The Outsiders: The Gold Can Stay

Have you ever found yourself stuck in a dilemma of succumbing to reality or staying true to your thoughts? Have you ever undergone the pain of losing an intimate friend? Imagine yourself engaging in two big gang fights without a way out. These are the issues that S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders aims to lead its readers to explore.

Ponyboy and Johnny, the protagonists of the novel, are young members of a gang called “The Greasers,” a gang occupying the slums of Oklahoma that consists only of poor youngsters. Perceiving themselves as an outsider, Ponyboy and Johnny aren’t fond of the dangerous and sociopathic lifestyle that being a Greaser comes with. Yet, after a heated confrontation with a rival gang member that ends with Johnny killing him, their lives are forever changed.

This accident breaks their daily lives into pieces, forcing them to escape from their hometown and leads them to an adventure of self-understanding. They eventually take shelter in an abandoned church, where they leave behind cruel gang fights and all the heavy responsibilities accompanied by their previous actions. Unbeknownst to them, their escape actually leads to a short period of carefree and tranquil time. Once while watching dawn together in the church, Ponyboy begins to recollect the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” written by the American poet Robert Frost. This poem unexpectedly functions as a gentle reminder to them that the golden times they are experiencing now will ultimately fade into memory.

The carefree times the boys spend together is abruptly terminated by the death of Johnny. The tragedy happens after they came back from a meal, only to find the church caught on fire, with some kids trapped inside the blaze. Ponyboy and Johnny immediately rush in to save the younglings, and they have a narrow escape. In the end, though the boys are praised for their courageous actions, Johnny tragically passes away. After Johnny’s death, Ponyboy is plagued by agony and depression. Eventually, Ponyboy gets over it after receiving a letter from Johnny where he quotes “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” to encourage him to be what he wants. After reading the letter, Ponyboy vows to follow his heart and inspire those who are lost just as he was before, promising to show others that there is, in fact, still good left in this world.

The poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” symbolizes that all the good times Ponyboy and Johnny experience whilst taking shelter in the church must come to an end; but there’s still something precious left beyond the limit of time. At last, Ponyboy makes a transformation, choosing to follow his heart and write this story to offer some solace to other boys of similar situations, hoping that they could find their ways once again.

As I view it, though a member of the vicious Greasers, Ponyboy is actually a teenager full of sympathy, constantly going out of his way to save others in need. I can find myself connected to his character in several ways, and his kind heart makes him the character I admire the most. Seeing him struggling to break free from the cocoon of poverty and crime shared by most Greasers taught me that the predicament you encounter will one day be resolved through the experiences you accumulate. Seeing his transformation made my thoughts more mature, allowing me to think in a more comprehensive way. Through reading Ponyboy’s journey, I came to realize that though feeling disturbed and uncertain about the future, I need to keep moving forward, even if I have to leave my beautiful high school life, which I consider as “gold times,” behind.

In between the pages of The Outsiders show the themes of friendship, uncertainty, problems, and transformations we go through during adolescence. Through this book, I learned to appreciate the pure environment of mine, and to cherish my friends and loved ones. Although faced with adversities in life, it is the turmoil we experience that makes us who we are today. And in Johnny’s words, we mustn’t forget who we are, and always remember to “stay gold.”