Gone with the Wind and Literary Naturalism

After doing research into literary naturalism for my presentation, I began noticing it in several works that I was reading. For example, I mentioned during my last post that I was reading Gone with the Wind. I am still working on it and now have a new lens to read it through since learning about naturalism. Some of the most obvious aspects of naturalism in the novel, for me at least, are the stereotypical characteristics of Gerald and Scarlett. Gerald O’Hara immigrated to the United States from Ireland and is represented as having an Irish temper, an Irish taste for liquor, along with several other mannerisms that were commonly associated with the Irish. Scarlett O’Hara, despite her Mammy’s and her mother’s attempts to raise her as a Southern lady, displays these Irish characteristics throughout the novel. She has a temper that is very unfitting of a lady and a tendency to speak her mind despite the ill mannered thoughts that she has. These traits are hereditary and unavoidable for Scarlett due to the Irish blood in her veins. The old South had a superstitious way of viewing people without a well rooted family line and would usually avoid allowing their daughters to marry any man who did not have a long history of a well bred Southern family. Ellen O’Hara, Scarlett’s mother came from one of these old Southern families, but circumstances allowed for her to marry Gerald against the Southern norms. This union resulted in Scarlett, a perfect reflection of the hereditary and unavoidable outcomes of allowing “bad blood” into an old family line.

This aspect of naturalism is avoided in Ashley’s family, who are careful to marry only their cousins. While this has lead to some possible inbreeding consequences, as is commented on by the gossiping women in the book, the family still has been able to maintain an elite air throughout the entire line. There does not seem to be an ill-bred man or woman among the entire family in terms of character or manner. Ashley’s family is a contrast to Scarlett’s, but both show characteristics of naturalism. Neither Ashley nor Scarlett choose who they become, that is a matter of blood. Scarlett is a haughty and selfish women who lacks the inner refinement expected of a Southern lady due to her Irish ancestry, despite her attempts to be civilized. Ashley represents true Southern chivalry and is a model husband and brave soldier due to his heritage. Both characters are mere puppets to nature and neither have the free will to choose who they truly wish to become.