What does the story Gone with the Wind symbolize in The Outsiders?

Gone with the Wind is an American novel written by Margaret Mitchell in 1936. In The Outsiders, it symbolizes the closeness between Ponyboy and his friend Johnny. When the boys are first hiding out in the church, Johnny does some shopping and picks up a paperback copy of Gone with the Wind. He says he remembers Ponyboy saying he always wanted to read it. This shows that Johnny listens to Ponyboy and remembers details about what he likes, wants, and dreams of. This is a sign of true friendship.

Ponyboy reads the novel aloud while they are hiding out in the church, and the boys discuss the themes and characters. One theme of Gone with the Wind is the American civil war. The characters in The Outsiders are engaged in a war, too. The two gangs, the greasers and the socs, fight for control of the city. The two sides in the American civil war in Gone with the Wind symbolize the two sides in the rumble in The Outsiders.

The male characters in Gone with the Wind are gentlemen and heroes, and Ponyboy and Johnny become heroes when they save the children from the burning church. Their discussion of behaving like a southern gentleman from Gone with the Wind might make them feel more heroic during and after their deed. Although Ponyboy and Johnny are young teenagers from the wrong side of the tracks, with nothing but their hair to distinguish them, the southern gentlemen described in Gone with the Wind symbolize Ponyboy and Johnny because they share the same heroic hearts.

When Johnny dies, he leaves the unfinished novel Gone with the Wind for Ponyboy. Ponyboy doesn't finish reading the novel without Johnny. For him, the novel symbolizes his friendship with Johnny and the close time they spent together. To finish reading it after Johnny's death would be like a betrayal. The unfinished novel symbolizes Johnny's unfinished life. 

Reading Gone with the Wind also symbolizes Ponyboy's intelligence. Near the end of the novel, his brother Darry finally admits that he is proud of Ponyboy when he tells him to stay in school and get a scholarship to college. This is important to Ponyboy as he has always felt that Darry didn't care for him. 

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