Victoire!

VEEK-TWAR!! (yes, my high school did in fact expose me to French class bingo)

I have finished all 1037 pages of Gone With The Wind. Actually, I finished yesterday and started writing an update, but I had to stop for some reason and now it is lost. Anyway, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED this book. Even though the last hundred or so pages were pretty rough, I still enjoyed it. In fact, I think this may be one of my favorite books of all time. Next entry I'll list the books I have read in the order that I liked them.

ANYWAY I'm not really in the mood to do a huge character analysis or anything like that, so I think today I will be agreeing or disagreeing with Sparknotes in my interpretation of the book, characters, themes, etc.

Sparknotes says that Scarlett embodies the South from pre-war days, through war days, and then through reconstruction as she changes from belle to widow to rich businesswoman. Ashley is supposed to be the old south and Rhett the new south. This all makes sense to me. But what about when Rhett walked out on the second to last page? The New South left Scarlett? hmm.....that is not making as much sense anymore. I prefer to think of it as Ellen representing the Old South, as well as Bonnie. Ellen's manners, habit of never having her back touch the back of a chair, keeping the books on the plantation, and nursing the sick show the charm of married women in the old south. However, during the war, the Old South dies and thus so does Ellen. Bonnie, named after the Bonnie Blue of the Confederate flag, also shows the old south. She is spoiled, shown off, and comes from a wealthy family. Even though she is born and raised in the New South, Rhett, treats her like a belle and expects her to be one as she grows up. She also resembles Gerald, who is another reminder of the old times. She too dies, showing the collapse of that sort of society. The fact that she dies in the same way that Gerald does is no coincidence either and draws more attention to the old days, especially with the flashback Scarlett has as Bonnie is jumping the gate.

I read the rest of sparknotes and in general it was on target, while at the same time a little sparse.

I'm not really sure what else to say...I've typed this entry at least twice because it kept getting erased/internet crashed. I admire Scarlett's perseverance in the face of her world crashing around her and everyone she loves leaving her. I admire Rhett's nonchalance and habit of stating things as they are. And I admire Mammy for stating things as they are as well, and controlling Scarlett, who is controlled by no one.

Overall, a great book, exciting read, highly recommend. The end. Tomorrow is another day.