Essay about Nothing Gold Can Stay

Submitted By magdeline82
Words: 1273
Pages: 6
Open Document
Mott Hall School Janelle Matias
English Language Arts 702

This Innocence Is Brilliant The statement “Nothing Gold Can Stay” has had a huge impact on The Outsiders by S.E Hinton. Ponyboy remembers the line from the poem of its origin “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and recites it to Johnny at the church while watching the sunrise. Ponyboy had always remembered the poem because he never understood the meaning of it until that moment when Johnny commented about the beauty of the sunrise. At that moment, he came to a realization that by “Nothing Gold Can Stay’, Robert Frost, meant that all good things must come to an end. Whether it is nature, like when dawn goes down to day, or when a parent passes away, the precious, innocent, pure, and good things in life constantly change and go. In The Outsiders, we get to see the “gold” in the characters life fade away. You can see the dramatic events that happen to the characters internally and exteriorly making them progress and accept that bad things happen in life. The rivalry between the Greasers and Socs makes it seem like they are completely in contrast. However, they all have one thing in common. That is, the struggle to stay gold (innocent, good, and pure) in order to adapt to society in the 1960s. The struggle to stay gold and the true reason for Dally’s death supports that “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is a true statement.

Before Johnny passed away at the hospital he told Ponyboy to “Stay Gold”. Throughout the novel, Ponyboy is seen to strive to do so. Unfortunately, he later understands that nothing innocent and pure lasts forever. At the beginning Ponyboy tells Cherry, “When you're thirteen in our neighborhood you know the score. I kept saving my money for a year, thinking that someday I could buy Mickey Mouse back for Soda. You're not so smart at ten.” This shows how when Ponyboy was ten, he was so innocent he thought he could buy back Soda’s horse “Mickey Mouse.” He thought if he was tough and cynical it wouldn’t have hurt so much but since he was innocent and pure he had a different mind sent. His childhood was a short period in his life. In the book, Johnny says “When you're a kid everything's new, dawn. It's just when you get used to everything that it's day. Like the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That's gold. Keep that way, it's a good way to be.” Johnny refers to the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by saying that once you go through experiences; Ponyboy’s gold (innocence) will end and he should enjoy it while he has it. After Johnny and Dally died, Ponyboy did not want to accept this which lead into an internal conflict. In the novel it says, “What was the matter with Two-Bit? I knew as well as he did that if you got tough you didn't get hurt. Get smart and nothing can touch you...” (p.171). Towards the end, Ponyboy tries to act tough because he knows if he wasn’t innocent at first it would’ve prevented him from getting hurt. After all the events, Ponyboy was no longer pure. He then understood that terrible things do happen and all he can do about it is tell others about his experience and telling them to stay gold unlike himself just like Johnny did. In The Outsiders, Johnny has a really rough life. Feeling isolated by being abused and ignored at home, the gang seems to be the only gold in his life. In the novel, Ponyboy says “Johnny Cade was last and least. If you can picture a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers, you'll have Johnny.” Often when you think of a puppy you think of pureness and innocence. This is what Ponyboy is referring to by describing Johnny. When you see Johnny, you can tell his childhood and innocence passed by quickly. This has affected his perspective on life and making him believe that nothing gold can stay. Even though he had critical conditions at home and rough lifestyle, Johnny
Show More

Related Documents: Essay about Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nothing Gold Can Stay

In the lyric poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost, it describes the gorgeousness of nature in the morning sun by saying it was comparable to gold or a flower, and explains how it is saddening that it would go away when it nears day. Although the poem explains how nature is incomparably beautiful in the morning and sadly disappears closer to the day, he is able to illustrate the underlying meaning that everything, even the good things, must come to an end through the use of metaphors and…

