Gone with the Wind Summary? Please Help?

Question

My teacher gave me the book gone with the wind and told me i HAVE to read it and the comprehension level is too high for me so i refused to read it. Turns out its due by this tues. 1037 PAGES i have to have finished by tues. and take a test on it.
Only in 8 grade and going to rent movie, but i need to write summaries down of what i read... and i need to know who the characters are, the plot, and setting of the story?? Thanks so much...

Answer 1

You should read through http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gonewith/

BTW: Ashley Wilkes loves and marries HIS COUSIN, not Scarlett's sister.

Gone with the Wind is just that; a story of the southern way of life that is completely changed during and after the Civil War. In the midst of giving an account of a civilization and way of life that is "gone with the wind," Margaret Mitchell tells the story of one of the "belles" of that time: Scarlett O'Hara.

You first see Scarlett, the pampered darling of her family and community, just before the Civil War begins. She has every young man in the neighborhood wrapped around her little finger - except the one she wants...Ashley Wilkes. Scarlett decides to tell Ashley she loves him at the ball at his plantation; Twelve Oaks. She finds, however, that he is determined to marry Melanie. Rhett Butler overhears this "touching" scene and is immediately interested in Scarlett, who isn't like the elegant and "simpering" ladies of the South. She's feisty and interesting.

You see everything from the deaths of SO MANY old and young men and even children in the war, the burning of Atlanta as well as hearing of Sherman burning his way through the South, the horrors of so-called medicine at the time. You see the Northern carpetbaggers who swarm the South after the war and buy up whatever they can...getting rich on the misery of so many. You also see how these carpetbaggers exploited those who were once slaves. In the midst of this, you read of Scarlett's story: her bravery when facing things unthinkable, her determination to save her family's plantation against all odds, and her mistaken belief that she loves Ashley even when wed to Rhett.

It's a glorious story, and one you'll be glad you read. The movie is a very good adaptation, but it leaves out quite a bit. For one thing, you don't see the other children Scarlett bore to other husbands before Rhett. When watching the movie, you have to keep in mind that Melanie was supposed to be a very plain woman; Olivia de Havilland (who played her) was pretty. However, she plays her CHARACTER very well.

Sparknotes gives you a list of characters, but not all of them. The book is so long that there are MANY characters.

Answer 2

Watching the movie isn't going to work on this one. There are lot of things that happen in the book that are left out of the movie, as well as a lot of characters that are left out. For instance, Scarlett has three children in the book and only one on the movie.
SparkNotes has a Gone With The Wind study guide - that would be a much better resource for you. www.sparknotes.com

Answer 3

This is a story of the South during and after the Civil War, dealing with a spoiled rich girl (Scarlett O'Hara) who thrust into being the head of her family, dealing with her sickly sister, the sister's hubby who she loves, making the plantation viable with no money, and marrying a man with a strong will who loves her and with whom she has a child.

Ashley loves Scarlett's sister and does not realize Scarlett loves him. When she marries Rhett Butler, a rich playboy, Scarlett cannot let go of her love for Ashley and ends up destroying their marriage, after the little girl is killed in a horse riding accident when Scarlett did not want the girl to ride.

The difference in the movie and the book is the details of each character's personality and faults. In the book you see the "carpetbaggers" who come to "steal" the homes from the rich who have not paid their past taxes, because most of the men left and died in the war.

NEXT time read the book. It is a great book and the movie is EIGHT hours long.

Answer 4

She told you to read it, so read it! It is brilliant, which is why it is still the best-selling book of all time. But if you are too lazy then the movie is actually only four hours long, not eight...but is quite different from the book, which is much better. It is also pretty easy to read once you get started.

Answer 5

Gone With The Wind is on of the best books I ever read...although I read it for 11th grade English not 8th. You should read it at some point.