Scarlett O’Hara of Gone with the Wind

leads a striving but pathetic life

 

When people read this novel thoroughly, they may consider Scarlett O’Hara a controversial lady, admiring her as well as sympathizing to some extent. Loving a man who doesn’t belong to her, she has three unsuccessful marriages. She exerts great effort to save Tara, her home during the war by all kinds of means. Although she possesses good qualities, it is pitiful that she couldn’t live an easy and satisfactory life, on the contrary, making a career which is really hard for women and experiences great misery to achieve that.

 

1) Her Disposition: brave, obstinate, conceited, intent, hardy

“Scarlett is a highly dynamic image” (Bai ye, 52). She is so brave to face everything happening around her that she always stares it down and find solutions. Selfish, wise and conceited, Scarlett inherits the strong will from her Irish father Gerald.

We, as readers, could still recall the vivid scene on the day when the army marched in Atlanta. It is a sultry day, if she knows that Melanie’s pain is getting harder she will definitely send a doctor early. At this emergent moment, however, the doctor cannot come because he has to cure hundreds of wounded soldiers. And at that very nasty day, the Yankees are attacking the city in no time. Nevertheless, the worst thing is she has to face the reality; she has to deliver the baby by herself! Never does she do this kind of affair before, but now she ought to face this difficult situation. How hard she tries to recall everything Mama said about the delivery. Anxious as she is, Scarlett has to recompose herself to arrange all processes and does precisely and swiftly. Scarlett is Scarlett! She accomplished it perfectly! “Now that the excruciating ordeal of helping Melanie through childbirth is over, Scarlett’s self-control collapses.” Fear overwhelms her, turns her into a hysterical child who wants “to bury her head in her mother’s lap…If only she were at home, home with mother.” (Blanche, 7)

Life is still moving on. She never stops and marches onto another journey. How doughty she is to carry two little babies and a young lady who just gave birth through the frontier where the flames of war were still firing. She risks her life to come back to Tara where she was reared. Tara is a refuge that shelters her from sickness and disasters but not in this miserable war time. When she finally got back to it, she found that her dear mother, a lively Bible for her, has gone to heaven. What’s more, his strong-will father was not himself because he couldn’t bear his wife’s death. Still worse, the Yankee army has gone through Tara and took everything valuable with them. Starvation is the greatest problem.

Now chaos lies behind Tara and Scarlett has to shoulder for she is the oldest daughter of the three sisters. “There was no security or heaven to which she could turn now”; there is no one on whose shoulders she can rest her burdens. A wealthy spoiled young lady suddenly becomes the master of the whole family, taking care of her ill-minded papa and two young sick sisters, arranging assignments for the servants and working together with the black in the field. How arduous it is for Scarlett to bear everything in that tough time. She, however, isn’t addicted to the past. Accepting the real cruel world naturally, she does whatever she can to support the whole family. Although her hands are suitable for knitting, her feet are for dancing, everything changes at this moment, they are all for working and stuffing the stomach. “I won’t be hungry again”, she cries from the heart. But she can not desert Tara, “She belonged to the red lands far more than they could ever belong to her. Her roots went deep into the blood-colored soil and sucked up life, as did the cotton”. During this hardship, she does what average men couldn’t achieve.

Once when other family members are working outside, a confederate officer enters the house. She is extremely scared; however she forces herself to be calm. Finally, she bravely lifts a gun from her thigh and shoots him at the forehead. It is really hard to imagine why Scarlett owns such great courage to face that. Hadn’t for her never-ending bullheaded struggle, Tara wouldn’t have survived as well as the persons in her family. What’s more, it is the only intact plantation standing there.

Why a lady possesses such good qualities leads a miserable life? Then it comes to another analysis.

 

2) Her Great Ambition: to save Tara, to earn money, to get a higher status

Sometimes it is really hard to understand Scarlett, why she always does what other women seldom do.

