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murder_burnout_books 's review for:
Gone with the Wind
by Margaret Mitchell
Disclaimer: Slavery is inherently bad, cruel and inhumane. This goes without saying but my reading of this book or any book which contains slavery or paints it as anything other than awful does not represent my personal views on it.
This book is a controversial read. It’s written in a way that sympathizes with the Confederacy. However, I think it’s important to understand the opinions of those you don’t agree with. Gone With The Wind really helps paint the picture of the Southern Gentleman’s opinion on slavery and their opinions about the war. It gives us an understanding about the cultural divide between North and South. Overall, it earns a solid 3 stars from me.
The reason I only gave it three stars was because the depictions of slavery were grueling. It was tough to read something that puts such a rose-colored glass over such a serious subject. I couldn’t get past it even if the point of view was important.
That being out of the way, we have a few bites of information that I’d like to touch on:
Scarlett O’Hara is the antithesis of the southern gentlewoman. While she comes from a family with pedigree and pretends to be gentle and sweet- we learn very quickly from her inner monologue that she is very much a sadistic, manipulative and selfish person. She spends majority of the book making decisions to spite those around her. She has no problem whipping out tears when she knows she’ll benefit from it. She’s not meant to be likable and yet she was. I loved how strong and determined she was. Despite complaining about her destitute (and let’s be honest- if a person is starving they have a right), she did everything within her power to fight back and gain what she lost. Public opinion be damned!
Rhett Butler is instantly in love with her. However, Rhett is at least 20 years older than her. The weird feeling I get when I think about the fact that this adult man was in love with a 16 year old is not great. I’m not sure if this was considered typical or okay during the Civil War era. I digress. He’s sees a lot of himself in her. He’s a very morally gray character and it’s really up to the reader to decide whether he’s more good than bad or vice versa. What I will say is that I thought Scarlett and Rhett deserved each other.
There’s also Ashley- the southern gentleman who is honor bound but spends the entire novel lusting after Scarlett. We learn he doesn’t love her like he loves his wife Melanie. We learn that Scarlett was an unobtainable fantasy for him and that he likes to play around. He’s just as bad as Rhett and Scarlett, in my opinion. He’s weak minded and unappreciative of what he has until the very end when he loses his wife.
Melanie, or Melly, is quite literally the only character in the novel who is beyond reproach. She is strong despite being physically weak. She is willing to do anything and everything to defend and help the people she loves. She never forgets about the people who help her- never letting class or pedigree overshadow their character. She’s the type of person that can only see the good in others. She saved this book for me and her only real flaw is her love for the Confederacy.
This book is a historical time capsule for a side whose opinion we don’t see often. If you like history, Gone With the Wind is 100% worth reading. The added romantic element and the depiction of southern geniality and social expectations make it an interesting read. It’s not a novel I could see myself reading again but it’s worth a once over.
This book is a controversial read. It’s written in a way that sympathizes with the Confederacy. However, I think it’s important to understand the opinions of those you don’t agree with. Gone With The Wind really helps paint the picture of the Southern Gentleman’s opinion on slavery and their opinions about the war. It gives us an understanding about the cultural divide between North and South. Overall, it earns a solid 3 stars from me.
The reason I only gave it three stars was because the depictions of slavery were grueling. It was tough to read something that puts such a rose-colored glass over such a serious subject. I couldn’t get past it even if the point of view was important.
That being out of the way, we have a few bites of information that I’d like to touch on:
Scarlett O’Hara is the antithesis of the southern gentlewoman. While she comes from a family with pedigree and pretends to be gentle and sweet- we learn very quickly from her inner monologue that she is very much a sadistic, manipulative and selfish person. She spends majority of the book making decisions to spite those around her. She has no problem whipping out tears when she knows she’ll benefit from it. She’s not meant to be likable and yet she was. I loved how strong and determined she was. Despite complaining about her destitute (and let’s be honest- if a person is starving they have a right), she did everything within her power to fight back and gain what she lost. Public opinion be damned!
Rhett Butler is instantly in love with her. However, Rhett is at least 20 years older than her. The weird feeling I get when I think about the fact that this adult man was in love with a 16 year old is not great. I’m not sure if this was considered typical or okay during the Civil War era. I digress. He’s sees a lot of himself in her. He’s a very morally gray character and it’s really up to the reader to decide whether he’s more good than bad or vice versa. What I will say is that I thought Scarlett and Rhett deserved each other.
There’s also Ashley- the southern gentleman who is honor bound but spends the entire novel lusting after Scarlett. We learn he doesn’t love her like he loves his wife Melanie. We learn that Scarlett was an unobtainable fantasy for him and that he likes to play around. He’s just as bad as Rhett and Scarlett, in my opinion. He’s weak minded and unappreciative of what he has until the very end when he loses his wife.
Melanie, or Melly, is quite literally the only character in the novel who is beyond reproach. She is strong despite being physically weak. She is willing to do anything and everything to defend and help the people she loves. She never forgets about the people who help her- never letting class or pedigree overshadow their character. She’s the type of person that can only see the good in others. She saved this book for me and her only real flaw is her love for the Confederacy.
This book is a historical time capsule for a side whose opinion we don’t see often. If you like history, Gone With the Wind is 100% worth reading. The added romantic element and the depiction of southern geniality and social expectations make it an interesting read. It’s not a novel I could see myself reading again but it’s worth a once over.