Saturday, July 20, 2013

What is the significance of Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" in S.E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders?

Frost's poem is about lost innocence. The poet says gold, which represents youth, is hard to hold onto. It lasts only a short time, like flowers that whither in a vase. He also refers to Eden, the paradise where Adam and Eve lived before evil entered. Once the couple taste the forbidden fruit they lose Eden forever.


In The Outsiders, two events might symbolize the loss of innocence for the main characters, Ponyboy and...

Frost's poem is about lost innocence. The poet says gold, which represents youth, is hard to hold onto. It lasts only a short time, like flowers that whither in a vase. He also refers to Eden, the paradise where Adam and Eve lived before evil entered. Once the couple taste the forbidden fruit they lose Eden forever.


In The Outsiders, two events might symbolize the loss of innocence for the main characters, Ponyboy and Johnny. Johnny's life is cut short as he literally tries to save the young children in the burning church. It is symbolic of his attempt to hold onto a youth that is slipping away after he has been involved in a violent incident which ends with him accidentally stabbing one of the Socs.


A symbol for Ponyboy's youth, which also relates to Frost's poem, is his blonde hair. After the incident in the park where Johnny stabs Bob, Ponyboy cuts and dyes his hair. Sodapop, Ponyboy's brother, asks what has happened to the boy's "tuff hair." It is, for Ponyboy, a symbolic relinquishing of his youth, which he can never truly regain after the death of his best friend.


At the end of novel, Ponyboy writes an essay about the events surrounding Johnny's death. His essay is inspired by a note Johnny placed in Ponyboy's copy of Gone With the Wind. The note reads, "stay gold," meaning to never forget the innocence of youth.


Please see the attached links for more interpretations relating to your question.

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