What happens in the ending of The Outsiders?
The police arrive and, believing the gun is loaded, shoot and kill Dallas. As the film draws to a close, we see Ponyboy sitting in his bedroom. He is reading a letter that Johnny left for him before he died. In the letter, he tells Ponyboy that it was worth sacrificing his life for the lives of the kids in the church.
Ultimately, Johnny's small acts of courage lead to murder, death, and heroic rescue. But Johnny ends by advocating against gang violence, stating that he would gladly sacrifice his life for the lives of little children.
Ponyboy realizes that he cannot become wholly naïve or wholly tough. He cannot stop being a greaser in order to retain his innocence or sacrifice his ideals in order to become a toughened gangster.
She tells Ponyboy that not all Socs are like that, just like all greasers are not like Dally. She tells him that Socs have their troubles, too, but Ponyboy cannot imagine what worries a Soc might have. The chapter concludes with the line, "I know better now."
Last lines teach us lessons, give us memorable images, and provide the note that carries the reader away from the story and back into his or her world. If ever there were a place to make every word count, your last line is it.
Ponyboy tells a tragic tale—a tale of violence, of poverty, and of young men dying in the streets. But, luckily, The Outsiders manages to end on a happy note, with most of Ponyboy's major problems resolved.
When Pony learns that Sandy's pregnant—not with Soda's kid—and that Sandy's parents refused to let her marry Soda, he realizes Soda has problems too. Since we only end up hearing this information from Darrel, some readers wonder if Sandy's really pregnant, who the father is, and why she was sent out of town.
In The Outsiders, Johnny dies as a result of burns and a spinal injury sustained while rescuing children from the burning church. When the boys return from eating, the church is on fire, and Johnny, Dally, and Ponyboy rush in to save the children inside. The roof collapses on Johnny, breaking his back.
What do Johnny's last words mean? Right before he dies in the hospital, Johnny says “Stay gold, Ponyboy.” Ponyboy cannot figure out what Johnny means until he reads the note Johnny left. Johnny writes that “stay gold” is a reference to the Robert Frost poem Ponyboy shared when they were hiding at the church.
Johnny is dying and is not impressed that the greasers won the rumble: "Useless . . . fighting's no good." He asks to speak to Ponyboy, and, leaning over him, Johnny's last words are "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold."
What happens to sodapop after The Outsiders?
Sodapop's fate
On a DVD commentary, Rob Lowe said he asked S.E. Hinton where she saw his character, Sodapop, going after the events of "The Outsiders." He said she told him that Sodapop is drafted, goes to fight in Vietnam and dies there.
In Flint City, Oklahoma, the mutilated and raped corpse of Frankie Peterson is found. Fingerprints and DNA at the crime scene as well as witness accounts all clearly show local sports coach Terrence Maitland as the killer, so detective Ralph Anderson orders a public arrest.
In the final scenes of "The Outsiders," at least in "The Complete Novel" version, Ponyboy is cleared of any wrongdoing in court for Bob's murder. We also see Ponyboy and his two brothers, Sodapop and Darrel, make up for good when Darrel promises to stop laying into Ponyboy so hard.
The church is the place where Ponyboy and Johnny hide after Johnny killed Bob.