Why I Think All High School Students Should Read Gone With The Wind by Abigail

Why I Think All High School Students Should Read Gone With The Wind by Abigail - February 2015 Scholarship Essay

Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell, contains many admirable qualities that all high school students should read before going into the real world. It has a unique perspective from the Confederate side of the Civil War, is packed with historical facts, and is a long, complex story that takes patience to read.

The book provides a unique perspective on the Confederacy, allowing the reader to delve into the life of slavery and the complex Southern culture and traditions. Slavery is a touchy subject, which is usually why children are taught that the Union was the “good” side and the Confederacy was the “bad” side. In reality we were simply a nation divided; while that is not good, neither side should be defined as “bad”. So, from the viewpoint of a young Southern belle, the daughter of a plantation owner, the reader obtains a fresh perspective on life in the South in the 1860’s, and the motives behind slavery and why the Confederates tried to protect it: it was their only means of surviving. Gone With The Wind also enlightens us modern people to what life in the Deep South was like. Before the Civil War began, a tight social hierarchy and many social customs ruled the lives of the plantation families; yet, nobody knows about that. Nobody knows that the Civil War tore apart lives of families, young wives, and children, taking little boys and old men alike to fight mercilessly in the army. Nobody knows that the war wreaked havoc on their homes, and that many were looted and burned out of spite, leaving rich, spoiled plantation princesses suddenly homeless and vulnerable to attack by the enemy. That sort of new perspective is what makes Gone With The Wind such a good book for budding young adults to read.

The book is packed with real history; behind-the-scenes history that students don’t get sitting in history class. What clothes they wore, what makeup the ladies used, and traditions of naming children are things that the reader learns whilst reading. Tidbits like that make the Civil War time period so much more real to us, a hundred and fifty years later. It is good for young people to have that kind of knowledge of day-to-day life for people that long ago.

Gone With The Wind is a book probably no English teacher would dare to teach in class, simply because of the fact that it is so long. However, what students are missing is learning the ability to read a long book, to take patience and truly enjoy reading a complex story. The book has so many plots and plot changes within it, that it is really several stories woven together following the one protagonist. The author is not rushed; she takes her time to tell a good story full of detail. If a student can read Gone With The Wind and understand it, they can read and understand anything. A good reading ability is necessary in college; the ability to be able to learn straight out of the book is worth more than gold. Gone With The Wind will help students truly learn how to read, all the while enjoying an action- and drama-packed story.

Gone With The Wind provides a fresh perspective from the south side of a nation plunged into war with itself, is packed with real, historical facts woven into the story, and is brilliantly written in a complex plotline that will give readers a new level of thinking and reading that will greatly help them in college.