[stylist] Gone With The Wind; some interesting thoughts

[Debby Phillips]

Hi Bill, you bring up some interesting points with this book. I admire Scarlest and I dislike her at the same time. She is totally self-centered, and cares little for the conventions of her time. And yet I admire her strength and determination. She also runs roughshod over the feelings of others. I also feel  uncomfortable with Scarlett because a former boyfriend told me I was like her. LOL. I also don't think he meant it in a complimentary way.

Okay, does Scarlett have similarities with some disabled people gaining their independence? Perhaps. I have been in situations where I felt that in making a point about blindness, some people ran roughshod over the feelings of others. It also seems that some people who are "successful" are in some ways self-centered. Some people who have gained notoriety both in and outside the blindness community, have stepped on other people to get to where they are. They have taken total control of people's lives, like Scarlett did with her sister Sue Ellen who wanted to enter a convent.

In terms of slavery in Gone With the Wind, I do not think that it glorifies it, or makes it seem like a great thing. It is writing from a particular historical time. Anyway, just some of my thoughts.

I think high school is an appropriate time to read _Gone with the _Wind. Kids have minds that are able to think, to stretch, and to think in ways that sometimes we as adults have a hard time doing.   Debby 

On Sep 18, 2017 4:50 PM, Bill Outman via stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> 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.  
>
>
>
>
>
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