Hi guys, welcome back to Fiddle Dee Dee. I hope
everyone has been doing well. I know it's been
a little while, maybe longer than it should have
been since the last episode. But today we are
going to be talking about probably the most divisive
character in the book and maybe in all of fiction.
I think she has a pretty good chance and that
is Scarlett O 'Hara herself. When I say she's
divisive, I'm not saying that lightly because
when I go on the internet and I Google anything
regarding her, I see so many people who claim
that she is like the devil incarnate and that
she has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. And
I also see that criticism sometimes from people
who have read the book and people who like the
book. And I also see people defend her and say
that she is such an inspiration or even a role
model for them and that she's just awesome and
they love her. So I really think that there may
be two types of people in this world, people
who love her or people who hate her. And I was
a big fan of Gone with the Wind. I love Scarlett,
but I am not one of those people who thinks that
she doesn't have any flaws or that she is even
really a good person. I think that She has a
lot of negative qualities. But I also definitely
don't think she's evil. I think she is a really
unique character, to be honest with you. I think
that in the beginning of the book, Margaret Mitchell
seems like she sets out to create this character
who is so just vapid and shallow and basic. And
in the process, she... create somebody who is
actually really complex and really unique for
a protagonist and also really relatable even
if you don't seem to have anything in common
with her on surface level. So one qualm people
have with her that I want to address today is
Does she have any empathy? And I know that sounds
like a weird question because Scarlett's a very
human character and like I said, very complex.
So of course she must have some, but I've seen
a lot of people say that she doesn't have any,
that she maybe even tends on sociopathy. We don't
really know. So I am going to just go through
the book. look at a bunch of different quotes
and passages. I have put together a really long
selection of quotes, so I hope I'm not quoting
too much in this episode. I really would like
to talk more than read quotes because reading
quotes can be exhausting. But let me just get
started. from the very beginning and talk about
scarlet as she changes throughout the book originally
i was going to talk about her in terms of all
the different characters she interacts with and
whether she has empathy for each different character
but as i went on and i collected all these quotes
i noticed it kind of made more sense to just
start at the beginning and go to the end so that's
what we're going to try to do as much as we can
okay so beginning of the book I think that from
the very beginning, Scarlett is established to
be a character who is not very nice. She is somebody
who is very easily able to manipulate other people
into getting what she wants. And the least empathy
that we see from her in the beginning. or the
least empathetic action, is probably in regards
to India Wilkes. So this is right at the very
beginning. It's talking about how she first started
flirting with the Tarleton twins, and it says
that she noticed that Stuart was in love with
India and it says she was constitutionally unable
to endure any man being in love with any woman
not herself and the sight of India Wilkes and
Stuart at the speaking had been too much for
her predatory nature not content with Stuart
alone she had set her cap for Brent as well and
with a thoroughness that overwhelmed the two
of them okay so that's pretty bad right Scarlett
um simply saw that somebody else was the center
of attention and she couldn't handle it and the
book describes her as predatory so this is before
she has gone through anything i think it's pretty
important to point that out that um This is before
all of her trauma and such. However, one argument
in Scarlett's favor here is that she is 16 years
old. And I think that a lot of 16 year olds are
self -centered. Maybe even all 16 year olds are
self -centered most of the time. So... That is
just an early way of showing us who Scarlett
is. She is just naturally somebody who is kind
of full of herself and likes to have everybody
love her all the time instead of anybody else.
So the book keeps going. One moment Scarlett
has that is pretty nice early on is when she's
on the way to the barbecue. She's thinking about
her little sister, Corrine, and how she's really
sweet. And she knows that Corrine has a crush
on Brent. But Corrine is like, oh, but I know
Brent has a crush on Scarlett. And Scarlett says,
darling, I don't care a thing about Brent, declared
Scarlett, happy enough to be generous. And he
doesn't care a thing about me. Why? He's waiting
for you to grow up. So that was a pretty nice
thing for her to say. I think it shows she's
not totally heartless. And then when they get
to the barbecue, there's one point where India
goes and talks to Stuart. And it says that the
look she gave him gave Scarlett something like
a twinge of conscience. It was the same look
of belonging that Melanie wore when looking at
Ashley. Only Stuart did not see it. So India
did love him. And then it keeps going. She comforts
herself with the idea that it's not her fault
that India couldn't keep Stuart. Which is not
very nice, but that's her way of deflecting guilt
from herself, of telling herself that she didn't
do anything wrong. And Scarlett does that a lot
through this book. I think these early passages
really show that she is somebody who doesn't
like to admit when she's wrong, who doesn't like
to own up to her own faults, and that is always
able to find some sort of loophole in her moral
feelings. And I think that... These qualities
in the beginning of the book are really not so
severe that it doesn't seem like she couldn't
ever overcome them. They could just be a result
of her being spoiled and very much pampered and
looked after her entire life and always the center
of attention. But as the book goes on and she
goes through all of this horrible stuff, these
bad qualities are more intensified. That is kind
of where we're going to be going with the rest
of this, I think. So let's keep going to probably
what is Scarlett's most traumatic moment in the
book. And this is a huge jump ahead, but it's
when the shelling really starts in Atlanta. So
prior to this, part of the book. Scarlet has
been living, you know, a pretty normal life in
Atlanta. Not that it is something she's ever
really been through before. I mean, she's working
as a nurse in the hospital. She has seen a lot
of really gross and awful things, but her life
still feels relatively secure before this chapter.
