One of my friends had recommended the book Gone with the Wind almost two years’ ago, but my reading plan was just put off, for the book is really too thick and I even no courage to start. However, this semester I made my mind to read and I found myself was totally lost in the absorbing plots and the attractive characters the author portrayed. I was impressed by the war, the love and the hero Scarlett O’Hara, who would also be a charming and successful woman in today’s modern society, I think.

　　Scarlett is a dark-haired, green-eyed Georgia belle who struggles through the hardship of the Civil War and Reconstruction. She exhibits more of her father’s hard-headedness than her mother’s refined southern manners. Determination defines Scarlett and drives her to achieve everything she desires by any means necessary. 1, pursuing her love bravely.

　　Scarlett aims to win Ashley Wilkes, and her failure to do so guides the plot of the novel. Ashley’s marriage to Melanie and rejection of Scarlett drive nearly all of Scarlett’s important subsequence decisions. Scarlett marries Charles Hamilton to hurt Ashley, stays by Melanie’s side through the war because she promise Ashley she will, and loses her true love, Rhett butler, because of her persistent desire to win Ashley. Without hesitation for pursuing her love, she is a little blind to love. However, her courage is inspiring. After all, love always makes people lose sense. 2, facing the war fearfully.

　　On the night the Yankees capture Atlanta and set it afire, Scarlett drives the cart all night and day through a dangerous forest full of deserters and soldiers, at last reaching Tara. She arrives to find that her mother, Ellen, is dead; her father, Gerald, has lost his mind; and the Yankee army has looted the plantation, leaving no food or cotton. Scavenging for subsistence desperately, Scarlett vows never to go hungry again. Scarlett takes charge of rebuilding Tara. She murders a Yankee thief and puts out a fire set by a spiteful Yankee soldier. What a great girl she is! Instead of feeling afraid and waiting for others to help her, she bears the burden of rebuilding the Tara by herself. I admire her so much; for I have the same belief---- heaven helps those who help themselves! 3, gifted in business.

　　When Scarlett takes advantage of Frank’s immobility, going to the store to see the account books, she quickly realizes that frank runs the business badly—his friends owe him vast sums of money that he is too embarrassed to collect. Scarlett thinks she could do a much better job in strictly male world of business and begins to think of acquiring a sawmill. Devoting all her time to the mill and turning a sizeable profit by any means necessary, she becomes the only successful businesswoman in Atlanta. In that age, it is really a big challenge for women and she has the confidence and courage to challenge it.

　　Scarlett’s development precisely mirrors the development of the American’s south. She changes from spoiled teenage to hard-working widow to wealthy opportunist, reflecting the south’s change from leisure society to besieged nation to compromised survivor. As selfish she is, her bravery and strong mind towards love and war really impress me a lot. When there is barrier, even disasters come, we can feel depressed or afraid, but never give up.

　　It is really a wonderful novel which worth being chewed!