Growth with the Wind 英文读书报告

——Book Report of Gone with the Wind

Name: Yang Yang Student #:2009121422

When I just finished the first two parts of Gone with the Wind, I realized I have already fallen in love with it. When I appreciated the third part, I found my affection was showed not only in my words but in my manner, to some extent, even beyond them. When I went through the forth part within amounts of successive nights, I wonder how many days I would take to encounter with the “mission accomplishment” and how many sleepless nights I would pass still. To this day, until I encountered with the “mission accomplishment”, did I realize that even if countless day and night passed I still cannot help recalling it.

Scarlett O’Hara, the protagonist of Gone with the Wind, is a spoiled, high-tempered, strong-willed, sixteen-year-old, Georgia belle who is with dark-hair, green-eye living a carefree life on a North Georgian plantation which is called Tara. The novel begins with Scarlett in Southern society as the most desired gal in the county. Majority of her life she is focus on pursuing Ashley Wilkes the man whom she believed poetic. But when Ashley Wilkes, the man she loves, announces that he is going to marry Melanie Hampton, Scarlett's world starts to run the counter. Hence, rapidly marrying in order to make Ashley jealous, she sets off a series of events that lead her further fall into plight. Scarlett aims to win Ashley Wilkes, and her failure to do so guides the whole plot of the novel and promotes her growth.

In my eyes, Scarlett is no more than the classical image of a female protagonist who is puzzled and drove by her love. It is manifest that the “love” I mentioned is by no means female and male love only but more than love to Tara, love to freedom, love to survival, love to prospect etc. Even though the whole plot extends through the clue of love, to some

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extent, it could say that Scarlett’s growth not only reflects her episode in different periods but also precisely mirrors the development of the South as well. She changes from spoiled young girl to hard-working widow to wealthy opportunist, reflecting the whole development of South from wealthy society to betrayed nation to compromised survivor. Love & Sadness, Rebellion

Part Ⅰand PartⅡ showed Scarlett’s persevering and rebellion to love and her sorrow when she was rejected by love. At the opening chapters, with a great deal of wordy paragraphs, Madame Mitchell made clear how the Tarleton twins were expelled by school, buzzed around Miss Scarlett and finally leaked a secret for being promised a waltz with Scarlett. The secret is that an engagement between Ashley Wilkes and Melanie Hamilton would be announced. Scarlett also aims to win Ashley Wilkes, and her failure to do so guides the plot of the novel. Ashley’s marriage to Melanie Hamilton and rejection of Scarlett drive nearly all of Scarlett’s important subsequent decisions. Scarlett marries Charles Hamilton to hurt Ashley. Scarlett not winning Ashley’s love and married to Charles for revenge would be the key point to lead her whole further life astray.

Civil War’s blowup has gone faster than people’s prediction. Men are recruited for the Confederate army. Within two weeks Scarlett had become a wife and within two months more she was a widow. As a widow, she has to express grief for the death of Charles though she didn’t love him. Everything being restricted almost stifled Scarlett and made her be a living corpse in that a mild smile of a widow would cause numerous street gossips.

However, the advent of Rhett Butler only made Scarlett’s condition worse. “Whenever he came to town, there was a feminine fluttering. Not only did the romantic aura of the dashing blockader hang about but there was also the titillating element of the wicked and the forbidden” “and every time the matrons of Atlanta gathered together to gossip, his reputation grew worse, which only made him all the more glamorous to the young girls”. At a party of charity sales, his penetrating eye saw through Scarlett’s dullness and loneliness and his deliberately invitation of dance with Scarlett made Scarlett peaked at the tip of gossip directly and immediately. After all, Scarlett was keen on entertainment and dealing with others at heart.

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Love & loyalty, Courage

In Part Ⅲ, it contains more uncertainties, to say the least of it, more rise and fall. The whole plot starts from the loss of Atlanta looming large and ends with the Confederacy surrendering and Ashley’s back. Of course, it is also stuffed with various emotion——countless love and hatred, loyalty and betrayal, courage and fear.

