Gone with the Wind

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This article is about the novel. For the film, see Gone with the Wind (film). For other uses, see Gone with the Wind (disambiguation).

Gone with the Wind

First edition cover

Author

Margaret Mitchell

Country

United States

Language

English

Genre

Historical Fiction

Publisher

Macmillan Publishers

Publication date

June 10, 1936[1]

Media type

Print (hardback & paperback)

Pages

1037 (first edition) 1024 (Warner Bookspaperback)

ISBN

ISBN 978-0-446-36538-3(Warner)

OCLC

28491920

Followed by

Scarlett Rhett Butler's People

Gone with the Wind is a novel written by Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936. The story is set in Clayton County, Georgia, and Atlanta during the American Civil War and Reconstruction. It depicts the experiences of Scarlett O'Hara, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner, who must use every means at her disposal to come out of the poverty she finds herself in after Sherman's "March to the Sea". A historical novel, the story is a Bildungsroman or coming-of-age story, with the novel's title taken from a poem written by the British poet, Ernest Dowson. Gone with the Wind was popular with American readers from the onset and was the top American fiction bestseller in the year it was published and again in 1937. As of 2008, a Harris poll found it to be the second favorite book by American readers, just behind the Bible. More than 30 million copies have been printed worldwide. The novel is Southern plantation fiction and it is written from the perspective of the slaveholder. Its portrayal of slavery and African Americans is controversial, as well as its use of a racial epithet and ethnic slurs. However, the novel has become a reference point for subsequent writers about the South, both black and white. Scholars at American universities refer to the novel in their writings, interpret and study it. The novel has been absorbed into American popular culture. Margaret Mitchell was bold in the use of color symbolism, particularly the colors red and green, which surround Scarlett O'Hara. Mitchell identified the novel's primary theme as survival. She left the novel's ending speculative for the reader, however. She was often asked what became of her lovers, Rhett and Scarlett, after the novel ended. She did not know, and said, "For all I know, Rhett may have found [2] someone else who was less difficult." Two sequels authorized by Mitchell's estate were published more than a half century later. A parody of the novel was also produced. Mitchell received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the book in 1937. The book was adapted into a 1939 American film. The novel is often read or misread through the film. Gone with the Wind is the only novel [3] by Mitchell published during her lifetime.