Once the shelling starts and Aunt Pity Pat goes
to Macon, she's left alone with Melanie, and
Melanie's about to give birth. This is when I
think Scarlett really gets her first dose of
reality. So Melanie is definitely a character
that people point to a lot when they talk about
how Scarlett doesn't have empathy because Melanie
is really, really sweet to Scarlett and Scarlett
just doesn't care about it at all. She really
cannot stand Melanie. Maybe it's because Melanie
makes her feel bad about herself. I think it's
mostly just because she's jealous because of
Ashley. one quote that I think is kind of interesting.
It's when Melanie is begging Scarlett to stay
with her in Atlanta instead of refuging to Macon
or Tara. And it says Scarlett stared down at
her in wonderment with her own dislike of this
woman so strong she could barely conceal it.
How could Mellie love herself? How could Mellie
be so stupid as not to guess the secret of her
love of Ashley? She'd given herself away a hundred
times during these months of torment, waiting
for news of him. But Melanie saw nothing. Melanie,
who could see nothing but good in anyone she
loved. Yes, she had promised Ashley she would
look out for Melanie. Oh, Ashley, Ashley, you
must be dead, dead these many months. And now
you're dead. Okay, so the reason I wanted to
bring that quote up is because some people argue
that the only reason Scarlett looks after Melanie
in this chapter and in subsequent chapters is
because of her promise to Ashley. So... We know
that Scarlett is very much in love with this
idea of Ashley that she has in her head, and
Ashley is one character that she never really
lacks empathy for. She doesn't understand him
necessarily, but she does worry about him, and
she is very upset by the idea of him ever being
poor or unfed or cold or hungry or anything like
that. She constantly has that sort of empathy
for him. throughout the war when she's not with
him and even a little bit when he first comes
back from the war so it's kind of you know a
point of contention between fans whether the
only reason she looks after melanie is because
of ashley but One part I think is kind of interesting
is that during the shelling, Melanie is unable
to get all the way into the cellar because she's
in a delicate condition. She can't get all the
way down there. And Prissy and Wade do go down
there to shelter. And Scarlett, rather than joining
them there, stays upstairs with Melanie. And
the two of them basically... cuddle together
in bed and just cry in each other's arms, which
is very, very telling, I think, of their relationship.
Scarlett does not hate her so much that she turns
away from her comfort. And I really think that
despite her promise to Ashley, Scarlett is totally
capable of just going in the cellar with Wade
and Prissy, but she opts to stay with Melanie.
So that is kind of our first sense, I think,
of Scarlett's sense of duty. Scarlett is extremely
dutiful, even if she's not always very attentive
to other people's feelings. She always makes
sure they're taken care of. And I think that
that can be seen as a form of empathy because
she does take care of people's physical needs.
Which brings me to my next point, which is Wade
Hampton. Scarlett is shown as someone who is
not a very great mother. She doesn't have a lot
of empathy for her son. In this next chapter,
when they are trying to leave Atlanta right after
Melanie gives birth, Scarlett just basically
has no pity for him at all. There's a line where
he's like, Wade hungry. He sobbed and put the
hurt finger in his mouth. And she says, I don't
care. Go in the backyard. So imagine a child
tells you, your own child, I'm hungry. And you
say, I don't care. And granted, Scarlett is in
this really stressed out position. She is absolutely
out of her mind with terror that she's not going
to be able to deliver Melanie's baby. And then
later when they're refugeeing. Sorry, I skipped
back a little bit. But what I meant to say was
later when they're refuging, there's a part where
everybody has to get out of the wagon so that
the horse can climb the hill. And Scarlet tells
Wade to stop crying or she'll come over there
and slap him. So this is a terrified child, right?