Anyway, in this part, everything changed beyond recognition. Atlanta would be captured and almost the whole resident fled from the war. Due to Melanie’s parturition, Scarlett has to be left and company with her. “Anything was better than being tied here waiting for a baby that took such a long time coming.” Reluctant though she was, she had promised to Ashley to take care of Melanie. It is a real great mission for Scarlett. After several times for seeking doctor’s help having been failed, childbirth coming, Scarlett has to deliver for Melanie by her own. In such a nervous circumstance, Melanie’s little Charles was born. Until now, she began to change from young capricious lady to a one who could care others.

Fright of war and worry about her sick mother drove Scarlett back to Tara urgently. Under the aid of Rhett, they set out back to Tara by a stolen wagon. Rhett left them at half-way and their rest road would be lead by Scarlett for she was the only possibility among the “passengers”. She was pinned by all their hopes. What was worse, regardless of tortured thirsty and starvation, they were confront with the risk of being captured by Yankee soldiers even be landed by a cannon ball and blew into pieces as well.

Suffering a rather harsh driving, they were back to Tara. Things were not there and men were no more the same ones: Ellen has passed away; Gerald was cracked; all their property had been snatched by the Yankee soldiers. “The trampled acres of Tara were all that was left to her, now that Mother and Ashley were gone, now that Gerald was senile from shock and money and darkies and security and position had vanished overnight.” Now, she was needed to shoulder the whole family. Adversities always foster youngsters’ growth and genuine maturity. In default of food, she picked up nearly rotten potatoes and took risk of stealing the pigs which have been thrown into the swamp. Indeed, adversity had remolded Scarlett’s mood. Our Scarlett who was used to live in comfort and carefree now she had to manage household affairs by her own. To my part, it is hard to imagine how Scarlett could be as such.

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Mentioning Scarlett and Rhett, I cannot associate them without amusing talk. It appears Rhett lived for teasing Scarlett. Wherever they were and wherever teasing and being teased were. “I’m waiting for you to grow up a little more. You see, it wouldn’t be much fun for me to kiss you now and I’m quite selfish about my pleasures. I never fancied kissing children.” “I understand practically everything about you and Ashley, now.” “And that Mrs. Wilkes knows nothing and that, between the two of you, you’ve done her a pretty trick.” “Did the honorable Ashley ever jeopardize his immoral soul by kissing you?” Scarlett is not tired of responding and keeps silence until Rhett disturbed continually without any intention to stop. She turns in fury “You go to——Halifax”. She said tensely, her green eyes slits of rage. She flounced off without a word without even a backward look while Rhett laughed softly. What a cynical bad Rhett!

Several days later, they met again. Rhett took her hand and turned it over and pressed his lips into the palm. “She wasn’t in love with him. She told herself confusedly.” But how to explain this feeling that made her hands shake and the pit of her stomach grow cold.” Love is an interesting thing; people who will be in love often neglect its being. That is it! As was their custom, they seldom said bye in peace and courtesy. At all times, due to Rhett’s countless teasing and incivility, Scarlett would rather tear him into pieces for alleviating her indignation. Surely, this time is no exception as well. Rhett showed his affection to Scarlett. “I want you more than I have ever wanted for any woman——and I’ve waited longer for you than I’ve ever waited for any woman.” “Didn’t I tell you I wasn’t a marrying man?” “I am complimenting your intelligence by asking you to be my mistress without having first seduced you.” Mistress! This time, excessive rage captured Scarlett once more. She shouted “Get out! How dare you say such things to me?” “Get out and don’t ever come back here. I mean it this time. Don’t you ever come back here with any of your piddling papers of pins and ribbons, thinking I’ll forgive you? I’ll —I’ll tell my father and he’ll kill you.” She has thrown Ellen’s well parenting out of her mind.

But then, Rhett picked up his hat and bowed and his teeth were showing in a smile beneath his mustache. He was amused at what she had said, and he was watching her with alert interest. In Scarlett’s eyes, how audacious and impudent he is. However, she cannot reject his compellingly attraction all along. When she was confined in Atlanta without other aid, she has actually realized that “she longed to stay his arms forever. With such strong arms about her, surely nothing could harm her.”

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Love & Ignorance, Confusion

Part Ⅳ of Gone with the Wind brings more troubles to Scarlett’s life. After the Civil War ends, it appears all things are in a stark contrast to Scarlett's expectations for her misfortunes do not end with the war. Reconstruction, the period after the war when the South was dominated by the federal government, which will bring far worse to her and other previously wealthy landowners in South, that is to say, Scarlett lives far away from a peaceful life which she has expected.

