From the Bookshelf of Classics for Beginners…

Gone with the Wind

Margaret Mitchell

Start date: July 1, 2014

Finish date: September 30, 2014

Discussion: Tri-monthly Read

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Tri-monthly Read

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Aug 01, 2011 ☯Emily Ginder rated it it was ok

Shelves: classics

I had rated this book 5 Stars before this last read. I gave it that based on the fact that I had read it in high school and finished it in five days.

However, this time I rate the book with 2 stars because, as an adult with historical knowledge and more consciousness of racial injustice, I realized this book is pure propaganda. What a contrast to reading Uncle Tom's Cabin!

According to Margaret Mitchell, slaves were child-like and loved to be slaves. No slave was misused or abused, but all were tr I had rated this book 5 Stars before this last read. I gave it that based on the fact that I had read it in high school and finished it in five days.

However, this time I rate the book with 2 stars because, as an adult with historical knowledge and more consciousness of racial injustice, I realized this book is pure propaganda. What a contrast to reading Uncle Tom's Cabin!

According to Margaret Mitchell, slaves were child-like and loved to be slaves. No slave was misused or abused, but all were treated like one's favorite pet. Most facial descriptions of the slaves involved words like monkey, dog, or some other animal. After the Civil War, the good blacks were the ones who stayed with their former masters and helped out the family, while the bad blacks were the ones who wanted to vote, to be paid for their work, or the ones who decided to join the political world.

The book tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler from 1860-1872. She is first seen as a flirtatious 16 year old determined to have the one man who won't marry her, Ashley Wilkes. It ends 12 years later when Scarlett is finally able to marry Ashley, but then decides she doesn't want him. During those 12 years of active longing for Ashley, Scarlett's old life as the daughter of a plantation owner disappears in the Civil War. She becomes frightened when Atlanta is overrun with Northern soldiers. She leaves and goes back to Tara, her plantation, to find it in ruins. Scarlett is brave and obstinate. She saves the plantation from being burned when the Union Army comes through; she saves her family from starvation; she comes through the war and early Reconstruction period through hard work and scheming. She is determined never to be hungry again. She is determined to be rich. She meets her goals, but in the process she alienates most of her friends and all of her family.

Scarlett has to be one of the most unlikeable protagonist in literature. She is scheming, amoral and unlovable. She has no regard for others. She is out for numero uno and she doesn't care who she uses or steps on to get what she wants. One man loves her and understands her, but she is not interested, until she can't have him. That is part of Scarlett's problem. She wants what she can't have and if/when she gets it, she is no longer interested.

I hear people say that GWTW is their favorite book and Scarlett their favorite heroine. I have to ask myself why. How does one read propaganda with a degenerate heroine and proclaim it is their favorite book? ...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Sheila rated it it was amazing

Shelves: pulitzer-prize, boxalls-1001

Scarlett O'Hara is a very passionate character. She married a stranger to seek revenge against her ideal lover, Ashley Wilkes, because he loves another woman. She ruined her hands and hurt her back from bending too much to pick cotton that she might sell them for food to feed her family. When Rhett Butler was too casual or glib, she lied about her true feelings for him. When Scarlett demands more work, more money, or more involvement in matters important to her, she must get it or she will ruin ...more

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Jul 16, 2010 Erika B. (SOS BOOKS) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, clean-read, favorite-boy-award, mind-blown, adult-read, pg-romance

I read that Gone With the Wind was rejected by publishers 25 times because they said no one wanted to read stories about the Civil War. I'm so glad that was proved wrong because Scarlett O' Hara is one of my favorite protagonist of all time! ...more

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