飘读书报告绝对原创.doc

Book Report on Gone with the WindGone with the Wind, written by world-renowned American female writer Margaret Mitchell, is one of the greatest novels all over the world. It was published in 1936 and immediately enjoyed a good reputation in world literature field, winning the attention from home and abroad. The novel is set in North Georgia when the whole American is plagued by the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, which arises from the existence of slavery. Scarlett OHara, the main character of the novel, is a South American bell filled with unequaled beauty and charm at that time. During the Civil War, Scarlett grows from a spoiled and willful gril to a strong-willed and shrew lady. She and her Tara, a plantation, both suffer from innumerable hardship and misery in the Civil War. Luckily, in the end they both return to prosperity again. By depicting the process of Scarletts growing up, the themes of the novel are revealed. It is not only a book which tells the readers a romantic love story between an affluent girl and a successful gentleman, but also criticizes the racial and gender discrimination in American history. It is no denying that Scarlett is the most outstanding and controversial character in this novel. Many readers have ambivalent attitudes towards this gorgeous girl because it seems that she is the mixture of evil and good. Concerning Scarletts defects, first of all, she is indulged. She is the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner. Therefore, there is no need for her to worry about the problem of food and clothes. Meanwhile, she is so good-looking and fascinating that numerous gentlemen are around her and even willing to sacrifice their lives for her. Scarlett gets whatever she wants and could not accept the reality that her beloved Ashley is going to marry another girl, Melanie, who was far from better than her in appearance and family condition. On this occasion, she commits a succession of mistakes which later lead to her misery. For example, on hearing the news that Ashley plans to marry Melanie instead of her, she is totally controlled by jealousy and suddenly lost her mind. In order to pay Ashley back, she makes a rash decision to marry Charles, Melanies brother. A few days later, Charles dies of measles in the battle and Scarlett becomes a window at 16. Due to willfulness, she marries a man she does not love at all, which hurts her as well as the people who do care about her. Secondly, Scarlett is selfish. Scarlett undergoes three marriages in total and the first two can be counted as fiascos. In the second marriage, she marries Frank Kennedy, a man who is supposed to be with her sister. In dire need of money, Scarlett decides to seduce Frank and utterly neglects Suellens feelings. “Suellen didnt deserve a loving husband and the profits of a store and a sawmill. Shed think herself well out of it and not care if Tara went for taxes or burned to the ground, so long as she had pretty clothes and a Mrs. in front of her name.” Judging from this sentence, we can find that Scarlett envys Suellens good fortune and wants to take this good chance as her own. Out of sheer selfishness, she betrays her sister and secures money which does not belong to her. Besides, Melanie regards Scalett as the most genuine and trustworthy friend in the world and supports her whenever Scarlett is bombarded with criticism from neighbors. Nevertheless, Scarlett takes no notice of what Melanie does for her and tries to persuade Ashley to run away with her again and again. Assuming a person is indifferent to his/her whole-hearted friends and even to her biological sister, isnt she self-centered?Despite the demerits Scarlett has, frankly speaking, Scarletts merits far outweigh the demerits. Firstly, Scarlett possesses the rare rebellious spirit which is not common then. She is courageous to question outdated social rules. Once, there is a tradition in then South America: women must not eat too much in the prom. Otherwise, it does not match the requirements of a qualified lady. Nonetheless, unlike women who are obedient to those irrational social conventions without hesitation, Scarlett complains about them and speaks out her inner thoughts: “I am tired of acting like I dont eat more than a bird, and walking when I want to run and saying I feel faint after a waltz, when I could dance for two days and never tire.” The sentence is a reflection of Scarlettes attitude towards outdated social codes in South America and shows her desire to rebel. Furthermore, Scarlett goes out all day along running a sawmill. This kind of action freaks the whole townsfolk out. At one time, it is a prevailing view that women should stay at home and take care of kids. Earning money has nothing to do with women, but Scarlett does not surrender to the age-old convention and retreats from her original plan. Instead, she successfully does her utmost to flourish a sawmill so as to feed the whole family all by herself. Albeit from the townsfolks perspective, Scarlett