Nothing Gold Can Stay In The Outsiders

The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, is about the story of a boy named Ponyboy, who lives with his brothers and is apart of a gang called the Greasers, and they are rivals with another gang called the Socs. The novel is the story of how they relate to one another, and the story of growth in Ponyboy’s life. The poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is included in the story, as recited by Ponyboy to Johnny, to make a statement about gold. The poem discusses an unfortunate aspect of life, that being that the young cannot stay young, just as the leaves cannot stay green. At the end of the novel, Johnny tells Ponyboy to stay golden, which means to hold on to the good aspects of his life. The message that Johnny tells to Ponyboy is applied consistently throughout the novel to many other aspects of the story. In The Outsiders, S.E. …show more content…
Hinton uses the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” as a metaphor for life and youthfulness, specifically in the rivalry between the Greasers and the Socs, the relationship between Ponyboy and Dally, and Johnny’s outlook on