair is almost white it is so blond, and his eyes are blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world. He spent three years on the wild side of New York and was arrested at the age of ten. He is tougher, colder, and meaner than the rest of the greasers, and the shade of difference that separates a greaser from a hood is not present in him. He has been arrested, gotten drunk, ridden in rodeos, lied, cheated, stole, rolled drunks, and jumped small kids. He has a reputation and a file at the police station. Ponyboy Curtis, the narrator, does not like him but respects him because he is smart. Dally's past includes being jailed at age ten and growing up on the streets, and he has told the gang that you get hardened in jail. He has a savage defiance of the world, and the fight for self-preservation has hardened him beyond caring. He is described as being as wild as the boys in the downtown outfits, like Tim Shepard's gang.

The Immediate Aftermath of Johnny's Death

After Johnny Cade dies in the hospital, Dally's reaction is immediate and violent. He slams back against the wall, his face contracted in agony, and sweat streams down his face. He begs, "Damnit, Johnny..." and slams one fist against the wall, hammering it to make it obey his will, crying out, "Oh, damnit, Johnny, don't die, please don't die..." He then suddenly bolts through the door and down the hall. Ponyboy later realizes that Johnny was the only thing Dally loved, and now Johnny is gone. Two-Bit Mathews speaks for everyone when he says, "So he finally broke. So even Dally has a breaking point." Dally's breakdown is a complete reversal of his usual cold, hard demeanor.

The Robbery and the Phone Call

Later that night, the gang is gathered in the Curtis living room after the rumble. Ponyboy has just told them that Johnny is dead and that Dally ran out "like the devil was after him." The phone rings. Darrel Curtis answers it and listens, then hangs up quickly. He announces, "It was Dally. He phoned from a booth. He's just robbed a grocery store and the cops are after him. We gotta hide him. He'll be at the lot in a minute." The entire gang, including Steve Randle who has three broken ribs, leaves the house at a dead run.

The Death at the Vacant Lot

They reach the vacant lot just as Dally comes in, running as hard as he can, from the opposite direction. A police car pulls up across the street, and doors slam as the policemen leap out. Dally reaches the circle of light under the street lamp and, skidding to a halt, turns and jerks a black object from his waistband. Ponyboy remembers Dally's earlier words: "I been carryin' a heater. It ain't loaded, but it sure does help a bluff." But that was only yesterday, and yesterday was a lifetime ago. Dally raises the gun. 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, Ponyboy knows that is what Dally wanted. Dally is jerked half around by the impact of the bullets, then slowly crumples with a look of grim triumph on his face. He is dead before he hits the ground. Ponyboy understands that Dally wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted.

Aftermath and Significance

Nobody writes editorials praising Dally. Two friends of Ponyboy die that night: one a hero, the other a hoodlum. But Ponyboy remembers Dally pulling Johnny through the window of the burning church, giving them his gun although it could mean jail for him, and risking his life for them, trying to keep Johnny out of trouble. Now Dally is a dead juvenile delinquent, and there will be no editorials in his favor. He did not die a hero. He died violent and young and desperate, just like everyone knew he would die someday, just like Tim Shepard and Curly Shepard and the Brumly boys and the other guys. But Johnny was right: he died gallant. Steve Randle stumbles forward with a sob, but Sodapop Curtis catches him by the shoulders and says softly, "Easy, buddy, easy, there's nothing we can do now." Ponyboy's stomach gives a violent start and turns into a hunk of ice. The world spins around him, and he feels himself swaying before the ground rushes up to meet him. Dally's death is the final, unbearable loss that pushes Ponyboy into a state of shock and denial, setting the stage for his subsequent illness and his struggle to come to terms with the deaths of both Johnny and Dally.