In the novel The Outsiders, the author presents gold as valued items in life. Gold can be friends, innocence, or a good heart, which Dally sees in Johnny making Johnny his gold. S.E. Hinton argues that gold will not last forever, so it should be cherished and appreciated for as long as it lasts.
Gold cannot be preserved forever. The poem Ponyboy recites while watching the sunset says, “so dawn goes down to day.” (Hinton, 77) Johnny describes dawn as everything new and day as when you get used to everything. (Hinton, 178) Gold is dawn, for new things are special and appreciated. However, dawn will not last forever. At some point, it will become day, so gold should be valued until it is gone. Reality will not allow you to hold onto gold, but