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Sadly, I think people are losing the ability to think deeply about issues and and parse out good from the bad. We don't teach kids HOW to learn or how to think on their own. (And this is not to be confused with teaching them WHAT to think lol)Quote:
it hadn't occurred to me that people couldn't balance the two elements and read it for what it was
I never liked Scarlet, though. :|(
We are supposed to like Scarlett for her grit, and her unshakable love for Tara. I actually *do* like Scarlet for those traits.Quote:
Originally Posted by early morning
Some years ago my garden club was searching around for a theme for our upcoming flower show and someone suggested GWTW. So, we used that theme and I loved it. My table display had a cigar for Rhett. But even at that time I knew we were acting in a politically incorrect way.
Good theme for flowers, lol! Don't care why we're supposed to like Scarlet, I do not - she is /was scheming, money-grubbing, selfish, and manipulative. I agree she was tenacious, which could have been a redeeming feature - but no. STILL don't like her.Quote:
Some years ago my garden club was searching around for a theme for our upcoming flower show and someone suggested GWTW. So, we used that theme and I loved it. My table display had a cigar for Rhett. But even at that time I knew we were acting in a politically incorrect way
I am Aries, and I read once that the prototypical Aries female is Scarlett O'Hara. Well, that's not me. I identified more with Melanie Wilkes, while wishing I was more like Scarlett. Scarlett was the Donald Trump of that story. She got things done and would sell her soul to do it.Quote:
Originally Posted by iris lilies
Scarlett’s Achilles heel was the weak and namby pamby Ashley Wilkes. I did not admire her for that when she had sexy baddie Rhett Butler at her finger tips.Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine
GWTW is not great literature, it is not highbrow, but it is an engaging story.
One of the few assignments I remember from college was when I wrote a paper comparing Scarlett O’Hara and Becky Sharp, a main character in Vanity Fair. Becky also had her goody two shoes nemesis in Amelia, just like Scarlett had in Melanie.
Yeah, she definitely didn't know herself very well. Ashley was not right for her. It's a great lesson--that we can spend a lifetime chasing the wrong thing--what Stephen Covey called the ladder against the wrong wall. Scary, actually.Quote:
Originally Posted by iris lilies
I’m laughing here because simultaneously over on a sub Reddit there’s a thread going about the most hated characters in the TV show “Succession” which is hilarious because every character in that show is drawn to be disliked. It probably is my favorite TV show ever
I mean it's probably not GREAT, but it's good. Scarlett does NOT know herself. The romance was the least important part of Scarlett's character. There's a great scene where she returns home to Tara and visits the neighboring plantation, where she has a conversation with the destitute matriarch. And the woman tells Scarlett that it is her ability to endure, to persevere, to bend with the winds of change that makes her strong, that makes her successful, that makes her a survivor, while about her, the gentry class is dying, "gone with the wind." THAT is a great scene. if you get bogged down with Scarlett's love interests, it's missing the point of the story. And Scarlett doesn't even get it. She thinks the matriarch is stupid and boring. That's the point. People overlook the power of Scarlett's character. Is she nice? No. Is she good...not really, but not really bad. But Scarlett is a survivor.Quote:
Originally Posted by iris lilies
I don't think Scarlett is supposed to be likeable. That's part of the intrinsic power of the story. She is an antihero. And the ultimate survivor. She isn't really a good person. But she is loyal, strong, and powerful. She has no idea what's the best thing for herself or others. She doesn't recognize love till it's too late. These are the themes that make it a good story, not the silly trappings of Ashley or Rhett.Quote:
Originally Posted by early morning
No, she doesn't know herself. She doesn't even know what love is or what goodness is. Scarlett isn't even good herself. She's a very interesting character though.Quote:
Originally Posted by catherine