Gone with the Wind discussion

I love most of characters in this book, including the minor characters like Gerald O'Hara, the Tarleton twins and their mom, they're so funny. And of course the main characters, they're so vivid, but my most favorite one is Rhett! He is so smart! I also like Scarlett's son Wade, I don't know why I think he is a lovely wee boy and I wish the book mentioned more about him.
My least favorite character is Ashley, I think he's too dreamy and not man enough to make up his mind about Scarlett and Melanie.

I LOVE Scarlett. I know, she's a horrid human being, but I wanted to be her SO badly when I was younger. Melanie absolutely infuriates me though, I wanted to slap the crap out of her every time she opened her mouth. NO ONE should be that sweet and nice all the damn time. Ashley was a close second. I could never understand what Scarlett saw in him. He was so spineless.

Ashley is my least favorite, Scarlett, Melanie and Rhett equally favorite.

Tough one. I'd say Scarlett for my favorite character, and then Rhett for my second favorite. And it's weird because even though I absolutely loved Rhett as a character I actually liked Scarlett better with Ashley.

Mammy, Gerald O'Hara and Beatrice Tarleton were my favorite characters. Johnny Gallagher, Emmie Slattery and Jonas Wilkerson were the characters I disliked most.

I love Scarlett's intelligence and spirit, I find her flaws to be interesting, always made me laugh out loud, but towards the end of the book i get tired of her selfishness and stubbornness, I want her to grow up already. I think she would be a really inspiring character if she turned out more mature, less selfish and not so vain, after all the hardship she went through, but I guess it was the author's intention for her to stay that way, it's what made her distinguished.

Ashley was too spineless to make up his mind, and in doing so was an untrue husband to Melanie and led Scarlett on. Only when he lost one did he finally make up his mind, but by then, Scarlett had led her entire adult life, and several of her teen years, believing he really loved her. It doesn't help that he told her so.

I love the dynamic between Rhett and Mammy. Mammy had no problem telling him what was what, and he respected her deeply for it. Giving her the one object her heart desired above all else, a rustling red silk taffeta petticoat, was no small expense, but was a wonderful gesture to show his care for her. Though she then owned it, she made him earn her respect before she'd wear it. His adoration of his new daughter in a time when boys were valued above girls finally did it.

In real like Clark held Hattie (I know this topic is about the book, but this is important, in my opinion) in deep esteem. In those days blacks were still banned from many theaters, and in fact Hattie wasn't allowed to go to the premier! Clark was going to boycott it out of anger. He only went because Hattie talked him into it. He was ahead of his time in his support for Civil Rights, and she was ahead of hers for putting herself in a situation that drew ire from both white people who thought blacks had no place owning money and from blacks who thought she was doing them hard taking the roles available to her at the time. By being firm, she helped get laws changed that made it illegal to deny housing to people based on race (research Sugar Hill).

Since I'd seen the movie at least a hundred times before reading the book in my teens, the genuine affection between the two of them that can through so clean on the screen may affect my view of them in the books.

I do think Belle is an undervalued character. She hadn't a malicious bone in her body, and wanted to help in what ways she could, even if she didn't have much respect for Scarlett.

It would be easy to bash on Scarlett because she did things that today we find awful. But taken in the context of her time, she took what power she could. Women didn't have the opportunities they do today. If you wanted power of your own, you'd have to go run a whorehouse and accept being seen as a second-class citizen. Scarlett's entire existence and means of support rested on men, and that is how the law was. She couldn't go buy property. She WAS property. A lot of people don't think about that. Even white women were property of men, and wife-beatings weren't uncommon. She did what she could with the situations she had.

Similarly a lot of people think Rhett is an awful man for the one night he took his way with her in bed. By modern standards that was rape. By standards of the 1860's he was a VERY kind man, and by not beating her or hurting her in the process, that was taken, by the societal standards of the day, to be loving. We can't even comprehend that easily today. But we also can't comprehend a time when women were literally property and subjected daily to the mercy of men who could whip us if they wanted. That was a time when women couldn't say no, yet Rhett respected her no's until the one night be became too desperate for her to love him too that he took her "in passion" hoping she'd feel something for him in return.