She robs her own sister’s beau and makes him her husband for the purpose of paying the tax for Tara. “She will seduce her sister’s fiancé in order to get his money” (W.J, 108). How could she do this! Unbelievable! The gossip about her becomes a never-ending issue among ladies and matrons in Atlanta. We all realize that she loves Tara and intends to possess it forever. Land is essential for her father and she has responsibility to defend it. “Land is the life of Scarlett’s mother, and Tara is her spiritual home.”(Fu Hua, 62).However, it is inappropriate to tear Suellen’s heart. Isn’t there any better solution to save Tara? Perhaps Scarlett can negotiate with her sister, although sometimes Suellen is too selfish to stand in other people’s shoes. Sullen, however, is also one member of Tara, no matter how egoistic she is, she would have placed the destiny of Tara first. Being natural sisters, they should, however, talk to each other sincerely. Scarlett has no female friends except her mother, Ellen. It is fabulous to understand that even both of her young sisters dislike her. Does every girl envy Scarlett’s beauty? Perhaps they are jealous of her to some extent.

To raise and save enough money, Scarlett buys two sawmills for her. She risks her life to the two lumber stores to make sure everything is normal there soon after the Civil War. Base on that situation, it is quite unsafe outside the street because the black, white trash and confederate armies scatter everywhere. Although her second husband, Frank, appeals her not to do that, she ignores that and does whatever she likes. Somehow, her obstinacy leads Frank’s death, which still couldn’t prevent her from engaging in the stores. She shuttles back and forth in Atlanta city with the whole town talking about her. Eventually she makes a success. Simultaneously she is excluded out of social contacts. All she has done is different from other women and she has made little success of it. That is the one unforgivable sin in any society. “Be different and be damned”. As Rhett, her third husband says to her, “Scarlett, the mere fact that you’ve made a success of your mills is an insult to every man who hasn’t succeeded. Remember, a well-bred female’s place is in the home and she should know nothing about this busy brutal world”. By now, from this angle we know, perhaps only partly, this is the reason why she is “different and damned”. The vital element that causes so many controversies is her great ambition. Is it worthwhile doing a man’s so excellent, but on the other hand, arouses such a dispute?

 

3) Neglect of Others’ Love for Her

In order to make more money, she tries to show her kindness and generosity to the Northerners, carpetbaggers and confederate armies as well as flatter them, which, of course, inflame people in Atlanta. Scarlett is Scarlett. She never cares others’ thinking but gathers the grudge who once despises her and bears in mind that one day when she is rich again; she would laugh at their poverty.

A. ignore love of her three husbands: Charles, Frank, Rhett

a. marriage for revenge: Charles

At heart, I am not fond of her very much. She is so conceit and takes advantage of her beauty and harms the fellows who admire her. Having three marriages, she marries not because of loving them, but for others unspoken reasons. It is horrible for a woman to do such things. The first one is to revenge. Ashley is her sweet heart; however, he was to going to marry Melanie. How dare him! From then on, she hates Melanie the rest of her life and tries every means to hurt and insult her. Hence Scarlett decides to marry Melanie’s older brother, Charles Hamilton. Charles loves Scarlett deeply and regards her as the most valuable treasure. When she admits to be his wife, he feels so great and surprising. Scarlett, on the other hand, considers marriage as a game and never ponders what marriage is. When people are doing something, they should think over what the result could be. If men, just like Charles are really aware of what the feeling inside her heart, they will get hurt deeply. However, he dies in the army because of disease soon after they married. Everybody around Scarlett thinks that she is so miserable to become a widow in such an early age and feel pathetic toward her, on the contrary, she doesn’t sense any pain of losing her husband but the annoyances are that she has to wear black suit for three years and couldn’t dance in the public. Anyone who loves Scarlett may be hurt.

