Gone with the Wind Book Review

“The people who have brains and courage come through and the ones who haven’t are winnowed out.”

I was, as I believe is the same with many, under the impression that “Gone with the Wind” was a romance novel, full of fluff and happy endings. After finishing, I have realized it is truly a tale about survival. This story follows Scarlett O’Hara as she fights to survive the fall of the confederacy and find a way to protect her family and future.

I cannot say I was Scarlett’s biggest fan. I found her hard to like and at the end of the novel was left with an overwhelming sense of pity for her. However, it is my belief that was Margaret Mitchell’s point. Scarlett was a strong willed woman who was despised by many for her actions and decisions- which were considered scandalous. My main issue with her was that she couldn’t see what she had in front of her the whole time. She only ever wanted more. I have began to realize that she represents human nature. She is all the greed and selfishness we tend to hide in ourselves. Melanie Wilkes, who is gentle, kind, thoughtful and loving enough to earn the respect of a disrespectful character like Rhett Butler, represents society or how we wish to be seen. The jealousy between Scarlett and Melanie, show us how we want to be shown in a good light, even with all of our flaws. “Gone with the Wind” shows an accurate portrayal of humanity as we don’t want to see it-- full of the darkness and negativity we try to hide from those around us.

Mitchell developed a sorrowful tale of the southern loss of the Civil War beautifully. It highlighted the beliefs, attitudes and actions of the southerners in a way that made it easy to understand. While I personally disagree with their way of life, Mitchell paints it in such a way that shows the normality of their thought-processes. I found myself heartbroken over the loss of confederate soldiers and anger at the Union for disrupting their way of life, which is something I never thought I could feel.

While this book is a daunting 1,447 pages (at least my copy was, my mother’s was around 800-900 pages) it mimics the easy nature of their lives. There are barbecues drawn out for 100 pages while shocking events are condensed into as little as a sentence. At first, I thought I would hate that. I didn’t want to read 40 pages of whose who, but I was drawn into their world of propriety and scandal. I think if Gone with the Wind was 1,000 more pages, I would have kept reading. Through this book, I fell in love with the drawl of southern life. And now that it is over I don’t know what to do with myself. But at least I know what Rhett would tell me:

“My dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Content Warnings: racial slurs