DAILY MUSINGS

GONE WITH THE WIND : WHY A SEQUEL IS IMPOSSIBLE (TO ACCEPT.SINCE THERE ALREADY ARE ABOUT 4 OUT THERE)

Gone with the Wind written by Margaret Mitchell and published in 1936 remains to this day an acclaimed best seller, highly praised for its somewhat unconventional characters and certainly the most well loved of all historical fiction due to its vitality and alternatively vibrant and lulling prose.

The phenomenal story of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler is in itself singularly intriguing with the backdrop of the civil war providing it with perfect credibility that did and still manages to capture and fascinate an astounding multitude of people.

 It gives one of the best historical accounts in literary fiction especially one that flows so well or perhaps I'm just biased.Wait I am biased.

It infuriates ,frustrates,makes us want to bash out Scarlett's apparently useless brains(well,they aren't exactly useless but they are not good for her),bring back Melanie from the dead,turn out Scarlett's trashy companions,bring back the county boys,kill Ashley and..............................................design a reconciliation.

That is the most ardent wish of all die hard fans of GWTW and Margaret Mitchell Association recognizing it allowed the authorized sequel, ''SCARLETT" and then to atone for this mistake allowed another,"RHETT BUTLER'S PEOPLE".

Where the first fails to capture the essence of the story the second falls short of adequately depicting Scarlett O'Hara.

Both sequels end in a reconciliation which does not bring me a lot of satisfaction ,perhaps because:

1- It's not Rhett and Scarlett fashion.

2- It's not believable.

The thing is that in order for a reconciliation ,both characters need to change ....for the better, which ironically is disliked by most of the reader-ship,at least sub-consciously for where's the fun in that?

Aside from the above, any change that serves as a prelude for  a reconciliation,on Scarlett's part ,needs to be pretty drastic.She'll become kind and caring and generous, loving ,maternal,you name it.(although I'm not sure she needs to become anything other than sensible but that's what most sequels aim at)

Actually they all focus not on the fact that Rhett may take her as she is but on a ''Scarlett Redemption'' correcting all that was wrong in her and a Scarlett redeemed is no Scarlett at all or Rhett for that matter.

As Margaret Mitchell so eloquently phrased it when people badgered her for a sequel:

"(it would be)A highly moral tract in which everyone, including Belle Watling, underwent a change of heart and character and reeked with sanctimonious dullness."

The reason for the disquietude over the sequels lies in the original GWTW itself.

It is due to the very simple explanation that Mitchell literally sealed all exits.She tackled every subject,every crack,every hole in the chimney under the sun in the monologue before Rhett's departure leaving absolutely no loop hole for a sequel.Other than Scarlett's pigheadedness ,that is.

We'll look at those another day.