“Nature’s first green is gold/Her hardest hue to hold. /Her early leaf’s a flower; /But only so an hour./Then leaf subsides to leaf./So Eden sank to grief,/So dawn goes down to day. /Nothing gold can stay.” This poem,“Nothing Gold Can Stay, ” by Robert Frost was mentioned in the book The Outsiders. This poem shows the theme of the book. The way it does this is that some of the characters died and the poem states the golden leaves on a tree don't last for a long time. The book, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton is about two rival gangs that are extremely hostile to each other. The gangs’ names are the Greasers and the Socs (pronounced so-ch-es, as in Socials). The main character, whose name is Ponyboy, is also the narrator. He says that the Greasers …show more content…
“My father was only forty when he died and he looked twenty-five and a lot of people thought Darry and Dad were brothers instead of father and son” (Hinton,6-7). This event relates to “Nothing Gold Can Stay” because people are like the gold leaves that are on a tree in the autumn. As the leaves die, so did Ponyboy’s parents. Also, because of the parents being dead, Darry, the oldest brother, was the father figure in Ponyboy's family. The color gold can only stay for so long and then the leaves fall off. This is just one of many reasons in this book that the primary theme is the fact that nothing lasts …show more content…
In the book Johnny died because some timber fell on him when saving children from a burning church. Johnny was basically the emotional one of the greasers and he was the most innocent. The others tried to protect him. “I barely heard him. I came closer and leaned over to hear what he was going to say. "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold..." The pillow seemed to sink a little, and Johnny died. You read about people looking peacefully asleep when they're dead, but they don't. Johnny just looked dead. Like a candle with the flame gone. I tried to say something, but I couldn't make a sound. "Damnit, Johnny..." Dally begged, slamming one fist against the wall, hammering it to make it obey his will. "Oh, damnit, Johnny, don't die, please don't die..."He suddenly bolted through the door and down the hall”(Hinton,126). These quotes shows that when Johnny died, it affected Ponyboy and Dallas a lot. This is the last reason in this essay why nothing lasts forever is the underlying
The death of Johnny is a noble death. He dies from saving children and also Ponyboy. His death means something. Near the end of the story, he is still looking out for Ponyboy, telling him to “‘stay gold’”(148) and writing him the letter. Ponyboy says “Johnny was right. He died gallantly” (154). He dies still thinking of other people, he dies a hero. Conversely, Dally dies selfishly and only looking out for himself. He dies under the street lamp, happy with how things turn out, while Johnny dies in a bed, scared and wishing he had done more. Ponyboy says ¨Dally didn't die a hero. He died violent and young and desperate¨ (154). He does not die peacefully like Johnny, he dies a harsh death, just because he breaks for not being a hero like Johnny. Ponyboy and the rest of the gang all know he would someday die like this. Ponyboy went on to saying ¨two friends of mine had died that night, one a hero, the other a hoodlum¨ (154). Their death shows a clear difference between Johnny and
In the book The Outsiders, written by S.E. Hinton, is about two separate groups. One group is called the socs, and the other one is called the greasers. They have some difficulties getting along. The poem is called, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, written by Robert Frost. The poem is about that sometimes we have had a long, busy day and then the next day will be a brand new day. These are some ideas between the book and the book.
“No, we’re greasers,” I said, which means Ponyboy is stepping up to his family and love his brothers. Ponyboy is thinking the same way I am like explaining and what the theme means of trusting someone, or trusting your family. My theme for the middle of the novel is, “the little kids could have a better life than you.”
His parents died when he was young. He was nurtured by his older brothers. Pony has to struggle at the bottom of the social ladder. Like the people around him, he has to fight, steal and scare little kids. However, Pony remained a pure heart, a golden heart.
The poem states that everything eventually comes to an end and that not even gold can remain unchanged. The poem explains this theme with many metaphors about everything that’s coming to an end. Freeman explains that “Even the poem's rhymes contribute to this sense of inevitability: Nature's gold we (or She) cannot hold; the flower lasts only an hour; the post flower leaf is like Eden's grief; the coming of day means that dawn's gold cannot stay”(2). The poem explains that everything has a natural cycle and that nothing lasts forever. When the poem states “nothing can stay gold”, Frost looks back at the flower and the time of day and implies that it all comes to an end.
The first example from the novel that supports the theme about “Staying Gold” is when Johnny and ponyboy are watching the sunrise and when Ponyboy said, “Too bad it couldn't stay like that all the time” (77). This is a perfect example of Ponyboy and Johnny enjoying the moment even though they are on the run.
