Gone With The Wind

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1936

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-4

Part 1, Chapters 5-7

Part 2, Chapters 8-11

Part 2, Chapters 12-16

Part 3, Chapters 17-23

Part 3, Chapters 24-30

Part 4, Chapters 31-36

Part 4, Chapters 37-41

Part 4, Chapters 42-47

Part 5, Chapters 48-54

Part 5, Chapters 55-63

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Old Guard

Content Warning: This section reproduces an outdated, offensive racial slur via a quotation.

Even though Atlanta is considered a new city, it is dominated by the social elite who trace their roots to the aristocratic coastal families of Charleston and Savannah. Rhett first uses the expression “Old Guard” to refer to these last standard bearers of antebellum planter society. They function as choric figures throughout the novel and symbolically relate to the theme of Planter Class Assumptions of Dominance.

When faced with the changes that Reconstruction brings, most of the Old Guard refuse to adapt. They cling to outmoded customs and rigid rules of conduct that no longer serve any practical purpose. Scarlett frequently notes the genteel poverty into which these formerly wealthy families have fallen. Some are willing to degrade themselves by opening boarding houses or selling pies, but none wish to dirty their hands by engaging in real commerce. They also don’t want to form business alliances with the Yankees, the carpetbaggers, or the scalawags who have taken over the town.

Members of the Old Guard perceive themselves as superior to the upstart hustlers who have overrun the city. Their scorn is both commercial and moral. Anyone who manages to prosper in the new economy is perceived as crooked. Once Scarlett leaves the cloying atmosphere of social disapproval in Atlanta, she is surprised and delighted by the nouveau riche acquaintances she meets in New Orleans. She then brings these people into her social circle in Atlanta. Unlike his wife, Rhett recognizes that connections to the Old Guard must also be nurtured if he hopes to see his daughter marry well one day. He is willing to conform to convention for the sake of Bonnie. The social power of the Old Guard remains strong, even after their wealth and political influence are gone, much as the Lost Cause narrative gained traction even in the face of contradictory facts.

Atlanta

The city of Atlanta is described so frequently in the novel that it becomes a character in its own right, symbolizing the theme of Adaptability as Key to Survival. Just as Scarlett is scorned by the Old Guard for her willingness to engage in commerce, Atlanta itself is frequently regarded in the same light. The town is approximately the same age as Scarlett and has become a brash upstart among the quieter cities of rural Georgia:

Scarlett had always liked Atlanta for the very same reasons that made Savannah, Augusta and Macon condemn it. Like herself, the town was a mixture of the old and new in Georgia, in which the old often came off second best in its conflicts with the self-willed and vigorous new (184).

Like Scarlett, Atlanta suffers a number of catastrophes over the course of the war. It is invaded and then burned by Sherman’s army. Most of the fine old homes are gone by the time Scarlett is ready to return from Tara. Rhett often points out that there is more money to be made from the destruction of a civilization than from its formation, and Atlanta exemplifies this aphorism.

It is doubtful that Scarlett could engage in commerce in the rural areas around Jonesboro. Frank’s store in Atlanta succeeds because it caters to customers from all races in all walks of life. When the building boom after the war requires an endless supply of lumber, Scarlett jumps in quickly to fill the need for merchandise and building materials. Like Atlanta, she is ready to capitalize on the growth opportunities left in the wake of disaster.

Scarlett’s Nightmare

Throughout the novel, Scarlett is plagued by a recurring nightmare in which she is running through the fog, trying to get to something just out of reach. The nightmare is a symbol of unfulfilled desire and relates to the theme of Pining for Lost Love. Scarlett herself doesn’t perceive the connection for much of the story. She describes the dream to Rhett, and he has as little luck in figuring it out as she does. Her descriptions of cold and hunger might mislead one into thinking the dream is about the quest for material gain. Deciphering the nightmare’s meaning plagues both the reader and Scarlett until the night of Melanie’s death.

As she leaves the Wilkes home to walk back to her own, Scarlett is assailed by the living embodiment of her dream. It is a foggy night, and she is alone in the dark. The panic of this waking nightmare sends her running up the street until the full meaning finally hits her. She realizes that she has been running in search of love but also realizes for the first time that Ashley doesn’t represent what she seeks: “It was not Ashley—oh, never Ashley! There was no more warmth in him than in a marsh light, no more security than in quicksand. It was Rhett” (1314).

As has been noted previously, pining for lost love is endemic among many of the characters in Gone with the Wind in the same way that Southern society pines for the past and seeks gratification in the Lost Cause narrative. Scarlett is one of the few characters who transcend this longing. After having finally recognized the truth, she shifts her focus from past to future and may find happiness in doing so: “She was not afraid of the darkness or the fog and […] would never fear them again. No matter what mists might curl around her in the future, she knew her refuge” (1316).

Mammy and Uncle Peter

The two most prominent Black characters in the novel are Mammy and Uncle Peter, both of whom symbolize The Myth of Benign Enslavement promoted by the Lost Cause narrative. The two figures parallel one another in their household roles. Mammy is the head servant at Tara, while Uncle Peter is the majordomo of Aunt Pittypat’s home. Both characters have higher status within the hierarchy of enslavement, which elevates servants who work within the household over field hands.

Because of this elevated status, both are depicted in ways that not only emphasize their intimate proximity to the people who enslave them but even suggest their dominance over the planters. Of Mammy, Mitchell writes, “Mammy felt that she owned the O’Haras, body and soul, that their secrets were her secrets” (33). Charles Hamilton’s later description of Uncle Peter is virtually identical: “He’s the smartest old darky I’ve ever seen and about the most devoted. The only trouble with him is that he owns the three of us, body and soul, and he knows it” (186).

This inverted relationship implied between planters and the people they enslaved serves to counteract criticism of the system. Scarlett frequently expresses her anger at Northerners who read Uncle Tom’s Cabin as if it were fact but know nothing of the true relations between the races in the South. Her attitude comes directly from the Lost Cause myth of amiable interdependence between servant and served. Both Uncle Peter and Mammy decide to stay with the white families they serve, even after emancipation, further distorting the reality of enslavement for the vast majority of people who experienced it.