b. marriage for money: Frank

Then here comes the second marriage. As we just mention above, she plunders her sister’s boyfriend, Frank. Another man falls in love with her. Any man will be flattered when Scarlett casts sheep’s eye at him. Frank, unfortunately, is one of the victims. Frank is much older than Scarlett, loving her unreasonably. Although sometimes he doesn’t agree with her, he exerts hard to persuade her. Nevertheless the love between them is not equivalent, which of course will cause affliction to each other. Frank, at last, gives up. Let Scarlett do whatever she likes. It is hard to imagine how a husband can tolerate his wife shows her face in public during the dangerous time! A woman doesn’t stay at home to play the role of a housewife with heart and soul, instead, running business. A kind man has to undertake his wife controversial behavior and bear the gossip around them. To protect Scarlett, Frank joins and initiates an action to revenge on the confederate army, however, which leads the death. This may arouse anger among most of the readers. 

c. marriage for fun: Rhett

Until now, I couldn’t figure out the exact reason that she wants to marry Rhett, her third husband. Of course, Rhett owns a large sum of money so that the rest of Scarlett’s life would be easier and most important; she could wear expensive dress to show her beauty and sneer at other’s poverty. In this novel, I love Rhett most. He is such a perfect man that most women prefer, though he owns some qualities which are not accepted during that time. He Loves and understands Scarlett so deeply that he knows every act about her. He once says to Scarlett, “we are the same kind of person”. He spoils Scarlett as if she were his child, giving what he owns and satisfies her greedy appetite. However, he doesn’t complain for he indeed loves her. They together are not a blessed couple acknowledged by Atlantic people. Rhett realizes this while Scarlett ignores everything. Being a good husband, especially a competent father, in order to create a better environment for their child he makes his mind and takes actions to change people’s prejudices toward them. Later, he actually attains that. One side love is not enough to make a successful marriage, which is destined to be failed. “After losing Rhett Scarlett does realize how deep she loves him, including his muscularity, brusquer, enthusiasm and reality.” (Fu Hua, 77)

B. ignore the maternal love in herself

Scarlett has three marriages and three children; however, it is difficult to perceive maternal love remained inside her. Her oldest son, Wade is afraid of his own mother and even feels more amiable when staying with his aunt. She seldom considers what Wade thinks about, but only scares and shouts at him. Can a pure and frail heart sustain such reprimand which comes from his dearest mum? “Inability to understand the meaning of being a lady” (Elizabeth, 402). From this angle, we feel how lamentable Scarlett is. Building a healthy character is essential for every child, but being a mother Scarlett lacks the basic quality, which contributing coward nature to Wade to some degree. Her litter daughter is extremely scared of being in the darkness. Scarlett is annoyed by her baby’ when it cries loudly in the midnight, let alone figure out any solutions. All her children prefer to stay with Rhett, although he is a stepfather of the two old children.

 

Scarlett is such a beautiful, wise, hardy lady that seldom women can match; however, she lives a striving and pathetic life. Most of her deeds are still unacceptable in today’s society, I think. She is so masculine and ambitious, which, definitely are excellent points. Nevertheless, they depend on how you handle. Had she realized others’ love for her earlier and respected them, she would have lived a better and cozier life. A woman possesses such good qualities shouldn’t be abandoned by life and the people around her. Lady with such conspicuous features, perhaps, is doomed to live a more difficult life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

[1]Bai Ye. 1980. What Kind of Book “Gone With The Wind” Is (《Piao》Shi Zen Yang Yi Ben Shu),Zhejiang People Press.

[2]Blanche H. 1981. “‘Gone with the Wind’ and the Impossibilities of Fiction”. The Southern Literary Journal.

[3]Stuckey W. J.1966.New Brands of Individualism [M]. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.

[4] Fu Hua. 2004. Women Live in Masterpieces (Huo Zai Ming Zhu Zhong de Nv Xing). Ningxia People Press

[5]Elizabeth, F. 1981, “Scarlett O’Hara: The Southern Lady as New Woman”. American Quarterly.