Gold

(Author's Note: This is my final essay on The Outsiders. I wrote about the theme of loss of innocence.)

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 by Robert Frost was the backbone of the main idea of this story. The author incorporates these famous lines into the story to set the theme of the loss of innocence. As it states in the poem, nothing gold can stay. Gold is referencing to innocence, and dawn and Eden represent the paradise before we lose it. Most of the rest of the poem describe on how easy innocence is lost. The last line is the most meaningful. Innocence does not last forever.

                In the book, Johnny lost his innocence when he killed that soc, but that isn’t always the case with most people. Innocence is like when we are newborn, the whole world looks bright. As we get older, we find out that there is a lot of hate and suffering in this world. Our outlook on life changes and that is when we lose our innocence. It is like in Harry Potter, when he first goes to Hogwarts he is amazed on how the magical world is so bright. After a few books, his entire purpose changes. He finds out that the magical world is dark because of a certain wizard. He has lost his innocence to protect the world.

                Not all of us have to lose our innocence. We sometimes regret the day for the rest of our life. Johnny didn’t have to kill that soc. I’m sure they weren’t going to kill Ponyboy, they were just cruelly scaring him. The only thing they succeeded at was scaring Johnny to the point of retaliation. After the fight was over, Johnny deeply regretted his actions. Ponyboy even quoted, “Johnny is like a puppy that has been kicked too many times.” Also he said that Johnny wouldn’t hurt a fly. Now he has killed someone. Johnny regretted that moment for the rest of his short life.

                When Johnny was on his deathbed, he uttered his famous last words, “Stay gold Ponyboy, stay gold.” He was referencing to the poem. He wants Ponyboy to stay innocent, and not hate the world like Dally. Dally lost his innocence when he was in the gangs in New York. Johnny was the only thing in the world he loved, so when he died, he had no will to live. Johnny wants Ponyboy to go on with life without him. He knows that Ponyboy has a future and he doesn’t want his death to mess that up.

                We all will inevitably lose our innocence one day, but we can cherish it while it lasts. The time we have innocence may be the best time of our lives. We are young, and all we care about is having fun. When we grow older and problems begin to surface, we shouldn’t hate the world like Dally. Life is full of nice things we can enjoy. We must cherish life too, because like innocence, it can be lost in a moment.

The main idea of The Outsiders

(Author’s Note: This piece is about what I think the main idea is in this book)

            The Outsiders is about a kid who grows up in a gang, but as the reader goes on, he realizes that this book is more than that. It proves that innocence can be lost in an instant. We can never keep it forever, we all lose it someday. The book sets this tone by reciting a poem by Robert Frost.

“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 is the key part to this story. Gold represents the innocence that Johnny lost. The first and second lines state that everyone is born with innocence, but it is difficult to keep it. The third line compares early innocence to a flower, but in the fourth line, it tells that its time is limited. The fourth, fifth, and sixth lines show how after you lose your innocence, paradise is lost. The last line is the most memorable. “Nothing gold can stay.” It summarizes the entire book. Innocence isn’t forever.

            Johnny, on his deathbed told Ponyboy to stay gold. He means to tell him to keep his innocence. Johnny lost his the moment he killed the soc. He’s begging Ponyboy to never surrender his purity, even when times are tough. Most of the characters in the story already lost theirs. Dally on one hand, lost his on the streets in New York. Ponyboy, however needs to grant Johnny his last wish, to be innocent.

Outsiders Piece

Johnny Cade isn’t a killer, but he was caught in a bad situation. He has a history with the Socs. He was jumped and beaten by the same person he killed. Johnny is the kind of person who wouldn’t hurt a fly, but now, he took the life of another human being. Johnny is in with the Greaser gang and their main enemy is the Socs. The Socs are the kids with the money and nice clothes and nice houses. The Greasers are the kids who do not have many nice things. Johnny was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Johnny panicked because the Socs were drowning Ponyboy.  He took out his switch blade and drove it through the back of the leader of the Socs. The rest went running, but I’m sure they will never forgive him. The fact that Johnny killed their leader puts a big target on his head.

