The oldest of the Curtis brothers. Darry is 20, hardworking, and rarely shows his feelings. After the boys' parents died, Darry passed up a college scholarship and took responsibility for raising his younger brothers. Darry has high expectations for Ponyboy, and Ponyboy's occasional failure to meet those expectations causes tension between the brothers. Over the course of the novel, Darry learns how to show Ponyboy that he cares about him.
Darry Curtis Quotes in The Outsiders
The The Outsiders quotes below are all either spoken by Darry Curtis or refer to Darry Curtis. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
I don't care, I lied to myself, I don't care about [Darry] either. Soda's enough, and I'd have him until I got out of school. I don't care about Darry. But I was still lying and I knew it. I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me.
Related Characters:
Ponyboy Curtis (speaker), Darry Curtis, Sodapop Curtis
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6
Quotes
That was [Darry's] silent fear then—of losing another person he loved. I remembered how close he and Dad had been, and I wondered how I could ever have thought him hard and unfeeling. I listened to his heart pounding through his T-shirt and I knew everything was going to be okay now. I had taken the long way around, but I was finally home. To stay.
Related Characters:
Ponyboy Curtis (speaker), Darry Curtis
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9
Quotes
Soda fought for fun, Darry for pride, and Two-Bit for conformity. Why do I fight? I thought, and couldn't think of any real good reason. There isn't any real good reason for fighting except self-defense.
Related Characters:
Ponyboy Curtis (speaker), Darry Curtis, Sodapop Curtis, Two-Bit Mathews
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12
Quotes
"We're all we have left. We ought to be able to stick together against everything. If we don't have each other, we don't have anything. If you don't have anything, you end up like Dallas...and I don't mean dead, either. I mean like he was before. And that's worse than dead. Please"—he wiped his eyes on his arm—"don't fight anymore."
Related Characters:
Sodapop Curtis (speaker), Ponyboy Curtis, Darry Curtis, Dallas Winston
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Outsiders LitChart as a printable PDF.
Darry Curtis Character Timeline in The Outsiders
The timeline below shows where the character Darry Curtis appears in The Outsiders. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...rob, and fight in public. Ponyboy, however, avoids such behavior because his strict older brother Darry would kill him (or his middle brother Sodapop) if they got into trouble. Ponyboy adds...
(full context)
Once it's clear the danger has passed, Darry scolds Ponyboy for walking alone without a weapon. Ponyboy bristles at Darry's words. Sodapop defends...
(full context)
Back at home, Ponyboy works on his homework and thinks about the sacrifices Darry has made: passing up a college scholarship and working construction to support the Curtis family...
(full context)
Chapter 3
Cherry then asks Ponyboy about Darry. Ponyboy responds that Darry doesn't like him. Two-Bit and Johnny are surprised. They had thought...
(full context)
When Ponyboy gets home, Darry is furious at him for losing track of time and arriving so late. Sodapop tries...
(full context)
Chapter 4
...in an abandoned church in the small rural town of Windrixville. He asks Ponyboy if Darry and Sodapop know what happened. Ponyboy tells him not to say anything to Darry.
(full context)
Chapter 6
Soon Sodapop and Darry arrive. Ponyboy and Soda hug. Darry stands apart, and Ponyboy sees that Darry is crying....
(full context)
Chapter 7
Ponyboy, Darry, and Sodapop wait in the hospital waiting room for news about Johnny and Dally. Reporters...
(full context)
With Sodapop and Darry now in the kitchen too, Ponyboy shares the news that on the previous night he...
(full context)
Chapter 8
...Two-Bit observes that Ponyboy looks pretty sick. Ponyboy asks him not to mention it to Darry, and Two-Bit agrees. On the bus, Two-Bit observes that Darry is stricter with Ponyboy than...
(full context)
Chapter 9
..."future convicts," and that his own brothers and friends are not. He looks over at Darry, and knows that Darry will work his way out of the street life. Ponyboy vows...
(full context)
Darry offers to take on any Soc. A Soc steps forward whom Ponyboy recognizes as a...
(full context)
Chapter 10
...home, Ponyboy tells the other greasers about Johnny's death and Dally's disappearance. The phone rings. Darry picks up the phone—it's Dally. He tells Darry the that he's just robbed a grocery...
(full context)
Ponyboy wakes up at home. He learns from Darry and Sodapop that he suffered a concussion during the rumble and that he was delirious...
(full context)
Chapter 11
...Bob. Randy tries to reason with him, and Ponyboy then denies that Johnny is dead. Darry comes in and suggests that Randy leave, saying in a low voice that Ponyboy is...
(full context)
Chapter 12
...to get through each day. Ponyboy's grades suffer, and he once again begins arguing with Darry, who constantly has to scold him to do his homework.
(full context)
That night, Ponyboy and Darry get into a shouting match over Ponyboy's unwritten essay and his recent lack of motivation....
(full context)
Ponyboy and Darry catch up with Sodapop in the park. Soda tells them that their fighting is tearing...
(full context)
