Gone With the Wind was released in 1936 and was written by Margaret Mitchell. The Book and its themes related to the civil war consist of: warfare, slavery, race, society and class, oblivion, and much more. I believe Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind to show how much of an impact the Civil War had on everyone, even those who were not a part of the actual war. Yes the book is filled with romance, but if you look outside of that, it is truly a very insightful novel. Could Margaret Mitchell have done a better job at showcasing slavery? Why did she downplay it so much? I believe she definitely could have done a lot better. She reduced slaves to these people who loved their masters so much that they would even hug them. The main character …show more content…
The novel also showcases the Confederates as noble; I mean I guess fighting alongside your brothers of war could possibly be seen as noble to some. But to me, fighting to keep something as evil as slavery alive –is far from noble and should never been seen as such. Anyway, the Confederate deaths are seen as a waste, the fight was classified unwinnable, and at the same time the Yankees are depicted as evil and rotten characters. Shooting them is presented as a moral good; I mean Confederates were far from saints but that does not mean that I would say that shooting them would be considered a moral good. Considering that the point of view was based only on the south, it’s understandable. The novel did not once admit that the main cause of the Civil war was slavery. The novel makes it seem like the war was a humongous waste of time, money, and lives. The novel painted the Civil war as this evil war that destroyed everything beautiful in the South including the way their society worked. I did not really look into Margaret Mitchell so I do not know if she was a supporter of the Yankees or Confederates. If she supported the Yankees, did she purposely leave out the fact that the Civil war was caused due to slavery? Or did Margaret purposely try to depict her characters as oblivious, ignorant, self-absorbed, privileged annoying people? I mean hey, maybe I shouldn’t be coming down that
Through the whole book it is clear that McDonough believes that the defeat of the south was unavoidable and how important Kentucky was to the war with her waterways and railroads. The main thesis was the importance of the Western Theatre and the idea that 1862 was a decisive year in the war, The author states how the western battles got more recognition than
There are several things that can be depicted in history by using a work of fiction as opposed to non-fiction. In the novel where it states, “They were Tennessee troops who prided themselves on their marksmanship, but so far as I could tell, not a ball came within ten feet of that buck,” the author could be letting the reader use their imagination in picturing what the fabricated Confederate Army consisted of, which were inexperienced and noisy troops without much experience in battle, especially those of dire importance (24). The author can also use the historical facts prevalent in regards to the Civil War, and in a way, mesh these with a creative elegance to truly master the art of fiction in a novel. The author must not only fully understand the details about the past, but also should be able to weave in certain events with the themes presented with fiction as a whole.
The Civil War’s effects on America can be interpreted differently depending on time period. Tony Horwitz’s 150 Years of Misunderstanding the Civil War examines different views historians possessed when examining the war. With this trend in mind textbook American History: Connecting with the Past by Alan Brinkley presents a specific view on the war. Brinkley portrays the civil war inaccurately by deemphasizing of the Emancipation Proclamation, casualties , and failure to explain the war’s impact on the south; this discrepancy glorifies the war’s outcome by disregarding negative effects.
During the novel, the armies are going to war against their opponents and not necessarily their enemies.Despite the fact that the Confederate and Union armies were entirely concerned with defeating their opponent, many times they were fighting against relatives and friends. For instance, General
Wars have been fought for many different reasons through the years, and that holds true for the American Civil War (1861-1865). In Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Killer Angels, the reasons for fighting the war are brought about through the officers and soldiers at a famous battle site of the Civil War, Gettysburg. Gettysburg was one of the most documented battles of the whole war. It took place over a span of three days and can be viewed as a turning point from Confederate prominence to Confederate demise. As in any conflict, there are two sides to the story. The Union and the Confederacy each had their own views as to why they were fighting the war. Victors write the history so too often only the Union side is
The genre of the story is historical fiction and the setting is the 1930’s southern America in a town called Maycomb, in Alabama. The story is narrated by Scout Finch, a young girl whose innocent heart has been exposed to the evils of southern United States in the 1930’s. This setting is vital to the plot of the summary because during that time was the great depression and racism was especially common in the south, where lynching rose from 8 in
Sears uses language that most all of us can understand, and clearly it is a very well researched work. He supports his claims in the book with a copious amount of facts and yet still keeps the course of the book moving forward. He draws on a variety of sources including diaries and letters of the participants to produce, arguably, his definitive work. Sears thesis is actually two-fold; one that McClellan missed countless opportunities to defeat Lee and two that McClellan was an incompetent commander who missed several instances to take initiative and win the battle decisively. The young Napoleon, as McClellan was known, often waited an inordinate amount of time before making a movement with his troops. For me, reading the details (with heavy emphasis to the Union story) was captivating. No recon, no communication, egotistical leadership, timidity, and procrastination all combined and helped the Union snatch defeat (or, at the very least, a draw) from the jaws of victory. This battle, like others before and after it, could have really shortened the Civil War.
The Northern men are not shown much. Only Capt. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is portrayed, leaving out General Hancock, a major player in the beginning of the Civil War. This causes questions about there importance and if they were fighting for the “proper” reasons. A lot is left to the imagination about the North. The Southerners are all represented well and thoroughly throughout the film. Lee is portrayed as a very kind-hearted religious old man who has the respect of his troops and is out to win this war. Jackson is given the most glory as this film includes him in almost every other scene. He is also given a great light of respect from his troops and all around him. Even Jeb Stuart, who in real life was pompous and egotistical of himself and his troops, was given a light of respect by all including Lee which was not seen at all in real life (Gods and Generals the book.) In all the Southerners were surrounded in this great white light while the Northerners were not even given there few shining moments in fame during the beginning of the Civil War.