is a freak and what she does really go against the social cods, she is a brave warrior in a vast number of readers eyes. Whats more, Scarlett is no longer the tender girl before and becomes independent and strong-willed. From her birth to childhood, she has never encountered any difficulties and she was accustomed to being protected all the time. Unfortunately, the war changed everything. It destroyed her rich family and broke down her peaceful life. She was surrounded by starvation, crisis of living, and competition. All in all, she was got bogged down in a huge jeopardy, Unlike other southern women who just surrendered to obstacles passively or only relied on their family, Scarlett chose to fight against all the difficulties single-handed. For example, she delivered a boy for Melanie by herself without the support of any professionals; she helped Melanie and her newly-born baby and Prissy run away from Atlanta, a city under the sacking of the northern army, back to Tara; she rebuilt the fallen Tara which was nearly completely ruined in the Civil War. By marrying Frank Kennedy, a man who was supposed to marry her sister Suellen, Scarlett owned a sawmill which helps her afford to feed the whole family. Unfortunately, Frank did not excel at running business and he himself was not interested in this kind of thing, therefore, Scarlett operated the sawmill on her own. At that point, a woman going out to deal with business affairs every now and then so as to neglect her family would be definitely open to abuse and hatred. Whats more, a vast number of men refuse to work for a woman. “They may be round pegs in square holes but theyve all got something to do. Something of their own that theyd rather do than work for a woman.” The sentence pointed out that men in that area all took on being employed by a woman as a shame. However, Scarlett is not what she was and she can come up with solutions to tackle these prickle problems at this time. At this point, Scarlett has obviously changed from an indulged and tender girl to a lady with maturity and strong will.Thirdly, Scarlett learns to care about others and put herself in others shoes. Before the Civil War, Scarlett was like a princess who was indulged by parents and friends, including her father and a constellation of gentlemen who were fascinated by her beauty. As a result, this led to her arrogance, pride and selfishness. She was so self-centered that seldom took other peoples feelings into consideration. However, suffering from the hardship and suffering of the Civil War, Scarlett experienced the cruelty of war and came to realize the value of friends, especially Melanie. At one time, Scarlett bore deep grudge against the lady who robbed her of her beloved man. From the bottom of her heart, she held the strong belief that Melanie would never be her friend, but life was always replete with surprises and uncertainties. The two ladies got through the tough battle and began to abandon her prejudice against Melanie to keep the promise of taking care of Melanie. Scarlett ever referred that she guessed she have got Melanie on her neck for the rest of my life. Judging from this sentence, we could find that Scarlett was determined to devote her rest life to be with Melanie. Its a perfect transformation of Scarlett, from a self-centered girl to a considerate lady.Last but by no means least, Scarlett has a clear knowledge of what true love is. Scarlett is not blindfold in love and clearly perceives that Rhett is the one who she loves. In the very beginning of Gone with the Wind, Scarlett had a strong crush on Ashley, a well-educated gentleman. Scarlett spared no efforts to try to win Ashleys love and be his wife. Even though she failed to make it again and again, she clung to the hope that Ashley loves her the way she does and never gave up on talking Ashley into living with her. She admired Ashley a lot and thought he was born to be a gentleman free from physical labor. “At the sight of Ashley in rags, with an axe in his hand, her heart went out in a surge of love and of fury at fate.” The description reflected that Scarlett could not bear to see him in tatters, working, her debonair immaculate Ashley. Hence, Scarlett tried her utmost to help Ashley out. Meanwhile, she ignored the other gentleman, Rhett, who is always with her whenever she is in need of help. Moreover, she did a series of things which indirectly hurt Rhett. The last straw was their little beloved daughters death which gave a heavy to Rhett and fortified his determination to leave Scarlett. Scarlett did not realize her love for Rhett until she found Ashleys cowardice and her misunderstanding of Ashleys feelings for her. There is no denying that Scarlett is the core character in the novel, but the others cannot be neglected, such as Rhett Butler, Melanie Charles and Ashley Wilkes. Rhett is a man filled with characteristics. He is far-sighted and doesnt follow the masses. At the beginning of the Civil War, a large part of Southerners hold the strong belief that the