QUOTATIONS (continued)

"When she looked at Tara she could understand, in part, why wars were fought. Rhett was wrong when he said men fought wars for money. No, they fought for swelling acres, softly furrowed by the plow, for pastures greens with stubby cropped grass, for lazy yellow rivers and white houses that were cool amid magnolias. These were the only things worth fighting for, the red earth which was theirs and would be their sonsÂ’, the red earth which would bear cotton for their sons and their sonsÂ’ sons." - Narrator. pg. 434, Narrator showing more of Scarlett's recognition of her connection with her homeland.

"With a thrill she looked up at the frail swaying girl for whom she had never had any feelings but of dislike and contempt. Now, struggling against hatred for AshleyÂ’s wife, there surged a feeling of admiration and comradeship. She saw in a flash of clarity untouched by any petty emotion that beneath the gentle voice and the dove-like eyes of Melanie there was a thin flashing blade of unbreakable steel, felt too that there were banners and bugles of courage in MelanieÂ’s quiet blood." - Narrator. pg. 440, An observation of Scarlett as she realizes that Melanie is not the weakling she had early thought.

"Child, itÂ’s a very bad thing for a woman to face the worst that can happen to her, because after sheÂ’s faced the worst she canÂ’t ever really fear anything again. And itÂ’s very bad for a woman not to be afraid of something." - Grandma Fontaine. pg. 452, Grandma Fontaine trying to explain to Scarlett that she does understand what Scarlett has gone through.

"She had thought Grandma was going to understand and perhaps show her some way to solve her problems. But like all old people sheÂ’d gotten to talking about things that happened before anyone was born, things no one was interested in. Scarlett wished she had not confided in her" - Narrator. pg. 453, Scarlett has not yet learned to make a connection between her own sufferings and those of another.

"Scarlett permitted the embrace because she was too tired to struggle, because the words of praise brought balm to her spirit and because, in the dark smoke-filled kitchen, there had been born a greater respect for her sister-in-law, a closer feeling of comradeship." - Narrator. pg. 470, Showing Scarlett's reaction to Melanie after the two girls had extinguished the fire.

"My home is gone and all the money that I so took for granted I never realized I had it. And I am fitted for nothing in this world, for the world I belonged in has gone. I canÂ’t help you, Scarlett, except by learning with as good grace as possible to be a clumsy farmer...And every day I see more clearly how helpless I am to cope with what has come on us all. Every day my accursed shrinking from realities makes it harder for me to face the new realities." - Ashley. pg. 527, Ashley trying to explain to Scarlett why he is so helpless in face of all the changes that have come about since the war.

"Scarlett, before the war, life was beautiful. There was a glamor to it, a perfection and a completeness and a symmetry to it like Grecian art....To me living at Twelve Oaks, there was a real beauty to living. I belonged in
that life. I was a part of it. And now it is gone and I have no place in this new life, and I am afraid. Now, I know that in the old days it was a shadow show I watched. I avoided everything which was not shadow, people and situations which were too real, too vital. I resented their intrusion. I tried to avoid you too Scarlett. You were too full of living and too real and I was cowardly enough to prefer shadows and dreams" - Ashley. pg. 529, Ashley acknowledging his own weakness and explaining why he never pursued Scarlett with any persistence.

"There was nothing else she did have, nothing but this red land, this land she had been willing to throw away like a torn handkerchief only a few minutes before. Now, it was dear to her again and she wondered dully what madness had possessed her to hold it so lightly." - Narrator, pg. 536, Scarlett's recognition that her home is all she really has left to her and that it is worth protecting.

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