The poem says the new leaves start out gold then they change to green. 'Stay gold' is from a poem Ponyboy told Johnny about, while they were hiding in the church. Johnny has died telling Ponyboy to not change from the boy he is now. Stay gold.' The pillow seemed to sink a little, and Johnny died.' (Ponyboy Curtis, Chapter 9, p. Darry is saddled with a lot more responsibility than most twenty-year-old men. He fears comes from the loss of the brothers' parents some eight months before the fire. He is frightened Ponyboy won't make the grades he needs to go to college, he is frightened if Ponyboy gets in trouble, the authorities will take him away from Darry, and he is frightened Ponyboy might be killed in a fight or car accident. What Ponyboy doesn't realize, until the night of the fire, is Darry is so tough on him because he is frightened. Ponyboy prefers his brother Sodapop who doesn't care about those things, he only wants to have a good time. He is constantly yelling at him for being forgetful, for not getting good enough grades, and not being the person Darry thinks he should be. He feels this way because Darry is particularly tough on Ponyboy. Ponyboy always feels his oldest brother, Darry, hates him. 'That was his silent fear then-of losing another person he loved.' (Ponyboy Curtis, Chapter 6, p. Dally, who ran inside the church to rescue his friends, is also injured as he tries to save Ponyboy and Johnny. Ponyboy only suffers a few burns and bruises, but Johnny is more severely injured after a falling timber strikes his back. The two of them run inside and find the children, then they manage to safely evacuate them from the church, but at a cost to themselves. Ponyboy and Johnny feel responsible for the fire, because they had been smoking inside the church. The church the boys have been staying in has caught fire and some school children are trapped inside it. 'I'll get them, don't worry!' (Ponyboy Curtis, Chapter 6, p. He doesn't want that for quiet sensitive Johnny. Dally has served some prison time and it made him a man who has a hard outlook on life. He thinks with the testimony of Cherry Valance and the fact that he doesn't have a record, he might not face a long prison term.Р”Вally is against Johnny turning himself in, because he knows what time spent in prison can do to a person. He also feels this kind of life isn't right for Ponyboy. He knows living a life on the run is not living. 87)Р”Р„fter hiding out in an abandoned church for about five days, Johnny has made the decision to face the consequences of his actions. 'We're goin' back and turn ourselves in.' (Johnny Cade, Chapter 6, p. It is a no win situation and he knows he has drawn Ponyboy into it with him. If the police catch him, he will go to prison and if he runs he will spend his life fearful of being caught. Johnny knows his life will never be the same. Bob's temper couldn't be tamed, which made him so threatening to others. Bob had forced Ponyboy's head under the water of a fountain and he wasn't going to let him come up for air. He not only killed Bob for himself, but to stop him from drowning Ponyboy. Bob had beaten Johnny so badly that he lived his life in fear and now Johnny has silenced those fists forever. Quiet fearful Johnny has just killed the young man responsible for beating him. 'I killed that boy.'' (Johnny Cade, Chapter 4, p. It is how the boys show they are men, who are not afraid of anything. They do steal, fight, and are loud, because it is part of the culture of the East side. Any person from the East side who acts and dresses a certain way is judged not by who they are, but by what they are, which is a greaser. They have a reputation of being juvenile delinquents, because they wear their hair greased up and long and they disregard the rule of law. Ponyboy is explaining what life is like for the greasers living on the East side of town. 'Greasers are almost like hoods we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while.' (Ponyboy Curtis, Chapter 1, p.

The outsiders dally