They are trying to get out of Atlanta back to
Tara. And they've been basically bombed and they
have seen all these you know fire in the distance
and wade is like this little toddler boy and
he has absolutely no clue what's going on and
scarlet it says she has no compassion for the
frightened child um She thinks to herself, why
had God invented children, she thought savagely
as she turned her ankle cruelly on the dark road.
Useless, crying nuisances they were, always demanding
care, always in the way. In her exhaustion, there
was no room for compassion for the frightened
child, trotting by Prissy's side, dragging at
her hand and sniffling. Only a weariness that
she had borne him, only a tired wonder that she
had ever married Charles Hamilton. This is her
own child. This is not just any child. And at
her young age, she's 19 years old here. She has
had him for, I don't know, two, three years now.
And she is unable to muster any sort of sympathy
for him. And the reason for that is because she
is so afraid herself. Um, so Scarlett is one
of those people who when she is under stress,
she is unable to take care of others. And I guess
if we look at it through the lens of like Maslow's
hierarchy of needs, maybe it's just that she
is so... is lacking in her own needs in the moment
that she cannot put others before herself. But
that might be a little generous to say. I mean,
she definitely could have been a little kinder.
And so weight is a very interesting case. Later
on when they are starving, sorry, I'm jumping
around a lot, but I kind of have to because this
is such a broad topic. Later when they're starving,
There's a scene where Scarlett slaps him again
and she says she has no time to figure out what
is wrong with him. And the thing that makes Scarlett
interesting is that the book also states that
this bothers her. She's very bothered that he
starts to... um become frightened of her that
he starts to avoid her and spend more time with
Melanie and she feels jealous that he's doing
it I think that if Scarlett were completely heartless
and without feelings that she wouldn't have that
sort of reaction to him avoiding her she'd probably
just be grateful for it but I think that she
can see her own shortcomings in in the way that
she treats him but she just doesn't have the
mental capacity at the moment um when she's the
head of the household to be able to fix anything
with him and then later on she is still motivated
by all this money frenzy and she can't do anything
about it she feels and then she kind of eventually
feels that it's too late but I'm getting ahead
of myself I want to kind of go back to this whole
chapter where she is going to Tara again because
this is the chapter where she changes the most
I think um when she's going back to Tara after
Melanie's birth there's also a little scene where
Melanie she looks back at her and she can see
that she doesn't look very well it says she lay
with sick eyes closed against the sun And Scarlet
immediately takes off her bonnet, says, put that
over her face, it'll keep the sun out of her
eyes. And it says, the heat beat down upon her
unprotected head, she thought, I'll be as freckled
as a guinea egg before this day is over. She
had never in her life been out in the sunshine
without a hat or veils, never handled rains without
gloves to protect the white skin of her dimpled
hands. Yet here she was, exposed to the sun in
a broken -down wagon with a broken -down horse,
dirty, sweaty, hungry, helpless to do anything
but plot along. a snail's pace through a deserted
land okay so my point in bringing that up is
that even in her pain and her exhaustion um scarlet
takes off her own bonnet and puts it on top of
melanie to keep her eyes out of the sun so There's
just so much contrast in this whole chapter.
There's the way she treats Wade, and then there's
the way she treats Prissy, and there's the way
she treats Melanie. And in her head, she's cursing
them all and she hates them all. But at the end
of the day, she is doing what she can for them.
And I think that sometimes providing can be a
way of showing that you care about somebody.
