Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas
explored in a literary work.
The Transformation of Southern Culture
Gone with the Wind is both a romance and a meditation
on the changes that swept the American South in the 1860s.
The novel begins in 1861, in the days before
the Civil War, and ends in 1871, after the
Democrats regain power in Georgia. The South changes completely
during the intervening years, and Mitchell’s novel illustrates the
struggles of the Southern people who live through the Civil War
era.
The novel opens in prewar Georgia, where tradition, chivalry, and
pride thrive. As the Civil War begins, the setting shifts to Atlanta,
where the war causes the breakdown of traditional gender roles and
power structures. When the South loses the war and the slaves are
freed, putting a stop to the Southern way of life, the internal
conflict intensifies. White men fear black men, Southerners hate profiteering
or domineering Northerners, and impoverished aristocrats resent
the newly rich. Mitchell’s main characters embody the conflicting
impulses of the South. Ashley stands for the Old South; nostalgic
and unable to change, he weakens and fades. Rhett, on the other
hand, opportunistic and realistic, thrives by planting one foot in
the Old South and one foot in the New, sometimes even defending the
Yankees.
Overcoming Adversity with Willpower
Scarlett manages to overcome adversity through brute strength
of will. She emerges as a feminist heroine because she relies on
herself alone and survives the Civil War and Reconstruction unaided.
She rebuilds Tara after the Yankee invasion and works her way up
in the new political order, taking care of helpless family members
and friends along the way. Mitchell suggests that overcoming adversity sometimes
requires ruthlessness. Scarlett becomes a cruel businesswoman and
a domineering wife, willingly coarsening herself in order to succeed.
Other characters succeed by exercising willpower, among them Old
Miss Fontaine, who watched Indians scalp her entire family as a
child and then gritted her teeth and worked to raise her own family
and run a plantation. Rhett Butler also wills his way to success,
although he covers up his bullheaded willpower with a layer of ease
and carelessness.
The Importance of Land
In Chapter II, Gerald tells Scarlett that “[l]and is the
only thing in the world that amounts to anything.” At critical junctures
Scarlett usually remembers that land, specifically Tara, is the
only thing that matters to her. When Scarlett escapes to Tara from
Atlanta during the war, she lies sick and weak in the garden at
neighboring Twelve Oaks and the earth feels “soft and comfortable
as a pillow” against her cheek. After feeling the comfort of the
land, she resolves to look forward and continue the struggle with
newfound vigor. Scarlett prizes land even over love. When Ashley
rejects Scarlett’s proposed affair, he gives her a clump of Tara’s
dirt and reminds her that she loves Tara more than she loves him.
Feeling the dirt in her hand, Scarlett realizes that Ashley is right.
At the end of the novel, when all else is lost, Scarlett thinks
of Tara and finds strength and comfort in its enduring presence.
