Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Part 3 of Gone With The Wind


Part 3 brought me to the worst of the war. Now the South suffered terrible lost from the Yankees. And when Scarlett has begun to enjoy her life once again, when she once again regained the life she have had enjoyed, Atlanta was suddenly in the big risk of being under siege by the Yankees. Most of the neighbours—so did Aunt Pitty—fled away to other cities, but what could Scarlett do with Melanie, whose laboring time was nearly approaching? Her first instinct was to leave everything and sought protection in her home, Tara. However, Ashley’s pleading at Christmas holiday kept haunting her, for she could not bear the thought that Ashley would be disappointed because Scarlett did not keep her promise. How selfish was this woman!

So, Scarlett stayed, alone with Prissy and the pregnant Melanie. And just when the situation was growing more frantically, when the doctor was busy with hundreds of wounded soldiers, and everybody took care of their own businesses, Melanie started to feel the laboring pain. There was only Scarlett and Prissy—the little slave—at home, and they just have to do everything they could to help delivering the baby. That was Scarlett’s turning point, I think, because from then on life would never become easy for her; and that event showed her real qualities: strong and brave.

Now Scarlett, in an urgent desire to flee to Tara, forced Rhett to find a carriage to bring her, Wade, Melanie and the baby, and Prissy. Rhett did it, brought the group out of the danger of Yankee’s capture, but abandoned them half way because he wanted to take part in the war. Scarlett hated Rhett for that, and with all her might she finally succeeded in bringing her group to Tara. Only to find everything was different from what she has looked forward to. Ellen was dead, and Gerald was ‘no longer himself’ after the shocks. And now…Scarlett did not have anyone else in this world to come to when she was in trouble. Now Tara belonged to her, and suddenly the burden had fallen on her shoulders.

Tara suffered terribly during those days, and every time, when Scarlett thought the worst was over, came another trial for Tara. Here both Scarlett’s and Melanie’s characters developed. The selfish Scarlett became harder; and her spoilt and childish manner was replaced with a firm business manner that she must hold to get respect from the blacks. On the other hand, Melanie showed her courage and strong determination despite her weaker physical health. I was a bit entertained to see the two women at Tara could now work hand in hand to protect and to provide life for all of them. Although, here and there Scarlett’s wicked thoughts often emerged towards Melanie, who she considered as just another mouth to feed. Oh Scarlett….what kind of heart did you possessed? I can tolerate selfishness, childishness, or other one’s bad habits, but not a cruelty. I can’t imagine how a well bred young woman (with Ellen always taught her to pray Rosary) could have such an iron heart? And I don’t understand either why Margaret Mitchell should create such an annoying character to be her main heroine! >,<

Anyway, Part 3 was topped with the arrival of two men from the war. The first one was Will Benteen, a wounded soldier who was rehabilitated at Tara (under the mercy of Melanie, but with a grudge from Scarlett—at least at first). However after having been recovered, Will was proved to be very valuable for Scarlett, for now she had someone (and a male too) to share the hardship of managing both the plantation and the house hold of Tara. The second one was…Ashley, who has been released from prison after the war—finally—came to an end. And this was where Part 3 was ended, left us with more curiosity of what will happen next in Part 4.

15 comments:

  1. Akhirnya si Scarlett jadi dewasa tapi ga menghilangkan sifat dasarnya... *teteup*

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    1. Tepat sekali, sifat dasarnya tetap ada, dan nanti di part 4 menjadi makin parah... =__=

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  2. I'm on Part 3 right now, and I still have to post a review for Part 2 haha.

    http://eternal-simplicity.blogspot.com

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  3. I think I could understand Scarlett's feeling. Suddenly her life was changing, but still she couldn't beat her ego. I have some respect on her now, and thumbs for the author. Still manage to write down my opinions, since I lost my respect when it came to ''Ashley moment''

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    1. Wait until you come to Part 4, you'll lose all respect for her. Well, at least I did.. :|

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  4. Like you, I found a new respect for both Melanie and Scarlett. But I also agree with you that Margaret Mitchell could perhaps made her heroine less selfish and annoying... Time after time I think that she's changed for the better and then something happens which makes me want to slap some sense into her.