And I think that maybe even Scarlet doesn't understand
that herself. She doesn't understand why it is
that she is always looking after everyone. But
in the chapter following the one where she first
gets home is where the book establishes that
she's really changing into this cold person who
is suddenly unable to have empathy for anyone
around her. And I think the book pretty much
states this. It says she... doesn't have any
patience anymore for kindness for Sue Ellen and
Corrine. When they're sick, she just tells them
that they have to get up as soon as they're better
and help her out and split kindling and pick
cotton and everything like that. She doesn't
have a lot of sympathy for the servants who are
refusing to help her. She doesn't really... have
sympathy for wade as i said she does have a little
for her father who's basically lost his mind
but she she's really unable to see anything from
anybody's point of view and when i say the servants
refusing to help her i'm talking about scene
where they're picking cotton. I'm not saying
that they're always refusing to help her or with
anything, but she gets really frustrated in this
one scene with Mamie and Pork because they're
not helping her pick cotton and the only one
who will help her is Dilsey and her sisters won't
help her either. So this all leads Scarlet to
believe that she's on her own and everything
that her mother taught her was wrong and there's
simply no point in being kind or gentle anymore
because the world that she knew before was gone
and so what was the point of all of the that
kindness and politeness if this is what it led
them to and this is also the chapter where she
kind of becomes a bully it says scarlet reigned
supreme at terra now and like others suddenly
elevated to authority all the bullying instincts
in her nature rose to the surface it was not
that she was basically unkind it was because
she was so frightened and unsure of herself she
was harsh lest others learn her inadequacies
and refuse her authority Besides, there was some
pleasure in shouting at people and knowing they
were afraid. Scarlet found that it relieved her
overwrought nerves. She was not blind to the
fact that her personality was changing. Sometimes
when her curt orders made pork stick out his
under lip and mammy mutter, some folks rides
mighty high these days, she wondered where her
good manners had gone. All the courtesy, all
the gentleness Ellen had striven to instill in
her had fallen away from her as quickly as leaves
fall from trees in the first chill wind of autumn.
Okay, so that to me is honestly one of the saddest
paragraphs in the book because it shows how Scarlett's
character is developing and not necessarily for
the better. One thing that kind of bothers me
when people talk about Scarlett is when people
say that she doesn't change at all, that she
doesn't... learn from her mistakes or mature
in any way. I think that people who say that
are kind of failing to realize what character
development is. It's not always necessarily a
character maturing. And I think that Scarlett
does mature in a way. I think that she becomes
less spoiled. and more willing to work. She's
very hardworking. I don't think the Scarlet from
the beginning of the book would have ever considered
herself capable of picking cotton or of shooting
a Yankee or facing down Sherman's army when they
invade. I think that she definitely matured in
that way, but I also think that... the book goes
out of its way to show how she gets worse. I
think it goes to show that she doesn't have a
lot of guidance at this point in her life. I
mean, she goes through this really, really traumatic
day helping Melanie give birth. Then she is in
charge of taking everybody home when Rhett abandons
her on the road. And when she gets home, she
finds out that her mother is dead. Her father
has basically lost his mind. Nobody is really
looking to anybody but her for leadership. She's
suddenly the head of the household and she's
only 19 years old. And because she doesn't have
any sort of guidance, I think that all of her
negative qualities come to light and she becomes
this much harsher, colder version of herself.
She's not able to find any sort of solace in
anything and so she just becomes harsh because
she doesn't really understand what else to do.
The one time when she does get some guidance
is when she finally gets the horse after shooting
the Yankees, and she rides over to the first
plantation nearby, which is the Fontaines, and
she talks to Grandma Fontaine, who, if you haven't
read the book, is an older lady, and she gives
Scarlet some advice and helps her out, and from
that point on, Scarlet is a little bit better,
but the trauma that she went through never fully
goes away. She starts to develop these awful
nightmares where she constantly wakes up screaming,
terrified. She's very, very afraid of ever being
hungry again. Things do get better. The book
shows that things get a lot better after the
surrender and she's able to finally find food
again. But she never really changes back to how
she was. And I think that... The book kind of
shows her in contrast with Melanie in this way.
Melanie always retains her gentleness and her
kindness no matter what happens, whereas Scarlet
just loses them completely as soon as she is
faced with something very difficult. But it's
also hard not to admire Scarlet in these scenes.
I mean, she's very brave, and she does work very,
very hard to protect her family. And the book
does... state that she is doing all of this to
protect her family. Later on, when there is the
whole issue with the tax money, Scarlett is considering
marrying Rhett, and this is the first thing she
thinks to herself at the prospect of getting
money. Millions in gold. She could repair Tara
and hire hands and plant miles and miles of cotton.
And she could have pretty clothes and all she
wanted to eat and so could Sue Ellen and Corrine.
And Wade could have nourishing food to fill out
his thin cheeks and warm clothes and a governess
and afterward go to the university and not grow
up barefooted and ignorant like a cracker. And
a good doctor could look after Pa and as for
Ashley, what couldn't she do for Ashley? So,
This quote, I think, is pretty important. Scarlett
does think a little bit about herself when she
says she could have pretty clothes and all she
wanted to eat. But this whole scene where she's
thinking about money, she thinks very much about
her family. She thinks about her family home,
her sisters, whom she doesn't particularly like.
about Wade, who she doesn't treat very well,
her dad, Ashley. She really, really wants to
just provide for everybody. That is the first
thing she thinks about in terms of money. And
I think that goes to show that she does care.
