A Reader's Guide to Books and Reviews

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Genre:
Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Civil War, 1860 Decade, American History, Adult, Epic Historical, Classic, North v South, Confederacy v North, Romance, Historical Romance, Pulitzer Prize

Publication Date:
June 30th, 1936

Page Numbers:
959

Read/Finished Date:
February 1st, 2025 - February 8th, 2025

Rating:
4.8/5

Premise:

Since its original publication in 1936, Gone with the Wind—winner of the Pulitzer Prize and one of the bestselling novels of all time—has been heralded by readers everywhere as The Great American Novel.

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

Widely considered The Great American Novel, and often remembered for its epic film version, Gone with the Wind explores the depth of human passions with an intensity as bold as its setting in the red hills of Georgia. A superb piece of storytelling, it vividly depicts the drama of the Civil War and Reconstruction.

This is the tale of Scarlett O’Hara, the spoiled, manipulative daughter of a wealthy plantation owner, who arrives at young womanhood just in time to see the Civil War forever change her way of life. A sweeping story of tangled passion and courage, in the pages of Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell brings to life the unforgettable characters that have captured readers for over seventy years.

Review:

I remember my first reading of this book. I was in seventh grade, and one of the campus patrols who had seen me reading all the time encouraged me to pick up this book. I came home and told my mom about the recommendation that she had taken me to the bookstore in the mall to get it.

I'm not going to lie: This book was daunting, and I was unsure if I could read it all, but my mom told me if I did, she would get the movie for us to watch together. So in between lunch and homework, I would use the little bit of time to read.

How long did it take me to finish the book? A month. A full month because I had schoolwork and projects that needed my attention, but I made sure to read the book during bouts of exams (shortly after finishing the exams, we were allowed to do whatever we wished).

Scarlett O'Hara is a headstrong, spoiled, and determined young woman from a wealthy Southern family. All through the book, we see how obsessed she is with a man named Ashley Wilkes, who recently married his cousin, Melanie Hamilton. Even with her singular and obsessive pursuit of Ashley Wilkes, Scarlett does her best to show Ashley that he has married the wrong woman. Unfortunately for her, Ashley does not seem to share her sentiment and gently tries to dissuade her from her pursuit.

As Scarlett navigates through the horrors of the Civil War, she returns to her home, Tara, only to find it struggling. The slaves have all deserted, and those who have stayed behind find themselves doing the best they can. Scarlett's mother has passed away, and her father is dying, putting everything on Scarlett's shoulders.

Rhett Butler, a rather charming and cunning blockade runner who made his money by working for the South, is the antithesis of the gentleman, Ashley Wilkes. While Ashley is everything of a Southern gentleman, Rhett Butler is confident, quick-witted, and unafraid to bend the rules to make a name for himself. His boldness and demeanor are what draw our heroine. To Scarlett, he offers an escape from the restraints of Southern society's idealism of how women should behave. He offers her a passion that she would never get from Ashley.

Scarlett's character does seem to evolve throughout the novel, but there are moments where it does look like she steps back in her spoiled moments. Despite her complete hatred for Melanie, the two of them form a small bond where Melanie does lean on Scarlett for support. These seem to be moments where Scarlett's growth shows. She is not the spoiled young woman she was in the beginning.

She is forced to grow up, forced to take on the responsibility of keeping Tara afloat and feeding those who were still with them. Her drive to return Tara to its once-former glory.All of this shows her slow transformation from a spoiled young woman to a strong and resilient young woman.

My opinion? While I understand the historical significance of the Civil War, I think the book could have been trimmed down just a tad, but Scarlett had so many husbands and children that I can see the reason behind its length.

Do I think this book should be on the banned list? No, I think this book should be read and know that Mitchell was a product of her time—racist. I see this book as a love letter to the slave owners and the hardships they went through when the slaves were freed.

And the ending? This leaves us open to imagination. I believe that if the digital age had been around, there would have been a lot of fanfiction for this book to have its story well-ended. Would Margaret Mitchell allow this? I cannot be sure, but I would probably say no because I don't think she believed this novel needed one.

Similar Books:

Ruth's Journey: The Authorized Novel of Mammy from Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind by Donald McCaig
Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley
Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig