Who is Dillon Freeman from The Unquiet Earth: A Novel and what is their importance?

Dillon Freeman is only a baby when his father dies. Carrie, his mother, had not been married to his father, but she truly loved him. Dillon's father had been a union organizer for the local coal mine and was shot in a labor dispute. He had died a short time later. Dillon always longs for his father and tries to live up to his legacy the rest of his life. Dillon has a lot of inner anger and unresolved feelings his entire life. He becomes fixated on his cousin, Rachel, who is just a few years older than he is. He falls in love with Rachel when he is fourteen years old and loves her the rest of his life.

Although Dillon is more than willing to have an open relationship with her, Rachel fears family and community backlash if they married even though she loves him, too. Dillon carries the torch for Rachel his entire life. They eventually have a romantic relationship even though Rachel has married. Rachel becomes pregnant and there is never any certainty about who the biological father of the child, Jackie, is. But Dillon is sure that she is his.

Dillon spends five years in the federal penitentiary for blowing up a bridge in retaliation for the union busters blowing up his house. While he is away in prison, Rachel begins a relationship with the manager of the coal company with whom she stays with until she dies. But Rachel and Dillon love each other until that day. As she lays dying, Dillon tells her he will find her again.