Resumo de Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

Book: Gone With The Wind
Author: Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind is probably one of the greatest romance/history novels of our time and definitely falls into the category of classic literature. Not only was it made into an epic movie in 1939 starring King of Hollywood Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, and marked an epoch in film-making, but it was also the author's first and only book written during her lifetime and even won a Pulitzer. The remarkable nature of this achievement has made this book stand apart from others of its genre and inspired a sequel Scarlett by history novelist Alexandra Ripley, which, however, was not very well received by die-hard fans of the novel and its characters.
The reason why, I think, the novel stands most definitely in a class of its own is because I believe it breaks the stereotypes of the romance novel with the fairy-tale ending, where the hero and heroine generally end up living happily ever after. The reason, I believe, why the fans of Mitchell's classic screamed for a sequel most vehemently (and Ripley was selected by the author's estate to write it) is because it is probably closer to real life than most other romance novels, and leaves the reader probably disappointed with the unhappy ending of the unfortunate female protagonist who fails to get her man. The reader is gripped with intense frustration as, after ploughing through the huge volume of the book and living through the various churnings of intense emotions sweeping through the pages of the novel in gigantic waves, he fails to get the ending he might have been hoping for. The reader is left hanging almost in shock and suspense, wondering what happened next? Did she finally get him? Does it end happily? Or is her search just as frustrating as the reader's? It is the mark of a classic. The reader is left with no clue whatsoever and the author did not bother to make an attempt to provide anything in this direction in the form of a sequel. Ripley's sequel played to the gallery and gave readers what they might have wanted, but it lacks the authenticity and charm of the original and somehow fails to please the audience as much as it might have hoped.
The novel revolves around the love story of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. It is set during the time of the American Civil War. The book is also remarkably researched, on the war and its effects on the lives of the common people. It is also a look at the passing of an era - the end of the romance of the South - of parties, estates, black slaves and a civilisation ruled by rich lords and ladies in elegant attire, living out their dreamy lives and closed to the harshness of the world around.
Scarlett is only a young teenager when the novel begins and is one of those women with who dangle men at their fingertips. Rhett Butler, many years older than her, is revealed immediately as the man different from the rest and her mirror image in the opposite sex. He is a rough yet burly and charming man who has a way with women. While definitely in love with her from the start, he stays quite definitely on his feet and handles her feminine wiles with a rough adeptness that throws her quite off balance. He pursues her quite relentlessly through the novel, but lets her know in no uncertain terms that he will not take, in modern terms, any kind of bullshit. Yet, through his hard exterior, a genuine tenderness and love for her is revealed. Scarlett, however, spurns him throughout. She is in love with Ashley Wilkes - a schoolgirl crush that follows her through life. Ashley marries his cousin Melanie Hamilton - an almost impossible epitome of goodness - and dangles Scarlett's affections by incessant talk of the honour of his breed. Rhett, meanwhile, never gives up trying to convince her of the truth of his affections and the remarkable compatibility of their personalities - they are both strong-willed, proud and possess a certain ruthless determination for survival among all o, the sane reader does not condemn Scarlett and even entertains a profound admiration for her grit through all the hard times she is put through. It is a journey to maturity for her, which, unfortunately, she comes closest to only at the end. She finally realises her love for Rhett, the only real man in her life. But it is too late. Rhett's immortal words - 'Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn' - ring out even today. It is a bitter reality at the end. But here again, the book ends on a note of hope. Scarlett rises through her tears, with a vow to get Rhett back. It's the perfect ending, which the reader realises in hindsight and rises in silence with silent applause and dripping with emotion. The book will remain forever immortal. - Prem Paul Ninan

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