Movie:

 Gone With the Wind

Gone With the Wind is a movie set in the time period of the civil war and revolves around Scarlett O'Hara and her life both pre-war and post-war in the South. The movie shows us the timelines and different scenarios Scarlett goes through during the times of war. 

    

    Scarlett O'Hara is portrayed as a selfish, arrogant, and vain girl who is direly in love with a man who does not want her back. She tries to make him jealous any way she can to no avail and is furious when she founds out that he is engaged to be married at a party she attends. She ends up marrying the brother of her love's fiancee out of spite and want to make him jealous. 

    The talk of war is evident but it is as if the movie tries to show it from her perspective of not really knowing how close the war truly is. She hears the men speaking of it but does not seem to associate with it herself. 

    

    As the movie goes on you can see how Scarlett changes through out it. First there is the false sadness over her husbands death and the want to dance again which she eventually does with a man she had met previously, Rhett. You can see how the war runs her down as she tries to care for her pregnant sister in law and assisting the doctor with wounded soldiers. 

    None of what she does is perceived to be out of the kindness of her heart, but rather the obligation. During the height of the war, she leaves the makeshift hospital to try and flee, leaving the doctor to fend for himself all because she cannot take the smell of death any longer. During her attempt to flee she runs into absolute chaos. It is shown to us then just how detrimental the war was even to those not fighting in it. It was every man for himself out there in trying to flee before they were killed by coming soldiers. 

    In almost every civil war film, we see it from the perspective of the North, you rarely see how it affected the South(not in the way of slaves, but more so the damage it caused). Everyone was frightful of the war, even the slaves themselves. 

    At first, Scarlett is determined not to run but when she realizes her sister in law is sick and no one can help with the war drawing in, she flees back to her home where she hopes her mother can help her. She was too late in the end and realizes that her mother had passed away and the soldiers had already invaded and raided her home leaving them with nothing. 

    The whole movie does a good job showing just how damaging the war was both mentally and literally. By the end, all the colors are run down just like how Scarlett feels by the end. The very ending before it cuts is Scarlett vowing to never go hungry again. 

    That point in that moment is pivotal for Scarlett and I think we see some real change in her afterwards and more determination from her. Overall this was a great movie that explored so many different themes and pivotal moments in our history.