[stylist] Gone With The Wind; some interesting thoughts

[Bill Outman]

Good day.  

 

I have recently finished reading Margaret Mitchell's classic Gone With The
Wind and have had a number of insights that are relevant to myself and may
also have import to all of us as people with a disability issue, namely
blindness.  This can be seen through the lens of other people groups that
struggled with their place in society.  

 

To be sure, the tale is told from the point of view of slaveholders and must
be viewed with this bias in mind.  Still, there is much to consider in the
characters and how they interact with each other and the larger society.  

 

For the first time I gained some critical insights into relationships at
some deeply granular levels I have struggled with.  I have been frustrated
with not knowing about and being uncomfortable with the games people play
with each other when pursuing romance.  It seems coquetry is rewarded ahead
of forthrightness, that if one is forthright one is perceived to be
childlike and incapable.  That could be an issue for some of us as people
with disabilities and blindness in particular, we know.  Rhett at the end
considers Scarlett to have childlike emotions, though this is actually
questionable.  

 

Though she has some inner dfear, Scarlett is actually a person of strength
in many ways, and ahead of her time in terms of success as a business woman.
While on some levels encouraging, people are uncomfortable with her success,
and we may have some similar issues when success does come our way.  

 

I think we can also identify to a degree with the struggle of black people
to become integrated after emancipation.  Note that some were uncomfortable
with their new position, while others may have said the right words but
didn't offer the correct support through the system of the society.  

 

There are some interesting coincidences with my personal story.  

 

I am looking forward to making use of these insights as well as those in
JohnGray's relationship book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, a
serious treatment of gender issues of relatively recent vintage, which I am
currently reading.  For many of us with vision loss from youth, adequate
advice about pursuing social relationships effectivelycan be hard to come
by.  It certainly was for me.  

 

I welcome feedback from those who have read the Mitchell book on their
thoughts.  One thing I'm curious about is if there is a minimum recommended
age for reading this novel.  I ask because of the coming of age aspects of
the story.  I wonder if books like this would have been helpful with my
coming of age issues back in the day.  

 

Bill Outman 

I lost my vision totally at age 19 and found I had to seriously adjust my
way of life just as I was coming of age, just as Scarlett suddenly had to
manage Tara.  Her first born son was named Wade, and I have a nephew by that
name.  Scarleet's ancestral lineage contains the family name Robbilard, and
I had a teacher by that name during my brief seminary experience before
losing my vision.