faithforever's Full Review: Margaret Mitchell - Gone With the Wind
Scarlett O’Hara, the colorful character created by Margaret Mitchell in her renowned novel, Gone With The Wind, is one of those unforgettable characters that breathes life into a work of fiction. Scarlett, the color of passion, sparks visions of passion in readers. Set in the Civil War era, Scarlett’s fiery character combined with the various other lifelike personalities from Mitchell’s imagination, spawned one of greatest historical romance novels ever written.
Gone With The Wind isn’t “just” romance and passion, although much of both can be found throughout the 833 page novel. Gone With The Wind is a recreation of Civil War thinking. It captures the atmosphere of the time, the detached attitudes toward slavery and the depth of anger felt between the North and the South. It shines a light into the darkness of the war where brother fought against brother, father against son and cousin against cousin. And, it reminds us that our Southern ancestors were clueless, no more aware of their wrong than some people today are of the harmful effects of the various environmental hazzards that plague us.
Despite the beautiful Vivian Leigh, who portrayed Scarlett O’Hara in the film version of this novel, Mitchell’s first line pointedly states that, “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful,”... Then, “but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.” The novel begins in 1861 with 16 year old Scarlett enjoying the company of the Tarleton twins, Stuart and Brent, who love Scarlett O’Hara no more or less than the majority of suitors who have chanced upon this charming Southern belle. As they sit together, on the porch of Tara plantation’s big house, the boys talk about the possibilities of a war between the North and the South. Typically Scarlett, impatient with their rambling of war, she declares her frustration with this boring subject by giving them an ultimatum. She will go inside and leave them to their talk of war if she hears that word, “War”, one more time. And, typically male when dealing with Scarlett, the twins appease her and turn their conversation to an entirely different topic.
Mitchell takes her reader on a long journey from the beauty and grace of the old South, the sprawling plantations with their big houses, slave quarters, cotton fields, mammies, ballroom dances and determination to live as royalty despite the aristocratic lifestyles that are collapsing on every side, to the desolation and disgrace of the Civil War, then on to the aftereffects of a civilization changed as only war can change. She fills each page with her wonderful prose that capture the attention, absorb the reader in a Southern mood, sparks the imagination into recreating, actually envisioning the destruction and chaos of war, complete with rivalry, jealousy and ideas for revenge, restitution, remembrance. Mitchell fictionalizes history with the pen of a great historian and writer. The characters literally come alive, flavoring this story with an exotic spice of the old South, an incomparable seasoning that makes each page worthy of savoring until the very end. Gone With The Wind is a novel any reader will remember.
Even though I’ve read Gone With The Wind several times and even have numerous collectibles from the “Gone With The Wind” series in plates, music boxes and various other items, reviewing this book feels much like Margaret Mitchell must have felt when trying to develop a plot that would truly relate the intensity, the insanity, of the Civil War to her readers. Revealing the fierce adoration I have for this work of fiction is a difficult task. Accordingly, I want to note that the best of reviews could never truly capture this classic’s qualities. For a true taste of Mitchell’s talent, you must read the book yourself.
My Favorite Characters: Note that I say “Favorite”... there are too many well-rounded characters in this novel to truly do justice to each of them within such a short space. Instead, I’ll try to describe the ones that I consider the best qualified to illustrate Gone With The Wind’s narrative. These are the characters that I will never forget:
Naturally, Miss Scarlett O’Hara is the one character from Gone With The Wind that shines brightest in my imagination, just as she does in the story. Scarlett is the spoiled Southern Belle who charms the men and makes women jealous. She schemes, plots and is disturbingly self-centered. Despite her lifelong freedom from work, responsibility or maturity, when the time comes, Miss Scarlett proves herself to be stronger and more capable of dealing with the chaos of war, famine and “hard” times, than nearly any Southern Belle or gentleman. Not only does she provide for herself and her own family, but for her neighbors and friends, too. In spite of her rebellious nature, her permanent attitude of selfishness and all the basic traits of a woman who is quite used to having her own way, Scarlett reaches inside herself when necessity forces her to do so, and pulls out the woman who will go to whatever measures she deems necessary to protect herself and her own from the despair, desperation and desolation of a lost cause, a lost war. Her Rebel spirit is apparent to the reader in every sense of the word.
The suave, debonair rogue known as Rhett Butler first comes into Scarlett’s life just before the war begins. He is a Southern “gentleman” who, it is whispered to Scarlett by a friend, “is no gentleman”. Rhett Butler is from Charleston, SC and he isn’t “received” by the good people of Charleston anymore, not even his own family. Why not? Because he was caught taking a girl for a carriage ride without a chaperone and refused to marry the girl, who’s reputation he’d obviously ruined. Rhett Butler is, as he states himself in parts of the novel, like the male counterpart to Scarlett O’Hara. In one scene, Scarlett says to Rhett, “Sir, you are no gentleman”. Rhett counters Scarlett with, “And, you Miss, are no lady.” Both are correct, especially using the cultural traditions used to calculate what was ladylike or gentlemanly in the years before and after the Civil War. Rhett is forever assuring Scarlett, who consistently denies any possibility of caring for him, that she is meant for him and he for her. They are alike, Rhett tells her, both selfish, self-centered, vain - two sides of the same coin. And, Rhett loves her, despite himself.
Gerald O’Hara, who is Scarlett’s father, came to America from Ireland, thus, the name for his plantation. Tara, Gerald O’Hara declares, the “land”, is the only thing worth living for, worth dying for. Gerald O’Hara, with Ellen O’Hara, Scarlett’s mild-mannered mother, an intriguing woman called “Mammy”, who is as much of a mother to Scarlett as her biological one, two sisters who are, with good reason, envious of Scarlett and an assortment of slaves from field hands to those who work in the “big house” and Scarlett O’Hara herself, establish the life of Tara, the beautiful plantation that Gerald O’Hara worked to build since his arrival from Ireland.
Throughout the novel, the reader will glimpse various aspects of life from Tara. Miss Ellen is the gentle lady who adores her daughters and strives to teach them modesty, tolerance and compassion. Mammy is the strong woman who makes each of the O’Hara lives run smoothly. She teaches, disciplines and knows more about the O’Hara family than the family know themselves. While every character in Gone With The Wind is unique, Mammy is the character that will make you smile and know, without being told, of her intelligence. She is the backbone of Tara.
While many other characters are threaded throughout Margaret Mitchell’s classic, the more memorable ones include Ashley and Melanie Wilkes, the couple who will share much of Scarlett’s life. Aunt PittyPatt, who faints at intervals and will make you smile with her gossip and humor. Belle Watling, the prostitute who Rhett Butler visits at intervals. I’ve already mentioned the Tarleton Twins. Charles Hamilton, who reminds me of Goober Pyle or Gomer. Frank Kennedy, who is engaged to Scarlett’s sister. Dr. Meade, Mrs. Merriwether and the list goes on and on. What is amazing about this unique novel is the vivid detail given each character and the way that so many came together with such ease, almost as if they were predestined to share this title.
If you enjoy anything relating to history or romance, you will love Gone With The Wind. From beginning to ending, this book is recommended!
A monumental classic considered by many to be not only the greatest love story ever written, but also the greatest Civil War saga.More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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