            Johnny is mostly defenseless, other than the fact that he carries a switchblade. There is no reason why the Socs wouldn’t jump him again. The next time though, Ponyboy won’t be the focus. They will focus all of their hate of Greasers on Johnny. Johnny is now the number one enemy of the Socs.

Johnny has been beaten many times, by his father and other people including the socs. One instance, he was beaten to near death by them for just being a greaser. What do you think they will do to him now that they have a reason to hurt him? They will want revenge for their lost friend. They could kill him.
         

By killing that boy, Johnny sparked a flame in the everlasting war between the Socs and the Greasers. I feel that his actions will lead up to a confrontation between both sides. The Socs are ruthless. I doubt that they will forgive Johnny before the final showdown. Maybe after, if they realize that fighting doesn’t solve anything, they will learn to understand each other better. Both sides have good people on them. They are more alike than they seem.

Catching Fire

(Author's Note: This piece is a report on the book Catching Fire)

How would you feel if you had no say in your life? Would you just live with it, or would you fight back? That is the main conflict Katniss Everdeen faces in this book. This book takes place in the future, where the United States is Separated into 12 districts with one Capitol to rule them all. There is no democracy, and to show that the Capitol is in power, they hold a Hunger games every year. The Hunger Games is a cruel game where each district sends two kids to fight in. It is a free-for-all bloodbath, where there can only be one victor. Except in Peeta and Katniss case, they both won last year, so they both go onto the victory tour around the districts.

Before they depart, Katniss is visited by the President of the Capitol. He tells Katniss that the act of defiance she and Peeta did at the end of last years games sparked a uprising in some districts. Katniss and Peeta were the last two contestents in the arena, and were about to commit suicide to escape killing eachother. He tells her to make sure that she sets things straight. Her only excuse was that she was madly in love with him.

On the tour, Katniss and Peeta stop at district 11, former home of a girl named Rue, who had died in the arena, and Katniss' only ally. After the pre-made speach, Katniss felt like she needed to say something more to Rue's family. She went on and on on how grateful she was for her and couldn't contain herself. She got the crowd going, and after her speech, she left. Upon, leaving, she heard three gunshots that silenced the crazy crowd. This was the exact thing she was trying to prevent. She decided that the only chance of saving her was to marry Peeta, but after he proposed on live television, President Snow told her that it wasn't enough.

After the tour, she felt grateful to be home, but some changes had been made since she was gone. The security around the district has increased substantially, and Katniss witnessed her best friend Gale be whipped nearly to death. Also, the black market was burned down. This place is where most people in the district get their food. The entire district wasn't big enough to rebel, so they had to cope with the law for a while. Katniss' life was filled with misery, until the she watched the mandatory televised event of president snow picking the theme of this years hunger games. She was horrified when he described that the victors of the past hunger games would have to fight each other. Katniss was going back into the arena. After all the prefight ceremonies were completed, she was ready to go back into the games. She made some alliances during the training, so it wasn't just her and Peeta. This year was the fastest games yet. Three fourths of the victors were dead after just a few days. It was just her, Peeta, and three other allies vs. two other people. Katniss and her alliance tried to set up a trap by harnessing the power of lightning to a saltwater lake in the center of the arena. While she was setting up the wire, she was jumped my one of her allies, right when the two enemies came. They deemed that she was finished, so they left her alone. With the lightning about to strike, she tied the wire to an arrow and shot it at the arena wall. The energy was too much, and sent the arena crumbling down.

At the end of the book, she and her allies were rescued by a hovercraft from district 13, a supposedly extinct district. Everybody except for Peeta, who was captured by the capitol. It turns out that there was a plan all along to get her and Peeta out safely. She and Peeta are the most important part of the uprising in the districts. The plan was set up by the head gamemaker of the games. He design the arena so they could figure out how to escape. I feel like the next book will be all about the revolution. It will be on how Katniss and Peeta shape the new world, and to begin a life of freedom. I think this is because in the book, it tells you how the capitol can't get the commodities that the districts usually supply them with, therefore most are rebelling. I also predict that the rebels are going to defeat the capitol because district 13 was known for it's nuclear weapons production, so they will have access to powerful tools of destruction. I will now start to read the third book in the series 'Mocking Jay'.