Secrets of the creation of the novel "gone with the wind": the husband is a tyrant, death in the family and the pursuit of happiness
American writer Margaret Mitchell wrote only one novel, "gone with the wind". But it provided the woman's place in the Pantheon of American classics and made one of the most successful authors of the twentieth century. A lot of hype surrounding the novel seems strange, because it was contrary to the official view of the history of the United States.
The Atlanta resident Margaret Mitchell became a classic in his life that have been very few authors. In her "Gone with the wind" readers confused a lot. The abolition of slavery were withdrawn by the author as a crime, and South slavery with his nevolnichem markets and plantations moved positively and with a touch of nostalgia. Despite this, the success of the novel was great.
First, the book was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer prize, and then quickly was filmed featuring the best of Hollywood stars. The success of the film has surpassed even the book. If in the novel, the focus was on the durability of the heroine who bravely endured the blows of fate, the movie was a tale in which Scarlett met Prince — of Rhett Butler, which was just the perfect man.
Actor Clark gable perfectly embodied on the screen the image of a man dreams that vain people wait a lifetime for millions of women. I must say that Rhett Butler was not completely fictional character — the traits of his character Mitchell took his first wife.
But the prototype Butler was one significant disadvantage — it was like the perfect man only so long until he got drunk and started to beat his wife. But the banal story of a domestic tyrant is not interesting, because Mitchell chose an alternative history, in which there is no place for violence and humiliation.
Margaret Mitchell was born in 1900 in Atlanta, in a model American family of a lawyer and a housewife. Legal activities of the father of the writer was combined with chairmanship of the local historical society, so the girl and her older brother Stephen heard many stories about the old days and extraordinary individuals.
Two old Margaret participated in the war between the North and the South, and one of them even got from the Yankees wound to the head, which, fortunately, was not fatal. The elderly, as expected, loved to tell about the battles and heroes and their stories from girls boggles the mind.After school Margaret went to College and then her life began the first serious shocks. First, somewhere in the fields of the First world war killed her fiancé Henry, then came from Europe, "Spanish flu" mother dies. The girl has to take on their fragile shoulders of family life, just like the heroine of her next novel.
Despite the efforts, Mitchell has always remained a real noble southern — every year the day of the death of her fiance she sent to his mother's funeral bouquet and a letter of support. Although everything was going wrong, the girl made a maximum of efforts, so as not to depend on the circumstances and go through life with your head held high.
In 1922, Margaret decided to try his hand in journalism and got a job as a reporter for the city newspaper. Very soon she became a leading researcher, whose work was appreciated by the administration and readers. In the same year, Mitchell met a man who just answered her notions of the ideal.
The chosen one is a young journalist was beautiful, noble, ironic, despised money and, most importantly, the breast stood on the protection of the South in all verbal battles. In the family, he held the traditional southern position that the wife should endure the antics of the spouse and to counter his aggression only love and gentleness.
Husband future writer, Berrien Kinnard Upshaw, was known in Atlanta by the nickname "Red". As the hero of the novel, Rhett Butler, he was a smuggler, or rather, a bootlegger. The first serious quarrel in the family occurred after Margaret caught her husband when he cheated on her with the maid.
The woman began to demand a divorce and Berrien beat her the first time. But Mitchell was not one of those who seems — she bought a gun, who had not survived the night and gave it to her husband to court. As the court Margaret showed up with bruises on the face, divorce, despite the protests of her husband, she was given very quickly.Just a year it took the reporter to move away from the turmoil and again to try to arrange his personal life. New husband Mitchell was the absolute opposite of a charismatic villain Upshaw. John Marsh worked as an insurance agent and by its nature was a kind and empathetic. He didn't drink and the company of friends preferred the company of his wife.
Margaret and John
When Margaret broke his leg, John cared for her like a baby and carried boxes of books from libraries that the beloved should not miss. It was he who suggested to my wife to start to write itself — indeed, many well-known writers started off as reporters.
Mitchell succumbed to the entreaties — in the end, why not to try? Enthusiastic woman did not show and wrote a novel, called "Tomorrow's another day" for ten long years. The newspaper had to stop, as after a fracture, Margaret was not easy to run around looking for topics for stories. Therefore, its main concerns was the household and writing, the former is just a new hobby.
The book was quite large and when the author gave the manuscript to the publisher of the book he wanted to read it due to the large volume. But he managed to convince the verdict was clear — to immediately issue! The original name was changed to "gone with the wind" — a phrase taken from a poem by an American classic Ernest Dawson.
Pulitzer prize Margaret received immediately after the book. This was followed by a dizzying success. "Gone with the wind" was published in the United States and abroad, translated into other languages and it all personally supervised Mitchell.
Fans of the books piled writer of letters with a request to write a continuation of the story of Scarlett, but Margaret was adamant. She created a story about which I dreamed all his life and she had nothing more to say to his readers. All the events of his life, the woman reinterpreted and presented in the book and it was enough.
The second world war passed Margaret, without affecting her family. Everything went on as usual — Mitchell was known, respected, secured and, most importantly, finally loved. The life of the founder of one of the most famous novels of the twentieth century ended abruptly and tragically on a warm summer evening in 1949. When the writer was walking down the street with her husband, she was hit by a drunk driver, without coming close to John.
Grave of Margaret and her husband John
Doctors were unable to save Margaret, but her killer has only served a year for manslaughter. He lived a long life and left descendants of anything that could be considered significant. Fate has always been cruel to Mitchell and even her death was particularly unfair.
Keywords: The author | Atlanta | Classics | Literature | Writer | Pulitzer prize | Family | USA | South