Gone With the Wind Sandwich Project

            Gone With the Wind is about a stubborn Southern Belle, Scarlett O’Hara, who struggles with love and economic turmoil after the Civil War.  Scarlett has two true loves: herself and Ashley.  Most of the novel Scarlett chases after Ashley while ignoring her real love, Rhett Butler.  Scarlett’s vanity and ignorance to Rhett’s love leave her searching for happiness.

The setting is the South before, during, and after the Civil War.  Tara, a fictional Southern Plantation, and Atlanta are two main locations.  At the beginning of the novel before the war, the setting is plush and abundant.  During the war, the setting is dismal and fiery during the burning of Atlanta.  After the war, the plantations struggle to regain their plush atmosphere.  However, Atlanta is a busy and growing city after the War.

The novel is mainly tearful and dramatic.  There are sweet moments such as the birth of Scarlett and Rhett’s daughter, but the national conflict of the Civil War and the personal conflicts of hunger, poverty, and loss make the novel powerfully dramatic.  The South’s deep demise after the war, affects Scarlett and most of the South in such a debilitating way that you wonder will they ever survive.  This search for survival and rebirth make the novel tearful and heart wrenching.

The main character, protagonist, is Scarlett O’Hara.  She is raise on a thriving Southern Plantation, Tara.  She is raised by her Irish father and devout Catholic mother.  She round because the readers know her loves, her hates, her hopes & dreams, and her biases.  She is dynamic because as the South suffers through the war so does Scarlett.  She cares for a once thought and risks her life for her family.  Scarlett remains selfish and opinionated but she learns to survive and plunder through.

One of my favorite parts of the novel is the first meeting of Scarlett and Rhett.  She is throwing a glass to vent about Ashley, her supposed true love.  She is hysterical and vulnerable and just at this low point, Rhett is discovered hiding in this same room.  Scarlett is embarrassed and angry at Rhett for not revealing himself earlier.  She huffs and puffs out of the room and Rhett laughs the entire time.  This episode begins the love/hate relationship between these two characters.

My favorite craft of Margaret Mitchell is the characterization of Scarlett.  Her motto of  “worrying about that another day” and her selfish yet determined personality make her a character that you love to hate.  Also, the interaction between Rhett and Scarlett make the novel hard to put down.  This is my favorite book of all time.  I always tell my students that movies are never as good as the novel, but Gone With the Wind is the exception.  The movie is as good as the novel.