What is left of someone when they lose their innocence? This is a question both S. E. Hinton, the author of The Outsiders, and Stevie Wonder, the writer of “Stay Gold,” touch upon in two different yet connected pieces. The Outsiders opens with the jumping and beating up of the main character, Ponyboy Curtis, which sets the tone for the rest of the novel. Amid a neighborhood of turmoil between two rival gangs, the greasers and the Socs, Johnny Cade, the “pet” of the greasers who would not hurt a fly, murders a rival Soc. This act tests the character of each member of the neighborhood, and each gang member find a different side of each other, that was never seen before. The song, “Stay Gold,” which has the same theme, but a different message, tells of aging being the cause of loss of innocence. Wonder describes how those who are young are happy and carefree, and as they age, their innocence fades away, since nothing can last forever. Through the two works, the loss of innocence is brought forth as a key theme by both the greasers being thrown into life in a gang at a young age, and in the lyrics of the song which illustrate aging.

The immersion of young boys into a gang lifestyle, is one of the leading causes of the loss of innocence for those in The Outsiders. In the troubling background landscape of Tulsa, Oklahoma, fourteen to twenty year old boys are shedding their happy go-lucky attitudes and are instead turning to black eyes and cracked ribs. They have chosen a lifestyle of gang affiliation filled with gang violence in their neighborhoods, contributing to their loss of innocence.  “And Johnny, who was the most law-abiding of all of us, now carried a six-inch switchblade,” (34). Johnny Cade is the sixteen year old “pet” of the greasers, who was toughened up by a rival gang’s member, who beat him to the state of being unrecognizable. This beating caused Johnny to be scared of his own shadow, and to feel the need to carry around a weapon for his protection. Just as Johnny loses his innocence, another member of the greasers also goes through a rough period of time, resulting in the loss of his innocence. “And then I remembered. Dallas and Johnny were dead. Don’t think of them, I thought. Don’t remember how Johnny was your buddy, don’t remember that he didn’t want to die. Don’t think of Dally breaking up in the hospital, crumpling under the street light. Try to think that Johnny is better off now, try to remember that Dally would have ended up like that sooner or later. Best of all, don’t think. Blank your mind. Don’t remember. Don’t remember,” (156). Ponyboy Curtis had to deal with the death of two of his best friends in one day. One died a hero, and one a hood, but both were missed and both were too young to die. Not only does Ponyboy’s innocence die then and there, but so do so many of his other boyish qualities, such as his sense of humor and his happy-go-lucky attitude. In some sort of way, gang action caused the deaths of both teens, resulting in the loss of innocence for not only Ponyboy, but for Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston as well. Nowadays, most teens do not have to walk around with switchblades, and put off the thought of two of their best friends being killed as a result of gangs. However, this was the harsh reality of the times. Gang life not only killed off the innocence in young boys, but it killed the young boys themselves, off as well.
   

The song, “Stay Gold,” follows the plot line of someone losing their innocence as they age. Everyone starts out, “young and carefree,” and as they grow up, they go through different situations, which scrape away at their innocence. Even when one goes back and “steals away” into the days when they were innocent, it is only momentarily. One cannot stay in those moments forever. “Steal away into that way back when (Line 6) You thought that all would last forever,” (Line 7). One can remember back into the time when their innocence was full, and they can recall how they thought times would always be like that. However, as reality set in and they started having obligations, the once full innocence that had blossomed inside of them, starts to wilt. Their growing up changed them in the sense that it made them aware that their belief in innocence lasting forever, was false. However, as soon as this was realized it was already too late. Wonder’s claim of innocence seemingly being lost as one ages is seen throughout the song. “So young and carefree (Line 3) Again you will see (Line 4) That place in time...so gold,” (Line 5). The reader realizes that the main character in the song’s “safe place” is in their innocent time. A time they thought would last forever. “Gold” is used to describe innocence, which is accurate since most view gold as true and angelic. In a sense, innocence is angelic because it represents being without sin and without grief and suffering, everything we were at a young age and eventually grew out of.  As we age, aspects of our personality shift and change, just as our innocence does. The more we grow and mature, the less naïve and innocent we are. In retrospect, we are never satisfied with the amount of innocence we have, and once someone is aware of its ever-shrinking amount, it is hard to hang on to.
   

When someone joins or is forced into a gang at an early age, they grow up too fast, and have to face situations that other teens might not, depending upon their living and social situations. The instillment of a gang lifestyle into the lives of Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston caused their death, which in turn initiated Ponyboy’s rapid loss of innocence. Stevie Wonder’s song, “Stay Gold,” on the other hand, illustrates a story in which someone grew up, and is desperately trying to remember back to when they were innocent, and careless and free from responsibility. Although aging is inevitable, and going with it, the loss of one’s innocence, according to Stevie Wonder, the days when one was not scared of their shadow, and when they were not constantly worrying if they and their family would make it through the day, are the ones they crave to go back to when they are older. Everyone as a kid is rushing to get rid of their innocence, and to grow up and to be treated like an adult, and then all of a sudden they are where they thought they wanted to be. They have responsibilities and relationships, and all yet they want is to be young, and to not have to deal with all of the problems they face daily. Why is this? Why are we never content with the amount of innocence we hold, and why do we constantly want a change from who we are?