She has a really funny way of showing it. I'm
not going to lie. I don't think that you can
read the whole book thoroughly and say Scarlett
has absolutely no empathy for anybody because
she does have these little moments like this
where she wants her loved ones to have what's
best for them. Later on... again about wade there's
a scene where she's talking to ret and she's
saying she's never going to be hungry again and
she puts in and wade isn't ever going to know
what it means to do without the things he needs
never he's going to have everything in the world
and all my family they aren't ever going to be
hungry again i mean it every word you don't understand
you're such a selfish hound so scarlet is thinking
of herself as being unselfish in comparison to
ret which is pretty interesting and I just find
it so fascinating that Wade is this character
who she is shown to have not wanted she doesn't
really care about him on surface level or so
it seems in the beginning of the book she tends
to forget that he exists she doesn't mind that
she barely sees him But as soon as she is faced
with this extreme poverty, she is very bothered
by the fact that he is suffering and she wants
him to have the best things in life, as she states
more than once. So clearly, Wade did have some
sort of impact on her growing up and seeing him
starving did affect her. So if you're going to
point out to her being this terrible mother as
a reason why she's a bad character, I think that
is valid. But one of the things that makes Scarlett
so complex is that she does have this sort of
affection for him that's buried way, way, way
deep down. And you can also see this in the scene
where she gets the sword back for him from Sherman,
Sherman's army. When they show up at Tara, they're
robbing the house, taking all of this stuff away.
And she sees them taking Charles's sword, which
belongs to Wade. And there's a line about how
she could bear to see all of her things being
taken away, but she could not stand them taking
away the sword because it was her little boy's
pride and joy. So Wade is just very, very complicated.
Her relationship with him. is pretty bad overall
i would say they don't have a close relationship
he's very afraid of her and she doesn't always
want him around but at the same time she does
in her own weird way care about him anyway uh
one other really bad thing she does um not long
after this is when she steals Sue Ellen's fiance.
Now, when I first read the book, I absolutely
could not believe what I was reading when I got
to this part because Scarlett, you know, she
had had this whole conversation with Frank about
him getting engaged to Sue Ellen. It says that
she felt really touched by his declaration of
love for him, for her, for Sue Ellen. And Scarlett
is rarely touched by anything. And I remember
thinking that was such a sweet moment. And then
As soon as Scarlett is desperate again, as soon
as she is feeling just absolutely desolate and
like she is going to lose her home, she decides
she's going to lie to Frank and say that Sue
Ellen's going to marry somebody else. And there
is the whole line. um where or this whole paragraph
where she is talking about how you know frank's
no beauty and um quite annoying to me but you
know he he could get me money and stuff and she's
just appraising him very very coldly and then
It says that he was Sue Ellen's fiancee caused
her no qualm of conscience. After the complete
moral collapse, which sent her to Atlanta and
to Rett, the appropriation of her sister's betrothed
seemed in minor affair and one not to be bothered
with at this time. Okay, that is just a crazy
line to me that she could think so coldly about
her sister and her happiness. I have two sisters.
I don't think that I could ever think that way
about. my sisters, no matter how mad I was at
them about anything or how much I felt like I
disliked them. It wouldn't really matter. I would
know that I was ruining somebody's chances of
happiness for the future. And I know that I could
never do this, or at least I think so. I've never
been in Scarlett's position, right? So that definitely
is a line that points to her lack of empathy.
But later on, When Frank dies, Scarlett kind
of has a turnaround at this point, but we'll
get to that in a second. Scarlett has her second
baby, Ella, with Frank, and I think one of the
best conversations she has in the book with Rhett
about her own moral failings is right after she's
had Ella and she's talking with him about...
how different she's become. She's just hired
convicts to work in the sawmill that she bought.
And she says to Rhett, there's a time for all
things. When I've got plenty of money, I'll be
as nice as you please too. Butter won't melt
in my mouth then. I can afford to be then. And
then Rhett says, and I absolutely love this quote.
You can afford to be, but you won't. It's hard
to salvage jettisoned cargo, and if it is retrieved,
it's usually irreparably damaged. And I fear
that when you can afford to fish up the honor
and virtue and kindness you've thrown overboard,
you'll find they have suffered a sea change and
not, I fear, into something rich and strange.