All their actions need to be read in the context of the era to better understand them. Ashley's actions, even for that time, were cowardly. No man would respect another man who'd string along a lady (ladies intending to marry, that is, whereas men could cheat all they wanted with prostitutes who had no goal of marriage).

Alys wrote: "Ashley was too spineless to make up his mind, and in doing so was an untrue husband to Melanie and led Scarlett on. Only when he lost one did he finally make up his mind, but by then, Scarlett had..."

Bravo!

It will always be Rhett.

Mammy is my favorite, Emmy Slattery and Scarlett's sisters are my least favorite.

Ashley made up his mind. He married Melanie. It was Scarlett who refused to see reality. Ashley was not built for toughness, but I don't see him as spineless. Still, he would make it onto my least favorite list.

Great topic! Love this book so much! I think my favorite characters are Scarlett and Melanie. One of my favorite scenes is where Melanie gets out of her sickbed to help Scarlett attack the Union soldier. It always seemed like a great "buddy scene." I've always wondered how their friendship would have grown if Scarlett has snapped out of her "Ashley Haze" earlier. Melanie was far more realistic than Scarlett (and I think she knew about Scarlett's crush on Ashley, but wisely kept quiet). Scarlett and Rhett were perfect together and, of course, you can't help but like them on some level. I think my least favorite characters are Emmy Slattery and Frank Kennedy. Emmy, because her actions indirectly led to Mrs. O'Hara's death; and Frank Kennedy, because he was too weak-willed to resist fast-talking Scarlett. You can see why Scarlett did what she had to, but Frank didn't have to give in so easily.

Oh, and Mammy eclipses everyone. She is one of the best characters ever written. :) Red taffeta - she sure did deserve that underskirt.

Least favorite definitely Scarlett.

Elizabeth wrote: "Great topic! Love this book so much! I think my favorite characters are Scarlett and Melanie. One of my favorite scenes is where Melanie gets out of her sickbed to help Scarlett attack the Union so..."

I agree about Frank Kennedy. He was the weak-willed one if ever there was one.

Deepa wrote: "Least favorite definitely Scarlett."

Awww, that's so sad. Scarlett has many good qualities, like her spunk and perseverance under horrific circumstances. True, she was avaricious, spoiled, and conniving, but given the context her behavior is understandable.

Johnny Gallagher, Emmie Slattery, Jonas Wilkerson,India Wilkes, and raiders from both sides whose main purpose was to loot, maim, rape and kill people who were trying to defend themselves are the characters I disliked.

Rhett & Mammie = FAVES ! Disliked most= India Wilkes!

favourite character is Rhett Butler - he saw life as it was, not the romantic, but totally false picture others created. He acknowledged the South's weak position in the war, where others buried their heads. He also saw that women could have more out of life and play a greater role than their society permitted. He had travelled to 'Europe' and was a more liberal, cosmopolitan individual. My least favourite is probably Ashley, who always seems a bit of a cardboard cut out figure by comparison, at the whim of events, rather than carving out his own destiny.

Well said Jackie....well said

I read GWTW for the first time when I was 14 and remember being so moved by the suffering in the war, which was my first real exposure to that. I read it to my husband on a cross country trip right after we got married. I agree with jackie about Rhett. He didn't follow the crowd and jump in lockstep with the popular "patriotic" thought. And he loved his daughter shamelessly. Ashley was a bit weak willed but I thought his casting for the movie was not good at all. Could not see the attraction. So Rhett is my favorite and maybe Suellen and India my least favorites. I have not read it in years now. I have a second edition copy someone gave me when they moved. I should go find that...

My daughter read somewhere that the actor who played Ashley in the movie always hated the role, and I can see it. What a wuss, both in book & movie. My least favorite, along with a dislike for the stereotyping of the African-American characters. Mammy at least got some character, but Prissy was really dreadful.

My favorite was Melanie, because she really was exactly what she projected. She wasn't pretending to be a goodie-goodie, she just WAS that way. I heard Olivia de Haviland (who played the role in the movie) speak in public when I was in junior high, and I was really impressed with her charm and grace, even later in life. She was an outstanding actress and speaker.

