Gone With The Wind Sparknotes

Gone With The Wind a novel by Margaret Mitchell deals with the themes and struggles related to the times of the Civil War and the Reconstruction in the South. Mitchell wrote this book after an injury ended her career as a journalist. She wrote from a strictly Southern point of view, and the history and input of her family members helped her better understand the hardships the Georgians faced in the war and post-war periods. Mitchell’s goal in writing this book was to memorialize the Confederacy and bring the younger generations into an understanding that while many immortalize the leaders, they were merely men and the ideals of the confederacy were immoral. Gone With The Wind begins with the life of a Southern Belle, Miss Scarlett O’Hara flirting with two beaux on the brink of the

Mitchell focuses on the Southern reasons for fighting, and mostly ignores the arguments of the North. A fear of Northerners can be seen in Wade’s irrational fear of Yankees, which leads him to cling to his “Auntee,” Melanie. In general Northerners are portrayed negatively through rumors of pillaging, murder, and rape, but few instances exist where can be seen as kindly; such as the doctor who helped tend to the ailing O’Hara women during the battle of Jonesboro. Mitchell frequently refers to the glorification of the Confederacy as at the bazaar where one of the confederate anthems is played and the audience seems to go into a trance-like worship before the shrines to President Jefferson Davis and Vice President Alexander Stephens. Mitchell is a Southerner and her sources were primarily those found in a Southern family—the traditions passed down, the tales of the glory and shame of war, and the heritage to which so many cling. However, Mitchell does not continue in the over glorification, she takes a more unbiased approach, using Rhett to highlight the flaws in much of the Southern