Gone with the Wind
Gone with the WindGone with the Wind Written by Margaret Mitchell Summarized by Brian Payton The novel being summarized is titled Gone with the Wind, written by Margaret Mitchell. It was published in 1936, after it took her seven years to write, and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1937. Gone with the Wind was the only book Ms. Mitchell wrote and is an American Classic. Gone with the Wind was a story of men and women living in the south during the war between the states and of the south�s transformation after the was. The novel began in about 1861 at Tara and Twelve Oaks, two southern plantations in Georgia. We were given a glance of the hospitality and generosity of plantation life. When the men went off to war, the women moved to Atlanta. While in Atlanta, they worked as nurses as they awaited the return of their men. Sherman�s troops marched in and burned Atlanta, so the women were forced to leave. They returned to Tara, where we observed the destruction and desolation of the land. After the war, the story shifted back and forth between Atlanta and Tara. We experienced the struggles to save Tara, rebuild Atlanta, and the effects of the carpetbaggers. The story continued until about 1871 as the main characters began to regain the security and grace of the days before the war. There were four main characters in the story. They were Scarlett O�Hara, Ashley Wilkes, Melanie Hamilton-Wilkes, and Rhett Butler. Scarlett, Ashley, and Melanie were raised together, and Rhett Butler was an outsider who came from Charleston. Scarlett was the daughter of a wealthy Irish plantation owner. She was not beautiful but she was spoiled. She was selfish and scheming. She was also charming so men easily fell in love with her. Scarlett was obsessively in love with Ashley Wilkes and attempted several times to lure him away from his lovely wife Melanie. She was also attracted to Rhett Butler and eventually married him. Scarlett was a survivor. When she was faced with a problem, she took charge; whether it was taking care of Melanie when she had the baby, shooting a union soldier, building the lumber company, or taking care of something else. Melanie Hamilton, in contrast to Scarlett, was unselfish and gentle. She always saw the good in people and situations and looked beyond their flaws. She had an inner strength that kept her from complaining about the injustice done on the south and on her loved ones. Melanie married her cousin, Ashley Wilkes; therefore she became Scarlett�s antagonist. Melanie was generous, loving, and forgiving at all times to all people. Although she was physically weak, her heart was strong. In the end her second pregnancy caused her death and she put her trust in Scarlett to take care of her husband and son. Ashley Wilkes was the gentle and elegant son of a plantation owner. He was weak and indecisive. He was not any good at farming or...
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