Johnny’s last words to Ponyboy were, “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold…”. I found this in Chapter 9, on pg. 148. Johnny is referring to the poem that can be found in Chapter 5, on pg. 78. When Johnny tells Ponyboy to stay gold, he is referring to the fact that Ponyboy was innocent when Johnny killed Bob. In the poem, gold is the first hue of nature, the hardest to hold, which also symbolizes children’s innocence.
This indicates that Ponyboy has not permanently changed from his old self, he is still the kind, caring, thoughtful and innocent person like he has always been back to his normal self. The last point to help with showing how the book suggests this is is how the starting line and the ending line are the same. Johnny doesn’t want Ponyboy to change one little bit, he wants to stay the way his has always been, to ‘stay gold’. The starting line and the ending don’t mean much but they help us to understand that Ponyboy hasn’t changed.
She expressed this by the use of colors, such as black and white from the brighter colors, which added more depth to the story. The colors black and white represented the bad times in life, and the brighter colors meant for the happy times. Living in a black and white world meant that you were always looking for the brighter days in life. One example of this from the story is when Johnny is dying and he says, “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold…” (Hinton 148) Johnny had realized that he and his gang were living in a black and white world filled with horrible times. He tells Ponyboy to stay gold, which meant for him to strive to be the light in a very dark world. Throughout the story, Ponyboy is often caught looking for the brighter times in life. “When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home. (Hinton 1) Not only is Ponyboy often looking towards the brighter side of thing, his brother Sodapop is as well. Ponyboy describes Soda as being “happy-go-lucky and grinning.” Ponyboy loves this aspect of his brother, and wishes his brother Darry was more like him. But, Ponyboy thinks of all Darry has been through and the sacrifices he makes for his brothers on a daily
Jonny, as Ponyboy, is a legend in his own particular one of a kind way. Johnny is an awesome case of chivalry since he demonstrates that everyone has gallant characteristics of valiance boldness and support within them and all it takes is an occasion to bring the qualities out. One critical illustration is that amid the section when the congregation is ablaze Johnny spares school youngsters as well as spares Ponyboy by driving Ponyboy out of the congregation abandoning him self in awesome threat of being smashed by the building's falling timbers. Ponyboy depicts it like this; "Johnny pushed me in reverse towards the window… [and screamed] get out." This demonstrates Johnny's dauntlessness and bravery on the grounds that the building was caving in and going to pulverize him. Another demonstration of chivalry that Johnny submits is that he stays standing for two young ladies
“Stay golden Ponyboy” This quote is probably one of the most famous quotes from the book The Outsiders. In the book Ponyboy recites a poem about stay gold or true and pure, but nothing stays like that because of the harsh world. Johnny wants Ponyboy to stay golden, but that almost impossible with class. Class can greatly impact one's future, and there are many example of this with famous people, ordinary people, and in the book The Outsiders.
Johnny always had a positive attitude and really wanted to help others. He felt satisfied that although his death was tragic, it was not meaningless. This is ultimately the meaning behind Johnny's last words to Pony, “Stay Gold”. As a result, there is no doubt Johnny Cade is a heroic character in the book The
When Johnny hears the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” he interprets it to mean that gold is like being a kid, when everything is new. As he lies on his deathbed, his last words to Ponyboy are “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold (Hinton, pg. 148).” Ponyboy doesn’t understand what he means by this at first, but Johnny wants him to stay lively and young because “…it’s a good way to be (Hinton, pg. 178).” Unfortunately, several of “The Outsiders’” characters do lose their gold throughout the story.
Later in the story after his death, Ponyboy found a letter written to him by Johnny. In the letter, Ponyboy reads from Johnny that “Listen, I don’t mind dying now. It’s worth it. It’s worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for” (Hinton 178).
In chapter 10, Johnny died, this helped Ponyboy learn about love, even though he also learned about death. The last words Johnny said to Ponyboy where “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold…” (148). Johnny had taken script from one of Ponyboy’s favorite books because he knew it meant a great deal to him. He repeated those words to him to show that he is loved.
Johnny was proven loyal to Ponyboy when he cared for his well being. For example, the following actions of Johnny before killing the Soc, “"Johnny?" I called, and started when he rolled over and jumped up almost under my feet. "Come on, Johnny, we're running away." Johnny asked no questions. We ran for several blocks until we were out of breath.” Running away meant possible risks like death, but Johnny’s loyalty allowed him
Johnny’s last words to Ponyboy was, “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold.” What Johnny meant by this was for Ponyboy to stay the way he was, and not to get influenced by other people. When Johnny and Ponyboy were having a conversation about his family Johnny said to Ponyboy, “And you don’t act like either one (pg.78 Hinton).” This shows that Johnny thinks Ponyboy is unique and is not like either of his family members. I believe that Johnny didn’t want Ponyboy to become cold and mean like Dally, because he liked the way how Ponyboy is different from the other members of the gang. In conclusion Johnny wishes Ponyboy to stay the way he is.
There are many things that the word gold can refer to in the novel the outsiders, it can portray Johnny or Pony boy. I say this because a person like Johnny on comes around once in a life time and when you find a friend like that you will want to cherish it forever. For someone like pony boy he was a different type of gold.
"Johnny begs Ponyboy to stay gold this is a direct reference to Robert frosts poem, sadly the world the the boys live in makes it almost impossible to 'stay gold.'"
Johnny and Ponyboy are two characters in S.E Hinton’s novel ‘The Outsiders.' They both have contrary lives from each other with a few similarities, as well as being two greasers from a second society. Johnny has had a rough life so far since both his parents never cared for him. His mother would abuse him verbally, and his father would abuse him physically and verbally. As for Ponyboy, both of his parents died, leaving him with his two older brothers Sodapop and Darry. Johnny and Ponyboy both read ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’ at the ran down church. They didn’t know precisely what the poem meant, but little do they know that the poem would have a significant similarity to them individually. Each line and stanza refer to the experiences that Johnny and Ponyboy have lived through throughout the story.
Later, Johnny conveys his guilt to Ponyboy when he says: “‘There sure is a lot of blood in people.’”(Hinton 74), nearly quoting Shakespeare in Macbeth. In a later conversation with Johnny, Ponyboy gets thinking about this new world he has been thrust into. In the text he says: “I liked my books and clouds and sunsets. Dally was so real he scared me.”(Hinton 76) This shows how Ponyboy likes when the hero can beat the villain and get a pretty sunset at the end. But now Ponyboy has to deal with the real-world effects of violence, and he doesn’t like it. This marks one of Ponyboy’s first major changes of his mindset on violence.
“‘Like the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That's gold. Keep that way, it’s a good way to be.’” (Hinton 178) This note explained what Johnny was thinking, wanting Ponyboy to stay caring and to stay thoughtful.