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by Michy » Wed March 9th, 2011, 11:17 pm
I wouldn't consider it flowery, either. Definitely not balanced, but remember, Margaret Mitchell was born only about 35 years after the end of the Civil War, so she still had living relatives who had served in the war on the side of the South. And she grew up listening to their stories. So the way she depicted it is no doubt the way her relatives told it to her -- from the side of the South and with a lot of nostalgia for the way things were "before."
She doesn't go into a lot of detail about the war because, primarily, the book is a story about Rhett, Scarlett, Melanie and Ashley. She was really writing about the culture and society of the south, and how it was forever changed by the war, more than the actual war itself. I read somewhere that she meant the story of Scarlett to be a kind of allegory of the South's transition from "Old South" (before the war) to "New South." Scarlett and Rhett represented the people with "gumption" who survived and even thrived in the New South. Ashley represented the people who were trapped forever in the old ways and couldn't make the transition. Melanie fell somewhere in the middle; it's difficult to know how she would have coped since she died prematurely.
Just my opinion, but as a storyteller Mitchell is captivating and her skill at characterization is second-to-none. I can't think of any other book where the characters so come alive and live on in the imagination years after you've read the book. I almost feel like Rhett, Scarlett, Melanie and Ashley are real people I've known.
Last edited by
Michy on Wed March 9th, 2011, 11:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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That's why I think my reaction to the book will be very different now. I definitely must re-read it.......
