Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell's Classic Novel Set in the Civil War Era

GONE WITH THE WIND

Gone with the Wind is a novel written by Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936. The story is set in Clayton County, Georgia, and Atlanta during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era. The novel illustrates the struggles of the Southern people who lived through the Civil War era.

The Author Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. One novel by Mitchell was published during her lifetime, Gone with the Wind, for which she won the National Book Award for Most Distinguished Novel of 1936 and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937.

The Civil War-era A four years civil war in the United States. Divisions between the free North and the slaveholding South erupted into a full- scale conflict after the election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860.

The Characters: Scarlett O'Hara The protagonist of Gone with the Wind. She is a pretty Southern girl who grows up on the Georgia plantation of Tara She was very determined and self- sufficient. She loved her home more than anything and it kept her from falling into despair. She represent the changing south after the civil war.

The Characters: Rhett Butler Son of a wealthy old Charleston family and Scarlett s third husband. A dashing, dangerous adventurer. By the end of the war, Rhett is one of the few wealthy people in the South. He symbolizes the New South, the values of entrepreneurship and ruthless opportunism that the South is forced to adopt under the influence of the North in order to survive the war.

The Characters: Ashley Wilkes A handsome and honorable heir to the Twelve Oaks plantation near Tara. Scarlett s childhood love interest. He represents the Old South. He is unwilling or unable to change with the times.

The Characters: Melanie Hamilton Ashley Wilkes wife and Scarlet friend. She is a fragile and delicate women who have inner strength allowing her to stand beside her husband in difficult times. She represent the old graceful living of the south.

Summery: Scarlett O'Hara is the daughter of an Irish immigrant who in 1861 owns a plantation named Tara in Georgia. Scarlett is in love with Ashley Wilkes, who, although attracted to her, marries his cousin, Melanie Hamilton. As the Civil War begins, Scarlett accepts a proposal of marriage from Melanie's brother, Charles Hamilton, who soon dies of disease in training. Scarlett's main concern regarding his death is that she must wear black and cannot attend parties.

Summery: After the war, Scarlett inherits Tara and manages to keep the place going. When Scarlett cannot get money from Rhett to pay the taxes on Tara, she marries her sister's fianc , Frank Kennedy, takes control of his business, and increases its profitability with business practices that make many Atlantans resent her.

Summery: After Frank's death, Scarlett marries Rhett, who is aware of her passion for Ashley but hopes that one day she will come to love him instead. Scarlett eventually comes to realize that she does love Rhett, but only once the couple has been through so much that Rhett has fallen out of love with her.

Theme Mitchell said: "If the novel has a theme it is that of survival, What makes some people able to come through catastrophes and others, apparently just as able, strong and brave, go under? It happens in every upheaval. Some people survive; others don't. What qualities are in those who fight their way through triumphantly that are lacking in those who go under...? I only know that the survivors used to call that quality 'gumption.' So I wrote about the people who had gumption and the people who didn't."