Innocence In John Hinton's 'The Outsiders'

In the book the Outsiders, Ponyboy recites a poem to Johnny while they were sitting in the church, looking at the sunrise. The poem states, “Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.” This poem helps support the theme of innocence because in first verse of the poem, it describes how when you are first born, you are innocent, and have a fresh start in life. But, as you get older, many make horrible decisions that lead them to regret, and have that feeling of deep sorrow and pain. But “Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day.” This means that the special paradise you’ve once lived in is now destroyed because of the terrible decision that occurred.

This is just how Ponyboy and Johnny’s lives were because before the incident, (when Johnny killed Bob) they had a home, and they haven’t committed a crime. But because of the wrong decision, they have to hold that against them for the rest of their lives. In the book, Johnny even wrote to Ponyboy, “He meant you're gold when you're a kid, like green. 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.” This shows how Johnny realized how your decisions matter a whole lot. This supports the theme innocence because one wrongdoing can change your life forever. Another important theme is to appreciate what you have and who you are. The text says, “We're poorer than the Socs and the middle