The legendary quote “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold” from the renowned novel “The Outsiders” is something that I hope my children and grandchildren will have the privilege to know and understand. The Outsiders has a strong value of family and friendship. Throughout the book there are many satellite themes and issues. The book is known as a coming of age for adolescence. When I first read this book it was in my 8th grade Language Arts class. The first thing that came to my mind was “hey, isn’t that the movie with that Cruise guy”. I had no clue that the story of Ponyboy Curtis would touch my heart in such a way. I had been going through so much that year, I felt as if I was Ponyboy. Middle school starts were kids finally come to a realization of
It is stacked into pontoons as ruin, gave out in bowed bars as corridor blessings, covered in the earth as fortune, enduring underground as an insistence of a people 's magnificent past and an epitaph for it. Before the end of the sonnet, gold has experienced a radiation the Christian vision. It is not that it yet measures up to wealth in the medieval feeling of common defilement, simply that its status as the metal of the sum total of what esteem has been placed in uncertainty, however in the movie gold was a symbol of moral corruption if
Ponyboy is a hero in an underestimated way; he is inspiring, thoughtful and “dreamy” as Cherry comments. When Ponyboy and Johnny are stranded at the old church, the two are witnessing the sunset. Ponyboy recites the poem, Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost. (77) He and Johnny discuss the importance of the “gold” of nature. They come across some conclusions and Ponyboy shows part of his growth through communication. Ponyboy is seen as “the smart one” ( ). Ponyboy sees things in a fantasy world and he is slightly naive, but believing. When he and Cherry talk about the sunset, he is being dreamy, he is being artistic. When he and Cherry talk, “‘And when I went silent, she urged me on. ‘Is he wild and reckless like Soda? Dreamy, like you?” (42) combined with the quote, “I would. I would help her and Randy both, if I could. ‘Hey,’ I said suddenly, ‘ can you see the sunset real good from the west side?’” he helps her see similarities and he reaches out to everyone this way. Ponyboy reaches out to others in his way of learning from his favorite words and ideas. Although this seems trivial or just a coincidence, Ponyboy thinks about his ...
Adding on to the previous paragraph, Frost in the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” Frost uses an allusion in “So Eden sank to grief So dawn goes down to day Nothing gold can stay”(lines 6-8). This is an allusion because it refers to the story of Adam and Eve in which both are in paradise but are soon thrown out after giving in to temptation. This helps to convey the
As I dart through "the desert" in the last game of the day, with only
Pony and Johnny have difficult home lives, and don’t sense strong connections with people in their own family. Ponyboy has a difficult time with his home life. His oldest brother, Darry has been turned tough after their parents died in a car crash. Darry
“Nothing Gold Can Stay” was about remaining young, keeping your innocence, and keeping your childhood while it's there. This ties into the book because the greasers were forced to grow up faster, learn from their mistakes, survive on their own, and be proud of who why are, even if they are not. In midst of this, they can get hardened and lose themselves in the ups-and for the greasers-downs of life. When after a turn of events, Johnny ends up in the hospital, he knows he lost his spark and his innocence. On his deathbed, Pony awaits him with a forced smile, wanting to reassure him, and is greeted with the words, “ Stay gold Ponyboy. Stay gold…,” before laying down on his pillow and closing his eyes forever(148). After Johnny dies, Pony realizes he meant for him to keep his qualities, for they were rare like gold, and to remain the same person, choosing his own path, away from hoods and
...nny passed away a piece of each Greasers heart passed away as well. Ponyboy who usually aced his classes was lucky to get a C on assignments after Johnny deceased. He dazed off during classes and thought about the gang, mainly Johnny. While Dallas completely lost his mind when Johnny died. Dallas robbed a store to make sure the police followed him. He had made the bold decision to pull out his unloaded gun when he was surrounded by police officers. Dally new that once he pulled out his gun, his life was going to end. Dally had no reasons to stay alive since the only person he actually cared about passed away. Johnny spiritually gave Dally the courage and determination he needed to get through everyday when he was still alive. In other words, the loss and grief their group of Greasers underwent was what made all the boys make illogical decisions.
When Dally stole from the grocery store he pulled out a gun or “heater” at cops and earlier in the book said “‘I been carryin’ a heater. It ain’t loaded, but it sure does help a bluff’”.(153) He uses this gun when the cops are chasing after stealing from the grocery he used so he would get shot by the police. Dally who cares for only one person that person is Johnny so when he died Dally went crazy and basically killed himself. Johnny places little value on his life as well. Johnny tells Ponyboy in his final hour “Listen, I don’t mind dying now. It's worth it. It’s worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for” (178). This shows how Johnny does not like his life and how he puts more value on strangers' lives than his. Johnny and Dally are the same in many ways and that may be a reason the care for each other.