Dakin

 

• Dakin is the leader of the boys. He is Hector’s and Irwin’s favourite. Posner loves him. Dakin is the most advanced of the boys – apart from Rudge he is the only one having sex. He understands the game which Irwin is teaching them to play with history.
• Dakin uses sex to get what he wants – he manipulates both Hector and Irwin. He offers himself to Irwin as a reward to say thank you for helping him get his scholarship to Oxford.
• He is manipulative in other ways too – it is Dakin who gets Hector reinstated at the school, by blackmailing the Head about his behaviour towards Fiona.
• Dakin doesn’t really care about other people, for example his careless attitude to Posner, and the way that he talks about Fiona. His eventual career as a tax lawyer, or at least Mrs Lintott’s reaction to it, also suggests he is not a very moral person. Even though it is he who saves Hector’s job, he was actually quite relieved that Hector was found out.
• Dakin is confident, for example, during the French lesson; he takes the lead in conversation, deciding that the class will take place in a “maison de passé”. He is described by Bennett as “a handsome boy,” surely adding to his confidence.
• Dakin is funny- During the French lesson; Dakin initiates the setting of the “maison de passé” showing his comedic side as well. From this, we also learn his confidence and comfort surrounding Hector; he is comfortable enough to suggest the risky setting, knowing confidently that Hector will play along. The use of the “maison de passé” conveys his openness with his sexuality as well.
• Dakin is cruel. He flirts with Posner in the French lesson. Dakin interprets the role of the prostitute and Posner the client, using words like “Cherie” (sweet, dear) when he knows that Posner has deep feelings for him, tempting him and taunting him of his feelings. Towards the end of the play, he is cruel towards Irwin, as after all the convincing and persuading, he makes an excuse to not taking Irwin out for a “drink”, and Dakin says “I couldn’t face the wheelchair”.
• Dakin is sly. At the end of the play, we deduce that Dakin has blackmailed the headmaster to get Hector reinstated- “I asked him what the difference was between Hector touching us up on the bike and him trying to feel up Fiona”. This dramatic action of Dakin sets up a truly dramatic moment in the play, if Hector had not been reinstated; I assume that Hector would not have had the opportunity to take Irwin for a ride on his motorbike.

• Dakin and Irwin’s relationship- I believe this is a key dramatic plot in the play of which Dakin is a central character. Is their relationship built on Dakin’s true feelings? I believe not, as in the end he made the pathetic excuse of a “wheelchair” impeding their relationship. If it was a true feeling, surely a wheelchair would not have made as big an impact as is inferred? Therefore, if we can eliminate the “true feelings” aspect, is Dakin flirting with Irwin to make him feel uncomfortable for replacing Hector? Or does Dakin just enjoy being popular and the centre of attention of his teachers? These two theories pose interesting questions that differ from reader to reader- personally, I believe that Dakin flirts with Irwin for the fun of it, and the advantage it seems to put it in with his teachers.

Source

http://lucia1213.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-history-boys-analysis-of-dakin.html