Though Scarlett shows her courage and wisdom in last part incisively and vividly, by and large, Scarlett as “the beauty in turbulent days” cannot be forgotten without any doubt. Because of that, it is manifest that Scarlett cannot be lake of men’s company when we mentioned the young beauty. Of course, I believed that it is the most confused of Scarlett to face to three men at the same time.

The scene between Scarlett and Ashley in the orchard marks a turning point for Scarlett. She goes to see Ashley with a hope that he might shoulder some of the burden of the taxes on Tara for her. She doesn’t mean to borrow money which he lacks, but aims to get his advice and support. Consequently, Ashley was proved useless, persisting in dreaming the Old Southern world of beauty and gracious living. As for their relationships, he is also much more hesitant and falls into a dilemma: he admits that he loves Scarlett, but he cannot go with her, marry to her. He holds frame and reputation are more important than his love for Scarlett.

What’s more, by contrast, the pathos in the scene between Rhett and Scarlett when they are in jail makes a deep impression on me in that Rhett is yearn to seize any sign which Scarlett has real feelings for him. He is nearly convinced by her sincere when he suddenly notices the calluses on her hands and realizes that she has lied to him about her financial situation and has only come to get monetary aid from him. Then, he points out to her that she would have been better to tell him directly what she urged for as he hates dishonesty of women.

Frank’s coming forth makes me more puzzled and suspend me a lot. However, what getting on my nerves and to my surprise is that Scarlett marries to him. What about Frank? He is frightened by Scarlett's enterprise, considering them unwomanly and an insult to him as the “provider” of his

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household. He hopes that she will soon be pregnant and will have to give up her work silently and is too missylish to oppose her directly as well. By contrast, Rhett is the only man who encourages, instructs and advices Scarlett. Most importantly, he lends her the money to buy the mill. Now, Scarlett and Rhett have been alliance in terms of their common interest. For my part, Scarlett really draws on two indispensable lessons in these chapters, to say the least of it. Scarlett’s awareness makes the plot go further. First, she learns that Rhett is the only man who prefers her to tell the truth about what she wants direct and frank whilst other men, including Frank and Ashley, prefer roundabout methodologies. Second, when Scarlett marries Frank in order to pay the taxes on Tara, she finds that she is a business talent in nature: “A startling thought this, that a woman could handle business matters as well or better than a man, a revolutionary thought to Scarlett who had been reared in the tradition that men were omniscient and women none too bright”.

Undoubtedly, Scarlett and Rhett have been the most unpopular citizens of Atlanta because what they had done are believed going against the social code. Perhaps, that’s why Scarlett agrees to marry Rhett at a time in terms of her being as much an outsider as he is. Because she has stolen men belonging to other women; she has been engaged in trade and has used sharp practices and has leased convicts to achieve success; and she remarried Rhett within several months after Frank's death which she caused, she became the target of criticism.

It is the countless rumors that rekindle their marriage’s fire. Several times ago, he was about to announce a declaration of loving her, though he cloaks it in jokes and sardonic humor rather than express his love for her frankly. For my part, from here we could see that why Rhett does this aiming to self-defense because she still loves the bizarre Ashley. Rhett tells her, “I’m not in love with you, any more than you are with me, and if I were, you would be the last person I’d ever tell. God help the man who really loves you. You’d break his heart.” when it comes to people, Scarlett, being unsubtle and imperceptive, fails to see through overtones of what he said. She doubted that he does not really love her.

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Love & Loss, Hope

Indeed, the whole Part Ⅵ runs from Bonnie’s coming to her passing-away. It appears that there is a correlation between Bonnie’s incidental death climactically and Scarlett’s entire world.

Furthermore, one point we have to notice that Bonnie, Scarlett’s third child, the daughter with Rhett, enjoys and appears more often than her siblings in the novel in that until now, Scarlett’s children do not play an important role in either her life or the plot: Wade, her son with Charles is not mentioned for long sections of the novel and Ella, her daughter with Frank receives only passing mention after her birth. Naturally, she gains more weight in this novel. Bonnie represents the union between Scarlett and Rhett, and her death symbolizes the death of Scarlett and Rhett’s marriage.

