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The Outsiders Stay Gold Essay

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Staying Gold “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold,” are Johnny Cade’s final words to Ponyboy Curtis before he passes away. What did Johnny mean by this? Surely, he doesn’t literally mean stay gold. The Outsiders, written by S. E. Hinton has many themes, including this hidden one. Throughout the book, the readers will learn more about the deeper meaning of this quote and the reason why Johnny only told this to Ponyboy- he is an innocent youth and is very unique. The first time, the term staying gold was mentioned in The Outsiders, was during Ponyboy’s explanation of a poem called Nothing Gold Can Stay written by Robert Frost. His poem goes like this, “Nature’s first green is gold / Her hardest hue to hold / Her early leaf’s a flower / But only so …show more content…

That is a fact that no one can deny. He’s not like his brothers, Two-Bit, Dally, Steve, or anyone else. He is Ponyboy. The boy who likes reading, watching movies, and admires sunsets. Johnny told Ponyboy, in a letter, on page 178 that he should continue to watch sunsets because it was gold. The only other character mentioned in The Outsiders who admires watching sunsets is Cherry Valance, therefore he really stands out. Ponyboy’s explanation of what most Greasers do is, “Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in awhile.” Despite his explanation, he doesn’t act like this at all. Ponyboy is unique because he wants to do something good in the world. In fact, he did- he wrote about something that was important to him. He wanted everyone to know that there was still good in the world. In conclusion, the book The Outsiders explain a hidden message through Johnny that is said to only Ponyboy because he is innocent and unique. Johnny’s final wish before he passes away is that Ponyboy will stay gold because it was truly an important theme in S. E. Hinton’s story. Therefore, S. E. Hinton wanted Johnny’s powerful and final message to the readers of The Outsiders to be stay gold, hoping you will,

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