Character Analysis : Darrel Curtis (Darry)
by Heejin Kim
WHO IS DARRY??
FAMILY TREE
Mom ( Ms. Curtis)
Dad (Mr. Curtis)
THE ELDEST
Darrel
Sodapop
Ponyboy
* PARENTS DOESN’T EXIST FROM THIS BOOK
RESPONSIBLE
After the tragic death of the his
p a r e n t s , D a r r y t a k e h i s ro l e
seriously as a the guardian of his
brothers. For example Darry has
two jobs (one of them is roofing
houses and the other is not
identified in this book.) to provide
thing for Sodapop and Ponyboy.
This shows Darry’s responsibility.
PROTECTIVE
Darry could be protective to his
brothers. Especially to Ponyboy.
For example if you see in the book
Darry gets angry at Ponyboy
because he came late at night and
also becomes more furious when
Ponyboy tells him that the reason
why he came late is because he
fell asleep at the lot without a
jacket.
BRAWNY
In the book, Darry is identified as a
20 year old over six feet tall, with
broad - shoulders and muscular.
INTELLIGENT
The book states that Darry use to
be a intelligent student and also
used to be the captain of the
football team, which got him a
scholarship for college. However
he wasn’t able to go to college
because the scholarship was not
enough for the family to send him
to college.
QUOTES
Quote 1.
“ Darrel, who we call Darry, works too long and hard to be interested in
a story or drawing a picture ...” ( From Ponyboy p. 2)
From this quote you can see that Darry is busy.
Quote 2.
“Darry is six-feet-two, and broad-shouldered and muscular. He has
dark brown hair that kicks out on front and a slight cowlick in the back
- just like Dad’s - but Darry’s eyes are his own. He’s got eyes that are
like two pieces of pale blue -green ice. They’ve got a determined set to
them, like the rest of him. He looks older than twenty-tough,cool, and
smart. He would be real handsome if his eyes weren’t so cold. He
doesn’t understand anything that is not plain hard fact. But he uses his
head.” ( From Ponyboy p.6)From this quote Ponyboy identifies the
looks of Darry.
From this quote Ponyboy identifies the looks of Darry.
Quote 3.
“Darry didn’t deserve to work like an old man when he was only twenty.
He was captain of the football team and he had been voted Boy if the
Year. But we just didn’t have the money for him to go to college, even
with the scholarship he won. And now he didn’t have time between
jobs to even think anything more, except work out at gyms and go
skiing with some old friends of his sometimes”(From Ponyboy p. 16)
From this quote you could see that Darry use to be a intelligent student
however wasn’t able to go to college because the family didn’t have enough
money to send him to college. Instead Darry now works hard to provide
supplies for his brothers.
Quote 4.
“ Oh, Pony I thought we’d lost you .... like we did Mom and Dad ....”
This is the part of the scene when Darry reunites with Ponyboy. After
Ponyboy and Darry fought and Ponyboy ran away. From this quote you can
see that Darry really loves Pony and was really worried even though Darry
always gets angry at Pony.
Quote 5.
“You’re not going to drop out. Listen, with your brains and grades you
could get a scholarship, and we could put you through college. But
schoolwork’s not the point. You’re living in a vacuum, Pony, and you’re
going to have to cut it out. Johnny and Dallas were our buddies, too,
but you don’t just stop living because you lose someone. I thought you
knew that by now. You don’t quit! And anytime you don’t like the way
I’m running things you can get out.” (p.173)
This is a part of a scene Ponyboy refuges to to admit the truth that Johnny
and Dally died. So Darry acknowledges the tragedy of Johnny's and Dally's
deaths, but he rightly emphasizes to Ponyboy that life still goes on and tells
Pony that he has to face and accept the truth.