    I know we're supposed to talk about part 3 here, but what did you think about the awkward non-conversation between Ashley and Scarlett at the beginning of part 4? I could not understand why Scarlett did not see that the both of them are utterly incompatible...

    I'll post my thoughts of part 3 sometime next week :-)

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    1. I've been wondering too, why Mitchell made Scarlett that way. I mean, if she'd like to speak about the changes in the Southern after civil war, and how people are supposed to handle it, then why didn't she create a tough and brave woman (few good qualities I found in Scarlett) but have a better moral than Scarlett? I think you don't have to be greedy and immoral to survive, do you?

      About Ashley, I think Scarlett still cannot move on from her love to him. She refused to analyse their relationship, I think, because she could not accept the idea that Ashley never loved her. But, you will know more about Ashley's feeling to her in Part 4, so keep on reading.. :)

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  5. Fanda, I appreciate you coming by and checking in on me. Unfortunately, after much soul searching, I had to drop out of the read-a-long. I just have so much going on right now and it is a re-read for me so there's always time to read it again. Scarlett is a hard one to warm up to, but she is a complicated character and an entertaining one at that! Anyway, just wanted to let you know my status. I will definitely be joining you all for Let's Read Plays. What a great idea!

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    1. It's OK Michelle, I understand.
      Yeah...she is definitely interesting character, sometimes contradictive too. I'm just wondering what she would be in the end.

      Well, I'll meet you in the Let's Read Plays event then... :)

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  6. I also think it's fascinating that Mitchell made such a dislikeable lead, but again, other authors have done this before. It's easy to make a perfect lead, more difficult to make one dislikeable yet still entertaining. I think it's a testament to Mitchell's writing that Scarlett, however much her flaws, is compelling. Part 3 was the most gripping and probably one of the best parts of the book for me. At least in terms of how we view Scarlett. This was when I found the novel a page turner because it was so bleak, but Scarlett was so single minded in her goal to not go hungry and to survive. This kind of obstinancy and drive is off putting in 'stable' times, but it really comes in handy when you are trying to survive in your war torn homeland. She is so determined in this part of the book. This part of her life will always traumatise her (and probably Melanie too) for the rest of her life.

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    1. Really? I think Part 4 is the best (so far), but it was in Part 3 that she did changed a lot.

      I think Scarlett did not used to make decisions, and what bother me most is how she often put her conscience behind when she must make a toughdecision ('Oh, I will think about it later'). I really can't admire people like that, whether they are surviving through hard times or not. :)

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    2. Part 3 is when she changed, but she got much worse through part 4 and 5. The thing is, she is really testy and mean in part 3 to everyone, but she isn't exactly cruel like she will be shown to be later. She does what she needs in Part 3 to survive. I don't really admire Scarlett, but she is fighter so I can appreciate what she did at Tara and for her family. While she does get annoyed with taking care Melanie, she never would have actually kicked Melanie or anyone else out. It's one thing to think, it's another to do. Scarlett isn't really a role model of a good person though. She's just incredibly self-centered.

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    3. I've been through Part 4, and yes, she got worse there.
      I think Scarlett was not really as tough as she appeared, but she had managed a way to survive, by making quick decision and (trying) to ignore the consequences. Melanie I think is tougher than Scarlett, despite of her weak health.

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    4. No disagreement there, but Mitchell makes the point that Part 3 was the dramatic change of Scarlett. I completely agree Melanie is the strongest character in the whole book, but I think Mitchell showed honestly how it could be in situations were poverty is dire and the country is in chaos. This war mentality of Scarlett's carries far beyond what happened in the war which is her ultimate downfall.

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What do you think?