Okay, so he was quoting Shakespeare there at
the end, of course, because it's Rhett. He's
always making allusions. But I absolutely love
that quote about being unable to salvage. cargo
that's been thrown overboard it's so true scarlet
decides to just forget about honor and kindness
for a while and then later when she's rich and
she's married to ret she tries to summon them
up again and she finds that she really isn't
able to do it so easily and she finds that a
lot of people really want nothing to do with
her anymore anyway she loses a lot of friends
i think that this is the whole point of her character
arc right here. She has all this gumption, she
has a lot of bravery, and she has a lot of admirable
qualities to be sure. But she got rid of some
of the most important ones in order to be successful.
She decided to always go the unscrupulous route
in order to get what she wanted. And I think
that's what the book is trying to say. People
who survive do so by being unscrupulous. People
who, no, not the people who survive. People who
thrive do so by being unscrupulous. If she had
just wanted to survive, she could have let Tara
go to taxes. She could have let Soelle and Mary
Frank. They could have all just crowded into
Aunt Pity's house, which Scarlett half -owned.
But she chose not to do that. She chose to steal
her sister's fiancé because she... That was what
she wanted and what she felt would get the best
end results. And she didn't worry at all about
how Sue Ellen would feel about it. I kind of
wish the movie had not cut out everything to
do with Sue Ellen and Gerald's death because
I think that showed that Scarlett's action here
really had a consequence because if she had not
made Sue Ellen so angry in that way and not cared
about how she felt, then Gerald would not have
died in such an awful way. So I thought that
scene was pretty important, but I understand
why they telescoped it in the movie. There just
wasn't a ton of time to get to it. But anyway,
one of the... Best parts, I think, in the whole
book is her proposal scene with Rhett, and not
just because he proposes to her, but also the
conversation before where Scarlet, for the very
first time, starts to feel guilty. She has all
of these feelings about Frank's death. She buys
into the idea that she really did kill him, even
though it wasn't really her fault. She was being
reckless, but the way that everybody blames her
for it is kind of unfair. But even so, Scarlett
believes that she's responsible for her husband's
death. And she feels horrible in that moment
all of a sudden for stealing Frank from Sue Ellen.
She thinks that he loved her and not me and I
should have just let them get married. And I
don't see how I could have done this. My mother
didn't raise me to be that way. And she has a
line that says, I've been so mean, but I'm not
really mean. And I just love this part so much
because It just shows what a very unique character
Scarlet is. I feel like with a lot of antiheroes
in fiction, they are completely happy with being
mean and they don't ever really take the time
to go back and look at themselves in the mirror
until the very end. And Scarlet is having one
of those moments where she is thinking about
how she wants to be good. I feel like a lot of
antiheroes... don't want to be good. They don't
have that motivation to want to be like, I don't
know, someone they admire. Like Scarlett wants
to be like her mother. She wants to emulate all
of those wonderful qualities she has. And she's
never quite able to do that. And here she's kind
of feeling that blow. I think that that is what
makes Scarlett stand out amongst all the anti
-heroes in fiction, that she has this desire
to be better than she is, that deep down she
knows she's supposed to be better than she is,
but she can never really get herself to be that
way. So we're going to skip ahead a little more.
Honestly, a lot more. I feel like throughout
her whole marriage to Rhett, Scarlett is... pretty
rich, and we already kind of touched on how she
loses a lot of friends and isn't really able
to get back to the person she wants to be. But
she doesn't really do anything that bad to Rhett.
She does kick him out of her bedroom for some
not -so -nice reasons involving Ashley, but she
doesn't treat him too terribly. It's more so
him who falls apart in part five, in my opinion.
But if we go all the way towards the end to Bonnie's
death, this is when Scarlett says some pretty
unforgivable things. She accuses Rhett of being
a murderer because he let Bonnie jump so high.
This is a line that makes a little more sense
in the book than in the movie, I think, because
in the movie, Bonnie just kind of ran off and
jumped. the pony on her own and in the book it
was like Bonnie was having a tantrum so Rhett
moved the bar up too high for her and then watched
her do it and so he really was more directly
responsible for her death in the book which makes
it way more awful and I kind of get why they
changed it in the movie but I think it does make
Scarlet's line make a little more sense because
that's why she's accusing him of being a murderer
but still it makes no difference whatsoever whether
he did that or not because Bonnie is dead and
Scarlett is being utterly cruel of course for
saying this to Rhett so the reason I bring this
scene up is because Scarlett is once again at
her lowest point, a very, very traumatic event.
