ind a lot of sweet words. I thought: Miss O’Hara is a girl of rare spirit. She knows what she wants and she doesn’t mind speaking her mind-or throwing vases” (Mitchell, 1968: 159).
The novel and film are also accurate in their portrayal of soldiers and the Confederate mentality. However, actual accounts by journalist of the period appear to be what were in error. One London journalist wrote of the Confederate Army, “Everywhere private property has been scrupulously respected, cattle and provisions and stores rigorously paid for, individual opinion unmolested. Union men by dozens have gone among the rebel troops, have conversed freely with them, have been allowed to go where they like without joining the Confederacy or suppressing their Union sentiments. There is only one opinion with regard to the discipline of the Southern troops, and that is that it is perfect” (Beckett, 1993: 68). However, Rhett Butler is attacked as being a traitor and disloyal when he suggest only facts with regard to Union chances for success. Scarlett considers him reprehensible for his views on the war, “How dare he say the Confederacy would be licked! He should be shot for that-shot like a traitor” (Mitchell, 1968: 161). In the film, an opening scene shows Rhett being ostracized among Confederate loyalists for giving an accurate account of why the South would never be victorious over the North, “The Yankees are better equipped than we. They’ve got factories, shipyards, coal mines, and a fleet to bottle up our harbors and starve us to death. All we’ve got is cotton, slaves and arrogance.”
The portrayal of blacks in the novel and film is perhaps one of the least accurate portrayals. While one aspect of black slavery is captured, the fact that many blacks took on a famil
...