confederate army is well-equipped and would doubtlessly gain the upper hand in the war. Nevertheless, Rhett is not blindfold in this matter and clings to the standpoint that the North would win. The final result turns out that he is right. Whats more, Rhett has a good talent for business. While most southerners suffer from infinite poverty and misery in the Civil War, not alone profit a handsome money from the war, Rhett makes it and leads a comfortable life. Most importantly, he is focused on love and willing to sacrifice everything for the person he loves. Rhett tolerates every flaw in Scarlett, including arrogance and selfishness. He appreciates Scarlett and allows her to do whatever she wants without putting restraints on her. He is a real guard of true love. Ashley, in Scarletts eyes, he is debonair and immaculate. Scarlett is deeply fascinated by the typical southern gentleman. On one hand, it is no doubt that Ashley is many girls ideal husband for his attractive appearance and considerable refinement. On the other hand, he is hesitant and cowardly. On three occasions, he says that he loves Scarlett which gives Scarlett an illusion that if she takes more efforts, Ashley will be back to her some day. Scarletts persistent crash on him to a certain degree owes to Ashleys indecisiveness. Faced with challenges, he immediately feels frightened and is scare of defeating them. The only thing he does to indulge himself in his glorious past. As regards Melanie, I contend that she is the only perfect character in the novel. Firstly, she is a thoughtful and responsible wife. Every time Ashley seeks help, Melanie would back him up. She takes all well in the family and gives birth to a son for Ashley. Secondly, as a friend, she is genuine and supportive. In fact, some of Scarletts eccentric practices arouse the others dislike and therefore she is not well received by neighbors. Melanie, however, outlooks the others prejudices against Scarlett and regards her as her best friend throughout her life. Thirdly, she is kind-hearted and inclined to listening to others. Because of Melanies good disposition, people enjoy share their happiness and troubles. She is ready to help others. As I have mentioned before, if the novel is purely a love story, it would not cause quite a flutter in America even in the whole world. Gone with the Wind is replete with several implied themes which are conducive to its tremendous accomplishments. The first theme the novel reflects is feminism and Scarlett is an appropriate embodiment of it. The story is against the background of American Civil War and the reconstruction after the war. In the society which men are in charge of everything, Scarlett opposes to the gender discrimination from the bottom of her heart. She neither resigns herself to the passive position nor to the unjust social concept. Firstly, unlike the other girls in America who are too shy and timid to show their true love, Scarlett does and she overthrows the everlasting idea that women have no choice to bravely pursue the love they desire. Even though she knows that Ashley is not in love with her, she never gives up and does as possible as she could to please Ashley hoping to gain Ashlys heart. Her persistent and stubborn attitudes towards love separate her from the common women. Secondly, in order to secure money to protect Tara from being sold, Scarlett betrays her sister and marries Ftank. She profit a handsome money from Frank including a sawmill. But Scarlett doesnt intend to rest on the wealth and cease to work. She takes advantage of the resources she has to earn more money. Scarletts shrewdness and adroitness makes her more capable than men. In spite of being accused and criticized by the people around her, she insists to be herself and does what she wants. All she does are the epitomes that she keeps being herself and shows contempt for the obsolete stereotype that women are destined to be inferior to men.The second theme of the novel is the wide gap between the South America and the North America. Lacking in communicating, the people populated in two different parts know little about each other. According to Gone with the Wind, the Yankee women have an avid curiosity about the South and Southern women and all want to know about the bloodhounds which every Southerner keeps to track down runaway slaves, about the dreadful branding irons which planters used to mark the faces of their slaves and the cat-o-nine-tails with which they beat them to death. From what mentioned above, it is not difficult for us to find that the Northerners are ignorant in the matter of the slaves condition in South America. As a matter of fact, the slaves living condition is not nasty as the Yankee women think. The slaves in Tara are good examples. In Tara, slaves do physical labor work as common people. The plantation does not treat them badly and even become their friends. Mammy, Uncle Peter and Prissy are all Scarletts dear friends. When Scarlett is in need of help, she is ready to turn to them for h