No doubt Scarlett was the juiciest role for the female and Rhett for the male actor, but if they were real people, I'd want Melanie to have my back. Rhett was written as a man who served his own interests, and likewise Scarlett. Melanie would do the right thing regardless (and it cost her), but in the end, she was the one I would want to know if they were real.

How great that you got to hear Olivia speak! Melanie always made me feel so lacking in character but she would be who I would want in real life. I agree that the stereotyping is offensive. It should have been offensive when it was written nearly 80 years ago but times were different. I really have a hard time reading the way she wrote the dialect and find it distracting. But all in all, the book was a great adventure.

Yes, very envious that you heard a talk from Olivia de Haviland. Melanie would be my second choice for favourite character, as she is a very interesting one. Under-estimated by almost everyone around her, including her own family, she actually has a lot of back-bone and strength of character. She stands up for Scarlett, at the expense of alienating her sister in law India and against public opinion. She is fiercely loyal to those around her. Rhett, who is contemptuous of many of the characters, sees Melanie's true worth and admires her greatly.

Rhett! He goes after what he wants....behind that cocky way ..sarcasm and ..business type after his own interests ..but realistic...he is actually a good person ..I think he has good character ..he "ain't " no loser =) hehehe
Of course Melanie... who does not like a person with a heart of gold ??
I can't stand Ashley ....he gives me the creeps ..he is a coward ...weak .. etc

I first read this book in the fifth grade, which got a call to my mother from the teacher who thought it was maybe not "appropriate". I was glad to see this post and that people are still talking about this book, and I saw it just a month after reading Pat Conroy's "My Reading Life" in which he credits this book as a major influence on him and all Southerners of a certain generation. I will have to pick up the book again because I find when thinking about my response to this post that my thinking is so entwined with the film that it is hard to sever the two. I remember one character in the book, Scarlett's mother, who was not really in the movie, that I did not understand as a fifth grader but felt much moved by years later on re-reading. I always felt drawn to Melanie as well. I detest hypocrisy and self-aggrandizement and Melanie's actions do not contradict her morals or values. I suppose neither do Scarlett's--I thought she was a stronger character in the book than in the film, and feel that she is what has become an old and tired cliche stereotype of Southern belles. I think Mitchell left us with the feeling that Scarlett was beginning to mature at the end of the book. I liked Rhett because he saw the real value in others. I disliked Ashley intensely when I first read the book, and also in the movie, but now that I am older I have much, much more sympathy for a man trying to fit into a world that has passed him by. It is still hard to forgive his inability to discourage Scarlett from her attraction to him, though. The most pitiable person in the book to me, except for the poor African Americans of course, is Frank Kennedy, who died defending Scarlett's honor without any concern from her throughout their marriage or at the time of his death. He should not have abandoned her sister so I suppose he made his own grave. Good question, great post.

Jackie wrote: "favourite character is Rhett Butler - he saw life as it was, not the romantic, but totally false picture others created. He acknowledged the South's weak position in the war, where others buried t..."

Thumbs up.

Melanie is my favorite, hands down. When she was so sick and weak and came out with that sword when the soldiers came, I was so proud of her!! And she was a sister to Scarlett when Scarlett was... a bad word.... And after India told Melanie she saw Ashley and Scarlett together, I loved how Melanie stood by Scarlett. I'm seriously naming my kid after her.

I loved Rhett's sarcasm, and he was definitely my 2nd favorite character until the last part of the book when he and Scarlett were married. He started being.... a different bad word. Oh well.

Didn't like Suellen. Loved Carreen.

I did like Ashley - he was nice and gentlemanly and sweet. He liked all the things I do - books, music, etc.

I love Scarlett, I love that she is a horrid person and makes no apologies about it.

Rebecah wrote: "And after India told Melanie she saw Ashley and Scarlett together, I loved how Melanie stood by Scarlett."

I don’t know, I feel heartbroken for Melanie for her having a husband like Ashley.
Ashley was a gentleman, but he wasn't a good husband IMHO.