She witnessed her daughter breaking her neck.
Anybody who goes through that is not going to
act in a normal way. And so she's kind of reverting
back to those old ways of when I'm upset, I'm
not going to have empathy for anyone. And she
lashes out and tries to hurt Rhett to alleviate
her own pain, which is something she does quite
a bit in the book. And unfortunately, this is
just the final nail in the coffin in their relationship.
And she does mention later on, once the dust
has settled, that she finds him guiltless and
she wishes she could apologize to him, but she
never quite finds the words to do so. So basically,
she is at the end of her relationship with him
and she finds herself unable to mend matters.
at this point um because due to this lack of
empathy when she was at her lowest she said some
pretty terrible things and now they can't fix
anything and I think it's kind of similar to
the miscarriage scene where Rhett says some unforgivable
things and he never apologizes the book makes
it a point that he never says he's sorry for
what he said um so anyway that is just another
example of her kind of reaction to something
bad happening to her. She just becomes really,
really self -centered. But then at the end with
Melanie's death, I think there's a really important
part where she becomes a little self -aware about
what Melanie was like and how she would have
acted. So it says, this is right after. Melanie
died. She looked at the dazed, hurt faces of
India in pity and contrition swept her. Melanie
would not like her to be so sharp with those
who loved her. I'm sorry I was cross, she said,
speaking with difficulty. It's just that I...
I'm sorry I was cross, Auntie. I'm going out
on the porch for a minute. I've got to be alone.
Then I'll come back and we'll... And then it
ends. So... And Scarlett, again, said something
nasty. I forget what it was. Right after Melanie
died, I think she just said, don't talk or I'll
scream to pity in India. And then she kind of
has this what would Jesus do moment, but it's
with Melanie. And she's like, oh, Melanie would
not have acted this way. And she's finally at
the very, very end starts to follow her example.
And she apologizes. I think that's a very important
line people kind of skip over. Because it's one
of the rare times Scarlett just realizes she
was wrong and immediately apologizes. And I like
to think that if there were a sequel to Gone
with the Wind written by Margaret Mitchell, that
the book would kind of follow in that vein. It
would involve Scarlett becoming kinder and kinder
and more able to take hold of her own emotions
and be kind even when she is at her lowest point.
And then coming up, we have the whole scene where
Rhett leaves her and she says she's sorry, but
he says that that's not going to change anything.
And then it says, suddenly she was sorry for
him, sorry with a completeness that wiped out
her own grief and her fear of what his words
might mean. It was the first time in her life
she'd been sorry for anyone without feeling contemptuous
as well, because it was the first time she had
ever approached understanding any other human
being. So let's just take a step back from that
quote and just talk about Scarlett in general.
So Scarlett, I think we are led to believe through
the whole book, is unable to have empathy because
she is so self -centered. And as I've said before,
I don't mean that she never has empathy. I think
that it means that she... just has no interest
in anybody else's feelings or what goes on in
their minds. So she doesn't try to analyze them.
To her, it's enough that she's providing for
other people and she thinks that should be good
enough. And she just never really bothers to
understand what other people are feeling or what
motivates them. And once she finally does that,
once she sits and she really listens to Rhett
about how he feels and why he acted the way he
did, then she is finally able to understand him
a little more. And then she is able to feel sorry
for him. And I think that that's the whole thing
with Scarlett. She can't really feel sorry for
people because she just doesn't get them. And
she doesn't get them because she doesn't like
to analyze. darker, deeper emotions. Because
Scarlett is in flight from pain, from her own
negative emotions. She is in flight from any
sort of negative state of mind. That's her whole
thing with the, I'll think about it tomorrow.
She doesn't want to face her own pain. And so
she doesn't want to face anybody else's pain
either. She really doesn't like thinking about
how other people might feel unless it's whether
they're in love with her or not, like with Ashley
and Rhett. So I think that the end of the book
shows that she is changing and she is becoming
a person who is maybe able to understand others
more. And the best thing I think about Scarlett
is that she doesn't give up. She just doesn't
lay down and die and say, OK, I've messed up.
Clearly, I can never fix this. I've lost Rhett.
