The poem from The Outsiders that you
refer to is, of course, Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay." It is one of Frost's
most famous poems, and the book in which it was originally included (New
Hampshire) won the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Basically, the poem
represents the experiences of life and how the innate goodness and innocence of youth is
often hard to hold. The poem includes references to the Garden of Eden, where its
innocent inhabitants, Adam and Eve, fell victim to the original
sin.
In Johnny's farewell letter to Ponyboy at the end of
the final chapter, the dying greaser explains the poem to his
friend.
readability="11">You're gold when you're a kid, like green. When
you're a kid, everything's new, dawn. It's just that when you get used to everything
that it's day. Like the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That's gold. Keep that
way.The poem is used in part
as a reminder to Pony that he is still young and has a long life ahead of him--one which
he can still control. Johnny hopes that there is still time for Dally to turn his life
around as well, but unbeknownst to Johnny, Dally has already decided that life is no
longer worth living.
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