Easily, my favorite is Scarlett. I wouldn't like her much as a human being, but as a character in a book, she's fantastic. It takes skill to make a reader root for someone who is, frankly, a relentless and selfish person. In the end, it's all about what Scarlett loves the most, which is Tara. No person can measure up to the land. She is devoted to that which she loves and she always comes back to it. We might scorn her because her love is for someTHING instead of someONE, but her love is no less true.
Much like in Wuthering Heights, I found myself hoping for happy endings for people who really probably didn't deserve one. Like Cathy and Heathcliff, Scarlett knew what she wanted most and didn't care who she hurt on her path to get it. She was a climber with serious determination.
Even though I can't imagine enjoying a meal with Scarlett (or Cathy or Heathcliff, for that matter), she's a strong personality with clear drive and that makes her a stellar character.
Least favorite-Frank Kennedy. How dare he just blow off Suellen.

Scarlett did what she had to when others were wringing their hands.She realized she loved Rhett to late & Ashley always kept her hanging on.

Favorite would be of course, Rhett Butler. Least, is Ashley Wilkes.

Rhett is a man of action, and has a way with words. Of course he could act because he is rich, but Ashley had been rich as well, and yet he never gave himself a chance to stand out at all. People like him need push and yes maybe he should've been better off with Scarlett, but it would be unfair. I think if Scarlett did end up with him, she would be tired and full of his thoughts that are too many. Yeah, Ashley's a man of thoughts, he is too idealistic and pro-peace and that makes him very boring. Rhett, he's just the captain of his own world and I like how he could make a stand and really stand for it. Also, he is an honest man, I don't have to elaborate on that.

My favorite would definatly have to be Rhett. I love his charm, arrogence, and the way he loves Scarlett. I really didnt like Mellie because she was just to weak and to nice. People who are to nice and cant say one bad thing annoy me so much and she was just so frail and weak! My 2nd least fav would have to be Ashley. I really liked him and I thought he was perfect with Scalett but the way he led her on for all those years just made me want to beat the crap out of him!

Ashley Wilkes far to much of a wimp - no backbone!!

Scarlett and Rhett, of course. And Mammy.

My favorite characters are Scarlett, Old Miss Fontaine and Ashley. Yes, believe it or not I love Ashley. Whenever he would go into his little philosophical ramblings about the the past and about the war I would just eat it up. The letter he wrote to Melanie was beautiful and fully defined his character to me. I would hate him as a person, he is far too weak and un-adapting, but as a literary character, I believe he is great.

Moving on to Scarlett and Miss Fontaine, I loved the parallel between Ashley's personalities and theirs. I absolutely love it when characters are faced with adversity and they barrel through it head on. The ends may not justify the means especially on Scarlett's part, but her determination was something I admired. One of my favorite parts in the book was when Old Miss Fontaine started talking about her parent's heads being scalped off.


My least favorites would have to be Aunt Pitypat and Melanie(a tad). Aunt Pitypat was more of a coward than Ashley. She provided me with a ton of comic relief throughout the novel, but her conformist, timid ways were unbearable.I despised her Old South mentality. Now Melanie was a weird character for me. I cannot stand blindly optimistic people or characters. I felt as if she purposely turned a blind eye to the obvious, and that really annoyed me.One can never afford to be so naive. I couldn't hate her however because she is so loveable, true to herself, and she stood up for Scarlett when no one else did. She was brave for that alone. So I'm torned on her.

Love Rhett, Scarlett, Mammy and Ellen. Hate Ashley, Frank Kennedy and Aunt Pitty.

My favorite Character in Gone with the Wind would be Rhett, he was always there and I thought he was good looking but now i think back and say ehh no. My lease character is Scarlet, she annoyed the living crap out of me, she always whined about everything that didn't go her way, but either way I love this book.

My favorite character by far is Charles Hamilton. He was so sweet and he deserved the true love he never received from Scarlett. It was so depressing how he died believing that he and Scarlett would have a future and live happily ever after when the war was over, when Scarlett didn't care for him at all, let alone love him. However, I felt like he lived on through his son Wade, as they had similar personalities.