My life is over. Goodbye. She doesn't. just concede
to wallowing in grief and giving up ever she
says tomorrow is another day and she moves on
and I think that is that is another part of why
people admire Scarlett so much and why I would
never call her purely evil because she's a human
being who makes a lot of mistakes and isn't perfect
but she shows that she is able to change and
that she is able to find a way to learn from
others like Melanie and from her experiences
like Rhett leaving. And I would love to see a
sequel that had been written by Margaret Mitchell,
but I understand why she never wrote one. So
speaking of Margaret Mitchell, I will end with
a quote by her. This was in a letter to a fan.
I think it was a fan. I kind of forget. But this
is in one of her letters she wrote after the
book was published and before the movie came
out. It says, thank you for your kind words about
poor Scarlet, for saying that she still keeps
your sympathy and explaining why. It never occurred
to me while writing her that such a storm of
hard words would descend upon the poor creature's
head. She just seemed to me to be a normal person
thrown into abnormal circumstances and doing
the best she could, doing what seemed to her
the practical thing. The normal human being in
a jam thinks primarily of saving his own hide
and she valued her hide in a thoroughly normal
way. So this is not the first time either that
Margaret Mitchell has described Scarlett as just
being a normal girl. There are a few other letters
where she calls her that. She didn't create her
to be anything extraordinary. She created her
to be somebody who is just a relatable person
who goes through a lot and is able to overcome
things. So I think that what we can take away
from this is as much as we judge Scarlett, I
think that a lot of us are maybe more like her
than we would like to admit. I think that if
we went through the things that she went through,
as a lot of people in the world are going through,
honestly, there are a lot of people who in the
wake of their civilization being destroyed, who
would act just like her, who under stress and
with a lot of trauma behind them are going to
not be kind to others and who are not going to
take others' needs into account when making decisions.
I think that lots of people are self -centered
like that and maybe even everyone is like that
sometimes. If you are somebody who hates Scarlett
and thinks that she is just somebody without
any empathy, I really do urge you to look back
and look at her. as a whole through the story.
I think that it is fair to say that she is somebody
who has less empathy than the average person.
I don't know if I would go so far as to call
her a sociopath as some have because I have seen
so many little moments in the book where she
does tend to have more empathy towards others
than you might think she has but at the same
time I think that Her not having enough empathy
is kind of the point of the book sometimes. And
I think that despite everything she does, we
are still able to understand everything that
she does because Margaret Mitchell writes her
in such a convincing way. And we've got to remember
she has very little guidance between right and
wrong. She has Rhett who mocks her. She has older
adults who like to criticize her a lot. She loses
her mother and her father. And always the moments
where she's at her meanest are when she's at
her most stressed out. So we have to give her
a little bit of grace there, even if she doesn't
give anybody else that much grace. And I also
think that Scarlett... at one point is going
to become a better person and I think the end
of the book shows that she's on her way there
or at least that's my interpretation so I know
this was a really really long episode but again
this was such a big topic and I think there's
just way way too much to cover I've barely even
scratched the surface to be honest I think that
this topic is really The whole point of the book,
but just the major point I want to leave everyone
with today is that I don't think Scarlett is
totally lacking in empathy, but I think that
her character is pretty much defined as somebody
who is so self -centered that she often lacks
empathy. It's just that she doesn't always. And
I guess before I leave, I want to say one more
thing. If you got this far... I just wanted to
know what sort of episode topics did you guys
want to see? Because I can look at each episode
and I can see exactly how many times each one
was downloaded. Some of them do really well almost
instantly, and then some of them it's at a much
slower pace. And I have a long list of topics
that I could talk about, but I just don't know
what interests you guys and what you really want
to see. For example, I wanted to talk a little
about... Lost Lason, which was an early book
by Margaret Mitchell, but I don't really know
if you guys care about that at all. I wanted
to talk maybe about all the Gone with the Wind
musicals we've had, but I'm not sure if that
would be of any interest to anybody. So if there
is any topic that anybody is interested in, please
let me know because right now I have tons of
ideas, but I'm running on no feedback and I really
just... want to know what it is that people want
to see if there is any interest for something
in particular. Because the way that the episodes
have been going right now, it's not even at all.
Some get way more downloads than others. So please
just let me know if you have any preference.
Thank you so much for listening. I hope you liked
this episode. Feel free to let me know if you
think I'm wrong or that I missed something because
I know it was a really long episode. As you can
see, I'm kind of... getting a scratchy throat
right now so i'm gonna stop talking but i'll
see you guys next time bye