Gone With the Wind

Like birds that fly across the blue sky

Like the winds that blow without care

Like the buds that explode with joy

Her cheeks flushed red with exhilaration

A cool deep breath energized her sprite

Though time and tide wait for none

She lumbered on with all her might

Her hard-stricken heart of a lion

Was stalked by neither death nor grief

Without the slightest trace of despair

She clung on to an undying be-leaf

Shunned by friends and family

Torn apart by war and regret

Bound by grit and determination

She revived her world step by step

A scalawag’s deceit, pretence and play

She used them all like a shrew untamed

Even sizzling love affairs were planned

To re-live a life prosperous and famed

But her vivacious story couldn’t fill the book

Ever-changing, as it wildly spun unhinged

Threads wound round a restless spool

A spool that was ever gone with the wind

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only”

- Charles Dickens, ‘The Tale of Two Cities’

I’m talking of the mid-nineteenth century; of Georgia and Atlanta; of the Yankees, the American civil war and Reconstruction; and amidst this melee, of a scintillating saga of romance and roguishness, whence, before one could wink an eye, a beautiful civilization was swept off its feet and reduced to nothing more than a reminiscent dream.

And in the elegy, “she” is none other than the protagonist Scarlett O’Hara, the spoilt and pampered child of Gerald O’Hara of Irish descent and Ellen Robillard of French ancestry. “She” was envied for her charm and reputation as the southern belle of the Clayton county of Georgia. Unlike her sister Sullen and Careen, she had only inherited the deceptive outer beauty of her mother. But her insides flushed with the violent and vivacious Irish blood of her father that made her extraordinarily shrewd, practical and loyal to her home and plantation, Tara.

Scarlett O’Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler was indeed an embodiment of courage and determination who did not cry about the past, but looked forward in life and faced all hurdles head on. Her mantra for escaping all troubling and painful thoughts was “I’ll think of that tomorrow, because tomorrow is another day.” This gave her the courage to run her lumber business that boasted blooming mills and stores with such efficiency that even men would hang their heads in shame. Even though she was condemned publicly for her unladylike conduct, it did not discourage her in the least. Her income trebled with each passing day. In the post-war crisis and Reconstruction era, if there were any survivors, she was the most prominent among them.

But nobody is perfect; she wasn’t either. She used love and marriage as a trap and realized their meaning too late to make any amends, she was too workaholic and materialistic to concentrate on her children and she had a razor-sharp tongue that made enemies out of best friends. But in spite of all her shortcomings, she was not afraid of life or bound by worthless customs. She lived her life to the full and enjoyed every moment. She did not spend her time grieving like Careen or constantly complaining like Suellen. She was frank and candid about how she felt and pursued her goals relentlessly, which ultimately resulted in her success.

This is why she was my favorite character. And the medley of myriad personalities that strung around her life made the book a pleasure to read. It preserved an authentic essence where no one was depicted in black or white, but shades of grey. The spirit of cut-throat competition, the policy of the survival of the fittest and the obstacles one faces in life were all described most elaborately in a very realistic manner. I appreciated the fact that the existence of “slavery” was shown in its true form, and the outlook of people towards it was not distorted by external opinions. The author portrayed emotions in the full light whether it was love, lust or languish.

In fact, the narrative was absolutely non-judgmental. The climax was left open to the readers to contemplate. This lent a unique flavour to the story as readers could form independent opinions about it and twist the end as they willed.