Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind is the novel that Ponyboy Curtis reads aloud to Johnny Cade during their five-day concealment in the abandoned church on Jay Mountain, and which Johnny later leaves to Ponyboy as a dying gift, becoming the central literary object through which the boys explore heroism, gallantry, and the loss of innocence. The book functions not merely as a pastime but as a lens through which Johnny reinterprets his own world, and its final placement in Ponyboy's hands helps catalyze his decision to write the story that becomes The Outsiders itself.
Discovery and First Reading
When Johnny returned from his supply run to the small store near Windrixville, he brought back, among baloney, bread, matches, and peroxide, a paperback copy of Gone with the Wind. He had remembered Ponyboy once saying he always wanted one, and recalled that the two of them had seen the movie together. "I thought you could maybe read it out loud and help kill time or something," Johnny explained, reddening. Ponyboy was delighted, sitting down on a dusty chair and staring at the book. The copy became their primary entertainment during the long, isolated days in the church, where they killed time by reading it and playing poker.
Johnny's Interpretation and the Idea of Gallantry
As Ponyboy read aloud, he had to explain much of the Civil War and plantation life to Johnny, who had failed a year in school and never made good grades. Yet Johnny surprised Ponyboy by extracting deeper meaning from certain passages than Ponyboy himself could. Johnny was especially struck by the Southern gentlemen, impressed with their manners and charm. After Ponyboy read the part about them riding into sure death because they were gallant, Johnny's eyes glowed. "I bet they were cool ol' guys," he said. "They remind me of Dally." Ponyboy was startled and objected, pointing out that Dally had no manners and had treated the girls at the drive-in badly. But Johnny explained his reasoning: he had once seen Dally get arrested for a crime Two-Bit had committed, and Dally took the sentence without batting an eye or denying it. "That's gallant," Johnny said. This moment marked the first time Ponyboy realized the extent of Johnny's hero-worship for Dallas Winston, and it forced Ponyboy to contrast the literary heroes he admired with the real, dangerous figure of Dally.
Destruction in the Church Fire
The copy of Gone with the Wind was lost in the church fire. When the church went up in flames, Ponyboy heard "short explosions right after you all got out. Sounded just exactly like gunfire." The gun they had hidden and the book were both consumed. Jerry Wood, the teacher who accompanied Ponyboy in the ambulance, remarked on the sound, and Ponyboy thought to himself, "There went our gun. And Gone with the Wind."
Johnny's Final Letter and the Book as a Legacy
After the fire, Johnny lay in the hospital in critical condition, his back broken and his body severely burned. When Ponyboy and Two-Bit visited him, Johnny asked for the book. "The book," he said, looking at Ponyboy. "Can you get another one?" Two-Bit ran to the drugstore and bought a copy, handing it to the nurse with instructions to make sure Johnny could see it when he came around. Later, after Johnny died, the nurse gave the book to Ponyboy. Inside was a slip of paper in Johnny's handwriting. The note read: "Ponyboy, I asked the nurse to give you this book so you could finish it." Johnny wrote that he didn't mind dying now, that it was worth it to save those kids. He referenced the Robert Frost poem Ponyboy had recited on the church steps, telling Ponyboy to "stay gold" and to tell Dally to look at a sunset. The note ended: "There's still lots of good in the world. Tell Dally. I don't think he knows. Your buddy, Johnny." The book thus became Johnny's final message, a physical object carrying his last words and his plea for Ponyboy to preserve his sensitivity.
Narrative Significance
Gone with the Wind serves as a multi-layered device in the novel. It provides a shared activity that deepens Ponyboy and Johnny's friendship during their isolation. It becomes the vehicle for Johnny's most developed articulation of what gallantry means to him, linking the romanticized Southern gentlemen to the real, flawed Dally. Its destruction in the fire marks the end of their hiding and the beginning of their return to society. And its reappearance as Johnny's posthumous gift gives Ponyboy the final push he needs to begin writing his own story. After reading Johnny's note, Ponyboy called his English teacher, Mr. Syme, and asked if his theme could be longer than five pages. He then sat down and began writing the words that open The Outsiders: "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home." The book Johnny left behind thus becomes the catalyst for Ponyboy's act of telling, transforming a personal loss into a story meant to bridge the divide between greasers and Socs.