Words 444 - Pages 2

Personification In Nothing Gold Can Stay

In Robert Frost's “Nothing Gold can Stay”, the author uses several poetic devices to express how the beauty of nature eventually dies out, and at the end of the day, nothing is really special. Throughout the poem, Frost uses symbolism and metaphor to show how nothing can avoid decay. The first 2 lines of stanza 1 are about the beauty of nature in early autumn, and use a lot of personification and metaphor. In line 1, Frost says, “Nature’s first green is gold”. He uses metaphor to compare the early…

Words 484 - Pages 2

Nothing Gold Can Stay Analysis

one, which they are not getting any younger, there health is deteriorating and they are not getting any time back. Shown through Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, William Butler Yeats (WBY) “Sailing to Byzantium”, and Dylan Thomas “Fern Hill” the realization is exemplified has registered a unified resonating theme to the authors, a message that nothing good lasts forever. Ephemerality is shown of three different mediums across the works - time, youth, and vitality – with each medium translating…

Words 994 - Pages 4

Nothing Gold Can Stay Essay

Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost is about how life/nature is constantly changing and there is nothing we can do to stop it. Abandoned Farmhouse by Ted Kooser is about a family who had to abandon their home because of a tragedy. These two poems are the same because they both have the theme change and they both have alliteration. However, these two poems are different because they have different topics and one rhymes and the other poem use personification. These two poems are alike in many ways…

Words 459 - Pages 2

Comparing The Seafarer And Nothing Gold Can Stay

such classic is “The Seafarer” which tells about a man sailing on the treacherous sea. It is quite interesting that the Anglo-Saxons talked and wrote about the same circumstances hundreds of years in the future, yet with a different spin. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost is an excellent example of a piece of literature with the same theme and literary elements as “The Seafarer” even though they talk about two separate topics. In both…

Words 615 - Pages 3

Robert Frost's Nothing Gold Can Stay

The poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost, is an eye-opening poem about how all precious and young things will always perish. It describes that life is ephemeral and we must cherish every moment of it. Overall, the poem has a solemn, and melancholy tone to it because it is accepting of the fact that all your cherished and nearby ones will lose their life soon. It accepts the truth that death is inevitable and you must cherish the moments you have left. This tone is largely explored by the…

Words 370 - Pages 2

Personal Narrative: Nothing Gold Can Stay

me to be the best person I can be at all times. Not sometimes or whenever I feel like it: all the time. For me, staying gold means to preserve my morals, put others in front of me, and to stay true to myself. However, when faced with difficult situations, these qualities usually seem to fly out the door, and are replaced with selfishness and greed. When a dying young man said this line to his best friend, he was speaking in opposition to the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” While this is a great poem…

Words 507 - Pages 3

Robert Frost's Nothing Gold Can Stay

Have you ever read the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost. When you read that poem you think about what it could mean, how it can affect you, and why the author wrote it sometimes. When i read it and finally understand it i have to say that Nothing gold can stay forever. If you think about it there is only a few things that can last forever like love. Everything else kind of goes away but what you do is cherish the moments that you have with the things or somebody that doesn’t last forever…

Words 565 - Pages 3

Libert Frost's 'Nothing Gold Can Stay'

obert frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay" is a very realistic poem that sounds fictional. This is because the story is so in depth that it seems to be fake because some don't understand what it means or what it is that's gold. This poem can be confusing to some but to some it makes complete scents to others because they have experienced something like this before. "Nothing Gold Can" Stay is very true and is something that can be witnessed every year. During winter, there is not enough light or water…

Words 327 - Pages 2

Johnny's Poem 'Nothing Gold Can Stay'

I believe Johnny’s strength is that he can find meaning in things that people who are absorbed in reading all the time like Ponyboy can’t. Johnny failed a year in school and “he couldn’t grasp things that came at him too fast” but even so, he could understand things once he caught on to what was going on. I know this because at the end of the story, when Johnny wrote the note to Ponyboy before he died, he explained what the poem “Nothing Gold can Stay” meant. When Ponyboy first recited this poem…

Words 154 - Pages 1