Melanie is also one of my favorites. I loved how she had a heart shaped face and long curly hair. Her description was lovely and her personality was so sweet. She too deserved to be loved unconditionally, just like her late brother, Charles. Ashley showed hardly any signs of his love for her until it was too late. And quite honestly, he deserved losing her for being such an unfaithful husband.

I somewhat liked Rhett for his personality. He was the one for Scarlett, though she didn't realize it soon enough. He really tried to make her love him, and waited 12 years for her to do so. I began disliking him after he ran off to that Belle Watling whore.

My least favorite character was probably Ashley. He caused so much unnecessary drama throughout the book, it aggravated me so much. It's partially his fault for Scarlett's failed marriage to Rhett. Actually, ALL her marriages failed due to his incompetence and his unwanted quality of being unable to make his mind. Yes, it is partially Scarlett's fault, but the blame is equal.

I equally disliked Frank Kennedy. His description made me picture him as a disgusting old man, and I thought him very unappealing. With every scene he was involved in, I wanted to skip ahead. He should've just asked Suellen for her hand in marriage sooner. If she loved him she wouldn't care if they didn't have a big fat gypsy wedding, money should've been the least of his priorities.

I also disliked Scarlett. Her personality was selfish and conceited. She literally only cares about money and getting her way, no matter how many people she ruined emotionally along the way. Like Ashley, she realized who she truly loved when it was too late, and deserved the heartbreak.

I HATED Belle Watling. If someone is married, they are obviously taken. She made Rhett fall for her with her seduction and understanding, and that disgusted me to no end. I have no sympathy for whores.

Oh my I love Rhett, he is my favorite, and I have also something with Belle Watling. She is a very dear person.
I'm not so fond of Melanie, she is so boring, yet she is actually a very friendly and nice person.

Scarlett is one of my favorites too she is so bright and with a lot of spirit

Mammy had the toughest role of all. Did anyone ever stop to think that while Mammy's character took care of four spoiled white girls, her own family was never even mentioned. Mammy's life outside the home doesn't seem to exist for the very reason that a husband or children would take Mammy's time away from the white family she lives with. I mean who else could have helped Scarlett get into her corset? She is supposed to feel fortunate because she is working for a "nice" white family. And Rhett is so happy with Mammy that he purchases her a red slip. Of course, Rhett would never have purchased a slip for someone in his own society, but feels weirdly familiar with mammy to buy her lingerie? What kind of message is that? For the movie, one can just hear the director, "That's right, Hattie, just lift your skirt up a little to show the slip and then giggle." Although I know I am not speaking of the book, I'm just saying.

I really liked the characters of Scarlett and Rhett. But my most favorite were Melanie and Scarlett's mother... Even though they appeared gentle and weak, they were the strongest and most courageous. There is no character I truly disliked because they are all so real and complex. There's no obvious black and white...

My fav is definitely Miss Scarlet. Can't help but love Cap'n Butler as well. Least fav is Ashley because he is apathetic and passive. Weak characters stress me out in books and movies.

My fav was Rhett and least fav was Ashley.

My favorites where Rhett and definitely Scarlet. I just love the Southern Women!!! Ashley was my least favorite. He was such a pushover and annoying!

I adore Scarlett, Rhett and Mammy. I even named my daughter after Scarlett. I did not care for Ashley because he was such a weak human being.

Melanie is my favorite character, although I rather be Scarlett. Ashley is my least favorite; such a wuss.

Melanie is my favourite. I'll have to reread it but I never got the impression that Ashley was weak at all. He was just too nice to tell Scarlett to back off. And really, though she's the heroine and you can't help rooting for a heroine, I never much liked Scarlett.

Grandma Fontaine is my favorite character. Ashley my least favorite.

Major characters: Miss Scarlett = fav. Ashley Wilkes = least fav
Minor characters: Belle Watkins = fav. Jonas Wilkerson = least fav

Scarlett will always be my favorite character. When I was little, I wanted to grow up to be her-she was my princess not Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. I loved her from the film & even more so when I read the book. Ashley was not my favorite. Too emasculated by the war.