Gone with the Wind explores the transformation that occurred in the Southern United States during and after the Civil War. Scarlet O'Hara is the spoiled daughter of a wealthy plantation owner. Her life changes drastically as the war breaks out, reducing her to poverty. With a strong will and commitment to Tara, her family's property, Scarlet is able to pull herself out of adversity. Though she ends up losing her marriage and her pregnancy by the end of the book, she still has her land.
If Gone with the Wind has a theme it is that of survival. What makes some people come through catastrophes and others, apparently just as able, strong, and brave, go under? It happens in every upheaval. Some people survive; others don't. What qualities are in those who fight their way through triumphantly that are lacking in those that go under? I only know that survivors used to call that quality 'gumption.' So I wrote about people who had gumption and people who didn't.— Margaret Mitchell,1936
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