Gone with the Wind

The heroine of this book, Scarlett O’Hara, is probably the most fascinating and unexpected woman I have ever read about. She is the naughtiest, craziest, cleverest, most jealous, bravest, most daring girl.

The novel is set around the American Civil War, and I had never thought that a book about war could be so amazing. Margaret Mitchell has written with such a flow that nobody would ever get bored or confused reading it. Scarlett’s relationships with Rhett Butler, Ashley Wilkes and Melanie, the conflicts within her life, her love of parties and gowns, her carelessness and independence: every aspect of her is vivacious. She is what every girl wants to be like, and at other times she is someone you would just want to slap and shout at.

I felt like I went through the same starvation Scarlett and her family went through, and it made me hungry myself. Her hunger for money and security felt very real, and she was the bravest girl to go through all those miseries and rise up again. In spite of everything that happened to her, she never gave up hope. She was hopelessly optimistic, and she always says that tomorrow is a new day and everything can start anew. But you could also be bewildered, mad and sorry for her for the roads she took to become rich. It cost her a good deal of reputation and time.

Melanie is the opposite of Scarlett, but brave and loving. She is so good that every time I read the novel I thought how nice it would be to have a friend like her, who never judges anyone.

I, like Scarlett, never understood Rhett Butler. He is good, but he tries to be bad to her. And I was so sad imagining the fear and regret on his face when the daughter he loved most died. How he must have suffered.

The ending was sad, and yet hopeful. Scarlett never loses hope, does she?