Character Analysis
Jimmy Blevins is like a travel-sized jar of Metamucil: he's small, doesn't go down easy, and you'll probably want to go right after meeting him. He's an expert at getting both himself and others into trouble, and is the main reason why John Grady and Rawlins find themselves in the predicaments they do.
Oh, and he's only about 13 years old.
Jimmy Blevins's Pride
Blevins may be small, but he has an outsized sense of pride. When he and the other boys stop over for dinner at the house of a friendly family, Blevins ends up falling over backward after he finishes his meal, forgetting that he is sitting on a bench and not a chair. The daughters of the family laugh at this, and Blevins has to leave, saying twice that he "dont like to be laughed at" (828, 830). Rather than come back in, Blevins spends the night outside, like the family dog or something.
It's also Blevins' pride that causes both himself and his fellow travelers the most harm. He cajoles John Grady and Rawlins into stealing back his horse despite complaints that he should let it be, and he is driven to get his pistol back from for the same ill-defined reasons. The horse, as John and Rawlins point out, probably isn't even his, but he won't let other people take things from him at any cost.
Jimmy Blevins, Compulsive Liar
We never learn if "Jimmy Blevins" is his true name, but Rawlins' initial hunch—that he took it from the famous radio preacher of the same name—seems on target. His horse is too fancy to be his, he doesn't look nearly the 16 years old he claims to be, and he seems to be willing to make any wild boasts to look good or get his way.
In the process of getting stupid drunk on cactus juice, he insists that he's "drunk whiskey" before and "this ain't nothing" (806); he also fakes knowledge of horse riding (830-40) and where he gets various items that he says are given to him when he's out of view. His combination of deadly skill and childish preoccupation with image and bragging is what makes Blevins unique. There's an insecurity in his boasts and character, and this insecurity drives him to sometimes do or say bad things.
Jimmy Blevins, Sacrifice
Despite the fact that he gets the novel's two protagonists in so much trouble, they can't help but reflect on the injustice of his execution and be bummed about the way he went out. Jimmy Blevins is both astonishingly childish, as in his attempts to shield his wounded pride after falling over at the dinner table, and yet not.
As Rawlins says, Blevins isn't as green as he seems—his skill with a pistol and his bravado suggest that there's more to him than youthful lies and fantasies. He seems to be innocent and fragile in his youth at times, in the smallness of his figure and his fear when being led away to be executed, while at others he seems all too seasoned, as in the murders he eventually commits.
Blevins' insecurity and small stature inspires sympathy in John, and this is never questioned by anyone but Rawlins. In this way Blevins stands in contrast to John, who is also capable but much more in control and with much less need for external validation.
In the grand scheme of the novel, Blevins is childhood insecurity loosened upon a cold, unfeeling world, where he has no choice but to guard himself and his honor while being still immature—with tragic results.