Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

Gone With the Wind has been sitting on my shelves for a long time. I assumed I had purchased it because it was on one of my book challenges to read, and I am currently ahead on my reviews, so I figured it would be a good time to make my way through the 1,037 pages. Upon further review though, the book was not on any list, so I must have just purchased it in the hopes that one day I would read it, despite it not being a time period or genre I typically enjoy. I was pleasantly surprised by my enjoyment with the book.

Scarlett O’Hara is sixteen at the start of the Civil War, but that is the last thing she cares about. Scarlett wants to have parties, be adored by all the county men, and most of all, become Mrs. Ashley Wilkes. When Scarlett learns that Ashley is already engaged to Melanie, she is completely distraught. But this is just the beginning of Scarlett learning she cannot always get what she wants. The trials and tribulations of the Civil War and Reconstruction are not how she envisioned spending her twenties, but Scarlett finds her own unique ways to manage. And through it all, her life remains entangled with Ashley, Melanie, and the annoyingly charming Rhett Butler.

Through a good portion of the first part of the book, I found myself annoyed with Scarlett. I would have to remind myself that she was 16-19 during this time, and had lived an incredibly privileged life, so it is easy to see how she would be upset with the changes in her life caused by the war. But other things were her own doing. When she learns of Ashley’s engagement, she immediately accepts a proposal from Charles Hamilton, and when I say immediately, I mean as in the same day and married within two weeks. But Charles leaves right after to join the army and dies almost instantly, although from pneumonia, not battle. Due to customs of the time, Scarlett must spend the next year in mourning. That means no receiving of male visitors, no dances or parties, and constantly wearing black. To top it off, Scarlett is with child; a child she does not want. Scarlett is a very poor mother to little Wade. In fact, Scarlett is not very good in any relationship. She never speaks kindly of her sisters, she pines after Ashley and hates Melanie despite Melanie constantly standing up for her, and speaks poorly of all the women in Atlanta. She even speaks poorly of Ashley, despite her schoolgirl crust on him, but that has more to do with not understanding his personality. So I spent a lot of times feeling that Scarlett was an immature brat throwing a tantrum.

(Source: Giphy)

And then Atlanta burns and Melanie almost dies during childbirth and it is up to Scarlett to save them all. Rhett is able to bring them to the edge of Atlanta, but then it is up to Scarlett to return them all safely to Tara, her family’s plantation. However, once she returns to the county, she sees that the Yankees have burned the plantations and robbed the houses. When Scarlett finally makes it to the gates of Tara, she vows she will never go hungry again. She saved Melanie and her new baby, Prissy, Wade, and herself. In this moment, I loved Scarlett. I was her constant cheerleader from here on out. She did anything she could think of to revive Tara and take care of her father after her mothers untimely death. She does things that even the previous slaves would not do.

"She had intended that the Negroes should do the field work, while she and the convalescent girls attended to the house, but here she was confronted with a caste feeling even stronger than her own. Pork, Mammy and Prissy set up outcries at the idea of working in the fields. They reiterated that they were house niggers, not field hands. Mammy, in particular, declared vehemently that she had never even been a yard nigger....

Scarlett refused to listen to the protests and drove them all into the cotton rows. But Mammy and Pork worked so slowly and with so many lamentations that Scarlett sent Mammy back to the kitchen to cook and Pork to the woods and the river with snares for rabbits and possums and lines for fish. Cotton picking was beneath Pork's dignity but hunting and fishing were not." (pp. 454-455)

Granted, some of the things she does are very underhanded, like stealing her sisters beau and marrying him simply because he can help her save Tara from the carpetbaggers. And later she hires convicts as laborers at her lumber mill because they can be treated poorly (that’s putting it tamely). But you see immense character growth from her during Reconstruction, and she is very empowering, despite what other people of the era had to say. Scarlett made lemonade out of lemons, and turned the lemonade into a stand, and that stand into an empire.

"Hunger gnawed at her empty stomach again and she said aloud: 'As God is my witness, as God is my witness, the Yankees aren't going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's over, I'm never going to be hungry again. No, nor my folks. If I have to steal or kill-as God is my witness, I'm never going to be hungry again.'" (p. 428)

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But Scarlett is not the only interesting character in the book. Her leading man, although she does not know this until the end, Rhett Butler, is very intriguing. I loved him from the beginning. He always spoke his mind, even though he is always in the minority; he is ruthless in his business practices, making him a pariah among others who choose more socially acceptable ways to run businesses; and he loves Scarlett fiercely, although neither of them realizes it soon enough. And then you have Melanie, Scarlett’s constant companion, although this is something Scarlett begrudges until it is too late. Melanie’s character is very constant, but she is an admirable woman. She stands by Scarlett, despite all of her shortcomings, and she stands her ground on any decision she makes. Ashley Wilkes is a bit of a wet blanket, and I never really saw what Scarlett saw in him. His personality is extremely different from hers, and it is obvious that his attraction to her is no deeper than her looks. Scarlett often comments that she does not understand him and his ways, so I did  not fully understand why she continued to pine for him. 

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It was hard to read about the treatment of the slaves and convicts. The actions of the KKK were difficult as well, although Mitchell does not go into much detail or poor treatment or activities; you know that it happened. To say that this is an embarrassing time in American history does not even begin to describe how I feel about it. But I feel that Mitchell handled the topics as best as possible. I am sure she glossed over details, since she did base certain things that older family members had told her. However, Ashley admits he would have freed the slaves when the plantation had become his because he did not believe in slavery; this makes me want to believe there is maybe less glossing, but I cannot know.  It was also hard to read about how the Yankees treated people and places as they took over. Burning cities, pillaging houses, abuse of women. Again, part of me wants to believe that not every Yankee soldier would have taken part in these acts, but I would be naive to say some did not. The part of me that loves history weeps for the parts of history that were lost when they burned Atlanta. Basically, do not read this book if you do not want to think about the truths of the past.

I kept forgetting that the book was written in 1936. I could not have imagined someone writing about such a headstrong woman at a time when women were supposed to be weak and fragile. I realize that a lot of things had changed for women by that time, and probably because of real life Scarlett O'Hara's, but it was still surprising. I wish that Mitchell had written more because I feel that she would have filled my shelves with many women who are empowering in their own ways. I also wish she would have written another book about Scarlett and Rhett (although there is an authorized sequel by Alexandra Ripley that I may read). I am not happy with how they left things. I was so upset that by the time Scarlett tells Rhett she no longer wants to share a bed with him, I was asking my mom if they stayed together. I have a cardinal rule about knowing details about a book I am reading, but I was so invested in the story of Scarlett and Rhett that I could not finish the book without finding out because I needed to prepare myself. I still was not prepared, but more because I did not see the ultimate reason for their separation coming.

(Source: Giphy)

I did not plan to like this book, let alone love it. And after reading it, I feel like it should be on the 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime list. It is groundbreaking, moving, has dynamic characters, and makes you think. It is a beautiful book in every way.

Rating: 10/10
Author: Margaret Mitchell
Genres: Classics, Historical Fiction, Romance
Dates Read: May 14-29, 2019