Gone with the Wind

one of the most widely-read novels of the1930s was gone with the wind. who wrote this novel? why was it so popular? margaret mitchell lived her entire life inatlanta, georgia. she was born into a wealthy family in 1900. her father was a lawyer, and her mother wasa suffragist who fought for women’s rights. margaret was a tomboy who preferred ridingponies over playing with dolls. when she was little, she would go riding nearlyevery day with a confederate veteran. at the age of six, margaret’s mother tookher on a tour of many of the plantations that

had been burned, or otherwise destroyed, duringthe civil war. as a child, she also spent much time arounduncles who were civil war veterans and aunts who had lived through the conflict. these elderly relatives told her many storiesabout the war and how difficult those times had been. when margaret was 22, she took a job as ajournalist at the atlanta journal. her family did not approve of this career,as they felt being a writer was beneath her status in society. she worked for the atlanta journal for fouryears, writing more than two hundred articles.

then, in 1926, she was involved in an automobileaccident which severely injured her ankle. while recovering, her husband encouraged herto write a novel. she continued to work on the manuscript forthe next ten years. finally, in 1936, the novel was published. it was titled gone with the wind. gone with the wind tells the story of scraletto’hara, the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner, who finds herself in poverty in theaftermath of the civil war. it’s a coming-of-age story that detailsthe struggles of scarlett’s life as she grows from adolescence into adulthood.

the novel was immediately successful, becomingthe best-selling book of both 1936 and 1937. people across america, especially women, werereading gone with the wind. it resonated with many who had experiencedprosperity during the 1920s, but found themselves suffering in the midst of the great depression. in 1937, mitchell received the pulitzer prizefor fiction. two years later, the film version was releasedstarring clark gable and vivien leigh. the film was a smashing success, setting boxoffice records that would stand for decades. the novel would eventually be translated intomore than seventy languages. foreign audiences appreciated the story forits themes of love, war, class conflict, racial

strife, and generational conflict, which areuniversal to the human condition. to this day, the novel is still loved andcherished by millions of readers throughout the world. it is thought of as one of the greatest americannovels ever written, and a book that helped influence and shape the nation.

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