Jun 01, 2006 12:15 AM
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(Updated Jun 05, 2006 11:40 PM)
What might not have been...
It is unsettling to learn that Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind would never have seen the light of the day but for the barb her friend shot at her "Well, I dare say. Really, I wouldn’t take you for the type to write a successful book. You don’t take your life seriously enough to be a novelist" in reply to Mitchell’s own admission that she thought the book was "lousy, I was ashamed of it."
One of the greatest works of American literature depicting it’s culture would have blown away in the wind had not Mitchell, stung by the barb, packed her manuscript and rushed to Harold Latham of Macmillan Publishers. Latham was leaving the city on that eventful day having been rebuffed by Mitchell’s constant denial of having ever written a book "Take it before I change my mind" she said handing over the thick sheaf of papers to a pleasantly surprised Latham. The rest, as they say, is history. The book proved to be the most successful literary work not only in the United States but also around the globe. It won for Margaret Mitchell a Pulitzer Prize in 1937. It brought her fame she never could have imagined. I believe it has sold more copies worldwide than any other work of fiction.
What has been...
Gone With The Wind is an elaborate canvas of the American culture in the 1930’s and the Civil War as seen through Mitchell’s remarkably perceptive eyes. Scarlett O’Hara (originally Pansy O’Hara) is all of 16 years and a ‘I get what I want’ type of girl who is in love with her neighbour Ashley Wilkes. The world appears magical and full of promise until the indecisive Ashley stumbles and gets engaged to a distant cousin Melanie Hamilton. In a fit of rage and indecipherable feeling of revenge the impulsive Scarlett marries Charles, Melanie’s brother, who has a crush on her and taking the cue from Ashley’s engagement proposes to her.
Scarlett’s scheming mind is never at rest as she tries to seduce and make Ashley her own. Ashley is a confused man with his lust for Scarlett and love for Melanie and not able to decide on both. If you think that’s enough reason for a sizzling pot-boiler hold on, there’s another man Rhett Butler who believes that Scarlett is just the girl for him and doesn’t lose time in expressing his feelings for her. But Rhett is not a priority for a girl still smarting at the way she was scorned by her first love.
By seventeen Scarlett becomes a mother and a widow as Charles gets killed. Well, she never loved the man anyway and goes to live with Melanie as Ashley is drafted into the civil war that breaks out. Many twists and turns are a feature of this long drawn out story. Meanwhile, Scarlett ends up at the altar with one Frank Kennedy as she is desperately in need of money. But Rhett still fancies himself as Scarlett’s suitor, whereas, Scarlett never gives up hope on Ashley – a conundrum if ever there was one.
At last, revelation dawns on Scarlett that in seeking to fulfil her dreams and in the mad pursuit of her love for Ashley she was all along blind to the lavish love heaped on her by Rhett. When she finally turns to Rhett to accept him she finds that she doesn’t figure in his list of priorities anymore. Alas, it’s too late!She had all along taken him for granted and when the time came and she desperately needed the reassuring love of Rhett she finds he is no longer interested in her.
True to her indomitable spirit, Scarlett vows not to give up and to pursue her dreams and search for the elusive happiness come what may. For Scarlett, tomorrow is another day.
What can be...
For the American people, no subject has been more popular than the Civil War. Mitchell used the threads of Civil War to weave her complex and gripping story and ultimately came up with a fabric rich in human emotions and the fickleness of humans. Gone With the Wind is a high watermark in American literature and culture. In fact, it is considered by many critics to be the greatest story ever told American Civil War as the backdrop.
Mitchell’s 'Gone With the Wind' is not just another love story; it is an evergreen story of love, lust, passion, jealousy, greed and self-realisation. Beyond that it is a story of survival through the dark years of American Civil War. Mitchell’s painstaking research of the Civil War reflects in her immaculate portrayal of the War torn people as well as the customs of that time. When the novel was published in 1936 just before the Second World War; readers around the world clamoured to get their hands on a copy and most of them returned home unsuccessful in their endeavour; and I am talking about a book that sold more copies than any other book in history with the sole exception of the Bible.
Though there are many characters in the story one would fall in love with, I liked the characters of Scarlett and Rhett Butler. They are not ideal self-righteous individuals. In fact, the protagonists displayed many shades of grey bringing to the fore the complex human nature and presenting us with love, lust, greed, revenge, possessiveness, hope, and many more. The protagonist would do anything for love, or revenge.
What followed...
The film that was produced by David O. Selznick, and starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in the lead did not disappoint either. The film bagged 10 Academy Awards. Seldom in the history of literature and movie making do we come across a case where the book and the movie based on it were hailed by the world as an outstanding success?
What needn’t have been...
Mitchell never wrote another book in her life. The story of Gone With the Wind had probably taxed her mentally and physically; it’s a long book remember. As things turned out she never needed to write another one. She became an instant celebrity throughout the world and struggled desperately to guard her much valued privacy.
Mitchell succumbed to a fatal accident while crossing a street, she was just 49. As a star, Mitchell shone too brightly on the literary firmament. And as is the case with most bright stars in the Universe, she died young.
What will be...
The Seventieth Anniversary celebrations marking the publication of the greatest and most enduring story of the American Civil War and the subsequent Reconstruction kick off this month, the anniversary date is 30th June. This review is a humble tribute to that eventful and memorable day when Americans first laid their hands on this highly acclaimed classic.
mbfarookh.
