GWTW--if it were written today........

[LauraMax]

I'm just about done. I just got to my very favorite part of the story--where Scarlett finally does something smart re. her love life & marries Rhett. I just love the way he spoils her rotten! Even though she's still a moron about the fact that she loves him & can't admit it.

Anyway, I was thinking about the comment someone (jodijodi I think?) made about how Mitchell portrayed AAs after the war. Yep, she makes them seem stupid, childlike, irresponsible & lazy (which makes me wonder--actually I've always wondered--what were the elected blacks like at the time? Were they really just tools of the Freedman's Bureau? Or were they smart, competent politicians? Doesn't seem like there's been much research on this, but I'm getting off track..........).

So, some of the things Mitchell wrote kind of took me aback. When she criticized Wilkerson & others in the FB for telling blacks they were equal to whites & the like as if this was a BAD THING........it occurred to me that Wilkerson would likely be the protagonist if it was written in the 21st c.

I had this vision of a book where there was a grand romance betw. Wilkerson & Emmie Slattery, who were held down by the plantation elite. Wilkerson worked w/slaves & respected them b/c he realized they were people, just like whites. Wilkerson only stole from the O'Haras b/c the love of his life was sick & starving & he wanted to help her. Wilkerson & Emmie finally have the opportunity to make something of their lives after the war. In the meantime, the wealthy elitist human-being owners finally get what's coming to them when slaves are freed. Wilkerson promptly goes to work for the FB b/c he sincerely wants to help the freed slaves.

We've had "sequels" & "prequels" to GWTW. Wouldn't this make a cool book?

 

[LauraMax]

Any of my book clubbers out there? I got to the part last night where Scarlett discovered her waist was 20 inches & decided to lock her BR door. How could a woman so smart about business be so incredibly stupid about men?

Ooops, I think I just described myself.

 

[mj476]

Laura,

I'm only up to the part where she's figuring out that Ashley doesn't know she loves him. Seems she's naive about men from the start. How small did she want her waist to be? I guess I'm lucky I only have a 23 1/2" waist. Now, the hips are another story!

I remember watching the movie and thinking how lucky Scarlett was to have Rhett and how rotton she always treated him. I guess she's one of those women that were never satisfied no matter how much they had.

Interesting sequel you thought up.

Marcy

 

[Peaceful Rainbow]

I believe her waist started out at 17". Not surprising that she would value it, because it was a part of who she was. Much of her identity was built into how she looked and playing the role of southern belle. It was all she knew and the basis of her being. In many ways, Scarlett went through life wearing blinders. She didn't see things until they were right in front of her and smacked her in the face and then she figured out how to deal with them.

I don't think GWTW could be written today and be anywhere near what it was. Mitchell was born soon enough after the war to meet people who lived it, and to really feel what they felt. She seemed to absorb their views, while giving no thought that maybe their views weren't the only ones or even necessarily the best ones. Anyone writing about that period now has lost the resource of those who lived it and I don't think it would have the same feel to it.

I think Mitchell saw Wilkerson that way, because it's what she'd been taught to believe those in his position were like. It really seems like she wrote the book from all the things she had been told by people and she had no reference to go outside of their beliefs.

 

[LauraMax]

Of course it wouldn't be the same--that was kind of the point! Maybe what I should've said was "if GWTW were written by a scalawag?"

I'm not sure I agree that the 17" (ummm yeah, I think my THUMB is 17" around!) waist was part of Scarlett's identity. I think vanity was def. part of her makeup though (personally I'd gladly give up my waistline for one rockin' night w/Rhett ). I also think so many people don't give Scarlett the credit she deserves. I kind of see her as an early feminist--there was one para in the book where she comes to the realization that she could run a business as good as, if not better, than many men. For Mitchell to have that idea even in the 1920s (can't remember the date it was published) was pretty revolutionary.

But I do agree that Mitchell's viewpoint was pretty narrow. She's writing what she was taught just as Scarlett tried so hard to maintain the beliefs she was taught, even though most of them went against her nature. Some of her stuff is very modern, but some if it's incredibly narrow minded. I have to admit to wanting to b*tch slap Mitchell after reading her perception of Yankees.

 

[Peaceful Rainbow]

At that time, when wearing corsets the waist size goals were pretty small. I've heard 17-18" thrown around in other novels. When I was young, I had a 21" waist and if someone had yanked on my corset strings, it would have been around that. And they fainted a lot from lack of air, and starved in public because they didn't dare eat. And it made no more sense to women's physical comfort than things liked pointed toed shoes. In the sequel, when Scarlett finds out that women in Ireland don't wear corsets, she gets rid of hers and vowed she'd never wear one again. Makes me grateful that not having a job or other activities that dictate my clothing, I can wear totally comfortable clothes and shoes all the time.

There were definitely times when I could have happily slapped Mitchell, too, but I think that part of what makes the book so good is that it does create those emotions in people.

I actually liked Scarlett a lot better in the sequel. I'm sure a lot of that had to do with the change in authors, but Scarlett just became a much better person all round as she aged. She seemed to really get more in touch with her true self and actually began to understand other people and their needs far more than when she was younger.