At the end of the novel, Scarlett finally saw through Ashley and Rhett. She has long reckoned the noticeable similarities between the two men in that they often surprise her with shared doctrines in the futility of war. Finally she realizes that the crucial difference between them is not that Ashley is decent while Rhett is vulgar but that Ashley is irresolute and missy while Rhett is strong and manful which implies her affection to Ashley has came to an end as well.

Unfortunately, I am afflicted at their inability to feel and notice the same emotion “love” at the same time: if one feels passionate, the other feels cold; if one is talkative, the other is silent; if one is desperate, the other is apathetic. They cannot overcome these problems because their personalities are too similar, and they are both equally to blame for the failure of their love. Scarlett neglects Rhett’s devotion, too self-important to see that genuine love hinges on just underneath his pretence of indifference. Certainly, his passion for Scarlett cannot fade; Rhett has to resort to erupt in violence. When he wins her love, he discards it and let it gone with the wind.

At the end of the novel, both disappointment and hopefulness can be read out. Specifically, the final phrase of the novel, “tomorrow is another day” which is commonly believed implying that the story does not end with the novel and that Scarlett will never give up her desire for happiness in that Scarlett believes that she can get Rhett back. It appears that she will go back to Tara, renew her life and continue struggling for survive and strive for her happiness.

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Scarlett’s Growth& South’s Development

Scarlett’s growth not only reflects her episode in different periods but also precisely mirrors the development of the South as well. She changes from spoiled young girl to hard-working widow to wealthy opportunist, reflecting the whole South’s development from wealthy society to betrayed nation to compromised survivor.

Her rebellion, loyalty, courage, ignorance, confusion together with her loss and hope dovetail with the feature of the entire South, which represent in its “independence”, loyalty to traditions and slavery, courage to struggle with its “freedom”, ignorance and confusion about its future Reconstruction, cherishing the possible prospect respectively.

Gone with the Wind is a mysterious book name which keeps me in suspense. What has gone with the wind, I asked? Was love, family, beauty, wealth or something else? When finished the whole novel, I tried to response myself in a metaphysical way: loss and hope coexisted.

Overall, I am crazy about Gone with the Wind, together with Madame Mitchell’s excellent writing skills. Undoubtedly, this masterpiece enables her stand head and shoulders above others and drives her force to be one of the best fiction writers in literature history. She has managed to do a huge impossibility: writing a book with plenty of descriptions could still keep readers focused and interested. She is constantly making the situation increasingly interesting to read, with a great deal of turns and twists, plenty of conflicts and confusion; a vast number of satire and humor; let one has no choice but to keep reading. It is also a pretty unpredictable book that keeps surprising and astonishing me totally. Despite it is long enough even a little terribly, it will not bore me but rather keep my eyes glued to the page in the wee hours of the night. Margaret Mitchell has done a great job of developing characters, and throughout the story you slowly begin to uncover more and more about the characters from their choices and the way they act. I appreciate the way the characters reveal themselves through time rather than the author telling you what each character is like. Her writing gives you an emotional understanding and attachment to each character. I also appreciate how she has written the book from the point of view of someone who is not

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very kind and harsh at times. I found it is a really amazing thing to be acquainted to major roles through Scarlett’s eyes and hearing her opinions. Even though several parts of Gone with the Wind are sad and negative, I find it pretty suitable. Scarlett does not have a picturelike carefree life, but this concept is not upsetting. Margaret Mitchell makes her readers understand that a person’s life story cannot always be the perfect one that people want it to be, and instead she writes the raw reality and, as a reader, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Margaret Mitchell shows us that sometimes life is beautiful and sometimes it is not. She does not write a fairytale, but instead writes the story of Scarlett O’Hara’s life, with all its ups and downs, successful moments and failures alike.

As a whole, I find that the book has a fantastic balance of all the themes including female, romance, decisions, and survival. I also especially liked that the story happened during the Civil War, which would become an important and life changing event for generations to come. She has not created her own world, but chosen to put her story right in the middle of a history that has already been written. This makes the story believable, from beginning to end.

Finally, I would like to say no matter what you taste, see, feel in novels, Gone with the Wind is by any means a timeless classic, which has affected my perception and outlook in ways no other novel has.

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