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.