Books and Jams Readalong discussion

You're in the home stretch! Feel free to use these questions as jumping off points. Answer any or all of them...or none of them. Just share your thoughts on this third section.

What are you loving or not loving about this book?
Which characters do you love reading about and who drives you crazy?
What do you think about the writing style?
Any moments that have stood out to you?

There are definitely increasingly insulting comments about blacks in this section, depicting how white landowners, angry about the loss of the war, took their frustrations out on people who they’d formerly viewed as property. No matter how many accounts of slavery and the Civil War era I read, it’s still unfathomable how one human can consider another as property.

This section provides food for thought as it describes the after effects of the war, as free blacks struggled to establish their own lives, white landowners struggled to support themselves without the manpower to run a plantation—unprecedented life experiences for all.

Scarlett has shown slight improvement in her consideration for the feelings of Peter, Mammy, Pork, and eventually Frank. She still puts herself first, best evidenced by her manipulative plan to persuade Frank Kennedy to marry her, knowing full well that he was to marry her sister. I know some people view Scarlett as a great example of a strong, independent woman, (and she certainly does become a successful woman) but her methods of dishonesty and using others to get her way is not admirable. This is another idea that stands out to me in this reading that I didn’t consider as a high school reader. I think as a high schooler, I took a romanticized view of the story, and as an adult reader, I put more consideration into the motivations of characters’ actions and how those actions impact not only the character but others.

—Scarlett has met her match in Rhett. He calls her on the carpet for her actions. She might be able to pull the wool over many people’s eyes, but not Rhett’s!

—favorite scene of part 4 is when Dr. and Mrs. Meade are getting ready for bed and she asks what Belle’s place looks like inside and whether the girls were unclothed. Dr. Meade doesn’t want to answer and suggests she needs a sedative. After his refusal to discuss the topic, Mrs. Meade says it doesn’t matter if he won’t tell her because one of the other ladies will get it out of her husband! 😂

Rhett and Scarlett are both devils who deserve each other! The story continues to sweep along in an entertaining way.

Uncle Peter, Pork and Mammy are wonderful characters, but the narrator and other characters continue to disparage them.

I want to look up Margaret Meade. She romanticizes slavery and the KKK but downplays the Confederate "Cause." She created an independent, freethinking woman but made her deplorable. I don't get these contradictions.

I agree with @Becka, the racial slurs have increased during the Reconstruction Period. It's really hard to read those words.

I still love Mammy, especially her dialogue in the last couple of pages of part 4.

And, Scarlett again proves herself to be unbelievably selfish and unkind. Some may say her actions were justified by the need for money and food. However, there were other characters who acted honestly (like Mrs. Merriweather's pies and the other fellows' bricks) and were able to start a new life with a new income.

@Elsa, I'm also interested in reading about Margaret Mitchell.

Like usual, I’m in the minority of the group. :)

I love Scarlett. Of course she is majorly flawed and incredibly selfish but I think desperate times call for desperate measures. She still treats most people like scum but the way she was so tender with Big Sam after telling him that both of her parents died was one of my favorite scenes. I also love that she values Mammy’s opinion over anyone’s. I loved when she told Scarlett off for wanting to marry Rhett. Scarlett deserved it (even though I think Rhett isn’t as bad as Mammy thinks).

I do agree that Mitchell has romanticized slavery. But I think when Americans discuss slavery we can’t entertain the nuances for fear of being called racist. Of course it is a abominable institution and something we (white Americans) still struggle with the shame of today and rightly so. I just think we don’t use critical thinking skills or enough historical fact to be able to put ourselves in a Southerner’s shoes to really explore it. We shouldn’t feel bad for wanting to understand motivations and everyday life of people we would never want to be like. I love reading about nazi Germany/imperial japan/fascist Italy but have no interest in glorifying it.

I’m looking forward to the end of this story. I’ve really enjoyed it. The part about the guys being wrapped up in the KKK was a plot twist I didn’t see coming (although I probably should have) and that did bum me out. Ashley Wilkes is one of my least favorite characters. And Frank dying by a gunshot wound to the head was shocking!

I also love the character of Scarlett. Yes, she is very young, spoiled, mean, disrespectful and a bit delusional. I was pretty young the first time I saw the movie and the social aspects didn't even register with me, it was just romance. I was fairly self absorbed as a child/teenager, though never mean and disrespectful to others, so I sort of get her. I love that she goes after what she wants, just wish she was a little nicer about it. Not much in this book has surprised me since I have seen the movie so many times. The big thing that I remember is that Scarlett didn't have a child by Charles or Frank in the movie so that was a big surprise. Another thing that didn't really register through the movie for me is how badly Southerners were treated by Yankees following the war, as well as the obvious romanticization of slavery. Makes me grateful that we have come a long way on both sides.
I am really enjoying the book and I like MM's writing style. The only thing I'v noticed is that she sometimes had a tendency to belabor a point. I was going to remember a couple of examples but of course I've forgotten.
Rhett is my favorite character. I can't, and never could, stand Ashley, and Melanie always made me a little nauseous. The only times I like her is when she gets a little backbone and stands up for something or someone.
This has been a really slow read for me and I am ready to finish it up and move on to something else.