Gone with the Wind - My Scarlett Rant

Gone with the Wind

Author: Margaret Mitchell

I love you, Scarlett. Because we are so much alike – renegades, both of us, dear. And selfish rascals. Neither of us cares a rat if the whole world goes to pot, so long as we’re safe and comfortable. –Rhett

God intended women to be timid, frightened creatures. And there’s something unnatural about a woman who isn’t afraid. Scarlett, always save something to fear, even as you save something to love. –Grandma Fontaine

Babies, babies, babies. Why did God make so many babies? But no, God didn't make them. Stupid people made them. – Scarlett O'Hara

And, you, Miss, are no lady. –Rhett

I'll start with the story's description, as found on Wikipedia [for such a renowned and widely-read book, it is hard to find a "description" of the book that sticks to the story's content and doesn't instead focus on the popularity of the book or the praise of its author:

The story is setin Clayton County, Georgia and Atlanta during the American Civil War and Reconstruction, and depicts the experiences of Scarlett O'Hara, the spoiled daughter of the well-to-do plantation owner, who must use every means at her disposal to come out of the poverty she finds herself in after Sherman's March to the Sea.

Never have I hated a protagonist as much as I hate Scarlett O’Hara. “Hate is a strong word,” you say? Then I’ve chosen correctly. Without fail, every time I felt her renewing herself with a thought or an action, she said or did or thought something to the contrary that just made me remember how strongly I hated her.

I chose the audio version of this book due to its length. And for a brief, fleeting moment, I thought perhaps it was the reader’s depiction of Scarlett’s voice or haughtiness that appalled me. But, it was not. The words, no matter whose voice read them, were the same.

I often found myself yelling at the recording as I drove to or from work, to or from a doctor’s appointment, to or from my parents’ house. I yelled at Scarlett; I yelled at Ashley; I yelled at Margaret Mitchell. I wanted to know how she could create such a horrible, horrible protagonist and such a god-awful supporting character (for I hate Ashley almost as much as I hate Scarlett, but more on him later).

Never have I read a character more selfish, manipulative, shallow and downright evil as Scarlett O'Hara. She does maybe two things in the whole book that do not somehow benefit her – and even those things, I’m sure, were done accidentally. Even at the end when she finally realizes how very much she loved, needed and depended on the dying Melanie, Scarlett’s thoughts scream out to God to know why he has done such a cruel thing to her, Scarlett, by taking away her friend. Not even on Melly’s deathbed does Scarlett allow the celestial spotlight to be removed from her head.

And then there’s Ashley. I tried to like him. I tried to appreciate the fact that he shunned Scarlett’s love in favor of his morals, as he was first an engaged, and then a married man. I yelled at Scarlett that he didn’t really love her and she needed to get over him and let him be. She was so convinced that he loved her and wanted her and would do anything for her, that he was silently suffering because of his upbringing and moral integrity. And I tried to tell her she was wrong.

And then came wood-splitting Scene where Ashley, irresistible to Scarlett’s charms and apparently finally giving in to his suppressed desires, takes her in his arms and kisses her and professes his love for her. And that’s when I lost all respect for Ashley and deemed him almost as wretched as Scarlett herself.

This book is always touted as one of the greatest love stories of all time. I’m not entirely sure if this supposed love affair is supposed to be between Scarlett and Ashley or Scarlett and Rhett or Melanie and Ashley. Each of these affairs ends in tragedy. But as far as I’m concerned, the only true love affair in this book is Scarlett’s love affair with herself.

My takeaway: Just as the saying goes, there are two sides to every story, and there are two sides to every war; the American Civil War is no different, in that the only point of view I remember being taught as a legitimate one was that of the Union – the winning side, and the side with which I’ve most associated with – which makes it hard to remember that the Confederates felt just as strongly about their own views, and saw the Union as ones in the wrong. And Scarlett is a bitch.