This movie shows all of the horrible things that are incorporated with war, in excruciating detail. At one point in the movie Scarlet has to witness a man get his leg amputated with no anesthesia, or anything for pain at all due to lack of funds, and lack of ability to get the medicines that were necessary. The accuracy of the film though is somewhat biased. The book was written by a southern woman, and frankly I’m sure had some resentment towards the North, she wrote this book glamorizing the South and making the North look horrendous. They were fighting to free slaves, whereas the South wanted to keep their slaves. The movie for the most part only seems to portray slaves with kind master and the truth of the matter is, no matter how good and kind the master was, the black people were slaves. They were considered property and as such, could be bought, sold, used and abused, and treated like cattle, not people. The slaves were not free. They had no legal rights, because they were not a person under the law. Their "owners" had complete control of their lives. They were not free to go anywhere or do anything without their master’s approval. The master had the right to separate husband and wife, parents and children. It was very rare that an entire slave family would remain intact. There was always the fear of being sold. Because of death or bankruptcy, families were separated and sold to fulfill
“There is no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war. Except its ending.” Stated by Abraham Lincoln, this quote embodies the essence of war, its tragic character and unfortunate occasional necessity. Accordingly, the outcome of war and its battles is often determined by the attitudes of the leaders of the opposing sides, including their causes for the willingness to fight and to be fought. Such was the case with the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels presents the leaders of the Army of the Potomac and the leaders of the Army of Northern Virginia with antithetical attitudes in relation to the Civil War. Although the causes of the leaders of the Union Army and the Confederate Army were both associated with the notion of freedom, the perspectives on freedom were contrasting with the Union Army advocating freedom of the individual, and the Confederate Army advocating freedom the states. Also, the leaders of the Army of the Potomac and the leaders of the Army of Northern Virginia had different outlooks on successful war strategies, with the Union favoring defensive tactics and the Confederacy favoring honorable offensive approaches. Additionally, the Union Army’s leaders had a gargantuan amount of confidence and perseverance which aided in winning the Battle of Gettysburg, while the Confederate Army was not as persistent and capitulated in battle.
The movie “Gone with the Wind” is about a rich southern girl named Scarlett O’Hara and her life hardships set during the time-period of the Civil War. In the story, Scarlett is forced to watch helplessly as her family’s wealth and lives fade as the confederacy loses the Civil War. Even though, the movie is mainly centered on the dilemmas of Scarlett’s love life, there are many historical accuracies that immerse the viewer in the southern mindset as well as the timeframe. The portrayal of class structures and the confederate attitudes before the Civil War are both accurate and engaging details that the movie successfully implements. In the film, these examples are displayed mainly through the dialogue and setting.
The tensions of the Civil War are very much still alive in the Southern United States one hundred and fifty years after the Confederacy surrendered to Union forces to end the war. While the tensions may have mitigated away from full-fledged war between North and South, there still remain tensions along racial and cultural lines well beyond the war. In Tony Horwitz’s Confederates in the Attic these long standing tensions left over from the war are delved into by Horwitz as he makes his way across the south to see how the old Confederacy is viewed in the modern world of the United States. What Horwitz found was a dualistic society differing views on the Confederacy and the events of the Civil War. Dualities left from the war in aspects such as racial tensions, the meaning of the Confederate flag even between North and South entirely. Those living in the South can be seen holding a resonating connection to the Civil War. It becomes clear in Confederates in the Attic the Civil War not only became the catalyst of such dualities in Southern society, but still further shape and perpetuate these dualities long after the Civil Wars conclusion.
The civil war began early in the spring of 1861 after the South’s secession from the Union and ended during the same season four years later in 1865. Though the war lasted for a rather short amount of time, for the ones it affected it seemed to be never-ending. The impact that the war had on Southerners was rather traitorous, them being the ones who suffered most. Many men lost their homes and property while many, many more men lost their lives fighting for them. There were many types of Southerners in 1861, the war affecting all of them differently, with some of the richer and higher members of society having an easier time both before and after the war. One amazing author, Margret Mitchell, created an in depth story of a southern-belle
The effects of the Civil War brought about changes in the United States. The country had to answer the question: To what level of moral and ethical conduct do we want Americans to be held? Loyalties were seriously evaluated. People had to decide if they held their loyalty to the country as a whole, their state, their families, or even to humanity as a whole. They had to decide if it was right to own another person, or if the slavery system was justified as a way to keep the Southern economy going. Through all this contemplation, people wrote about their thoughts and fears, and as a result, people abandoned romanticism and became realists. Many writings of the Civil War, whether informational or literary, reflect
The book Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the film Gone with the Wind share an exuberance of similarities whilst using the perspectives of both a slave and his master. They both, in detail, show that slavery was extremely popular and successful in the Southernmost states in the US. It was indeed considered a lifestyle of many in the nation. In the eyes of author Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind was the “Southern response to the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Mitchell depicts life in the South as a nirvana for highly profitable Caucasian southerners on their plantations where African Americans were more than happy to take a subsidiary role to satisfy their owners. It was an inaccurate portrayal of the time period. On the Other hand, Uncle Tom’s Cabin told the horrifying, but true story of the brutal slavery that took a toll on the South. Although these two works show very different perspectives and tell two totally diverse stories there are many similarities to be shown.