Darry, or Darrell Curtis, is the oldest brother of Ponyboy, the narrator and protagonist of The Outsiders, and Sodapop. Darry is considered a "Greaser" because he grew up in the lower class neighborhood of the town (likely Tulsa, Oklahoma where the author, S.E Hinton, grew up) which is the setting of the novel. Because he comes from this neighborhood, Darry owes his allegiance to not only his brothers but other boys from the area including Dally, Steve, Two-Bit and Johnny.

In chapter one, Ponyboy reveals that Darry was a "popular guy" in high school and the captain of the football team. He received an athletic scholarship but was not able to attend for financial reasons. After his parents died he went to work in order to take care of his brothers. Because of his athletic prowess and overall popularity, Ponyboy relates that Darry had many friends in school including several "Socs" who were from the affluent upper middle class neighborhood and the natural rivals of the Greasers. In fact, one of Darry's best friends in high school had been Paul Holden, a Soc who played on the football team with Darry. Toward the end of the book, Darry fights Paul in the "rumble" between Greasers and Socs. Ponyboy speculates that Darry felt jealousy and hatred toward Paul, probably because he could have gone off to college just like Paul if things had been different. If it hadn't been for his brothers and the other boys of the neighborhood, Darry very well could have become a Soc, but circumstances didn't play out that way. Not surprisingly, Darry gets the best of Paul in the fight, and there is little doubt in the book that Darry would ever trade his life with his brothers for a life as a Soc.

Dally tells his brothers this, and there is some substance to his argument. Firstly, Dally was intelligent enough to stay on at school unlike the lovable but empty-headed Soda. We also discover that Dally gave up a football scholarship to get a job to support his family. Dally had taken on the role of head of the household as their parents had been killed in a car accident.

Dally also has a little more in common with the Socs in that he has his hair neat and is clean-shaven. This could be interpreted as part of the sacrifice that he has to accept in order to keep his job, or it could be him keeping some of his identity beyond that of a gang member.

I think we do need to consider that although Darry is indeed intelligent, attractive and a sportsman capable of a scholarship, he would not be able to fully escape his background. Even if his parents had survived and he had been able to take up a scholarship, he would still live where he does, as he does. He may have left his friends and family behind, but his loyalty to his brothers and the greasers suggests that he would not do this. It is still questionable as to whether Darry could ever 'become' someone else.

Darry would have been freed from the responsibility of providing and caring for his two younger brothers. The text makes clear that he was very intelligent and athletic, and thus could have easily gained a scholarship and gone to college to study further, thus giving him more opportunities in life and freeing him from his working-class roots.

Darry had all the qualities a soc would need-other than money. He was smart, good looking, excelled at athletics, people were attracted to his looks and his personality. He would have fit right in. Soda and Pony were not what was holding him back, however. There were economic lines that Darry could never have crossed.