Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
General Christian
Religious Music and Entertainment
Gone with the Wind and Resilience

Gone with the Wind and Resilience

Last updated on: July 22, 2025 at 4:32 pm by Zachary Miller

Gone with the Wind and Resilience 2025-07-22T16:32:07-06:00 Zachary Miller

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

MGM via Pinterest

Let me say up front with this piece that … deriving truth from artifice is the bedrock of what we do here at Sublime Cinema. There are good things, even divine things, to be discovered in texts that were not necessarily holy by design. That is true of every film we discuss here, and that is absolutely true of a film like Gone with the Wind, a story which romanticizes a movement that fought to preserve the “right” to own people. This movie contains some dicey representations that are worth reflecting on. I’m not going to get into the particulars of that conversation in this piece (I do dive deeper into this topic in my essay on Classic Hollywood from my other blog), but let that caveat stand through this analysis of character arc, theme, and what that all means for everyone trying to live righteous lives. Discussing or even celebrating this film is not the same as endorsing all the ideas it presents.

That understood …

The first thing we learn about Scarlett O’Hara is that everything has always come easy for her, both by virtue of her family’s wealth and her natural charms. Growing up, the worst thing she’s ever had to worry about is how many boys she’ll get to dance with her at the barbecue. Two things come along that change all that for her: one, the man of her dreams chooses to marry someone else; two, war sweeps through her homeland. Everything she has ever held onto has been suddenly, violently taken from her. She firsthand witnesses death, destruction, poverty, and ordeals of many other varieties.

And yet, she presses on.

It is through these trials that Scarlett’s true assets come to the surface: She is brave, she is inventive, she has resolve. This Southern Belle proves that she has what it takes to rise above her station and hold her ground. Scarlett not only takes care of herself, but she becomes an anchor for the people in her life who are also caught in the tumult.

Mind you, her methods for keeping her head above water are not always themselves virtuous. Her desperation at one point compels her to play dirty and marry her sister’s beau with the purpose of getting his money. Her business practices are also shown to be rather ruthless.

MGM via “Fan Pop”

But there has always been a grace in Scarlett’s failings that I have always admired. She is proof we are each subject to our own shortcomings, and yet our victories, goodness even our aspirations, carry something of divinity with them. Scarlett’s story reminds us that maturation is a lifelong process, and that we might have to walk through a few refining fires before we’ve reached our final evolution.

She discovers all sorts of things along the way, not just about herself. Turn out Melanie, that “little brat” who stole the man of her dreams, is actually the most loyal friend she could have asked for. Moreover, she discovers her happiness lies not with the noble but aloof Ashley, but with someone with as much fire in his heart as hers, Rhett Butler, who has flown to her side her through every one of her storms–even if he had to invent some burly, “manly” pretense for doing so.

But the biggest obstacle to Scarlett finding happiness ends up coming not from poverty or any external obstacle, but her own insistence on holding onto something that was never hers. Scarlett clinging to her feelings for Ashley becomes an emblem of her nostalgia for the safety and security of her sheltered childhood. But that world has disappeared forever. What’s more: even if it hadn’t, she would no longer fit in this world. After all she has grown, she is effectively a mighty eagle longing to return to the safety of her egg.

Scarlett’s story culminates with a sort of second fall for her. Even after she’s secured her financial future, her obsession with Ashley eventually drives Rhett away–and at the moment she realizes that she’s never really loved Ashley, certainly not the way she loves Rhett. The last we see of Scarlett has her losing the one thing she’s truly loved, and this becomes the ultimate test of … not just her resilience, but our faith in her. Whether we think that, after all we’ve seen her overcome, she can make this next leap into a world without Rhett. Or even, dare we dream?, whether she can somehow win him back.

After all, “tomorrow is another day …”

MGM via “YouTube”

General Christian

Previous Post

January 7, 2025

Monsieur Ibrahim and Love

Next Post

January 28, 2025 Prisoners and Complicity

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action Movies Animated Christ Classical Film Divinity Faith Finding God Goodness Happiness Heaven Horror Films International Film Judging Love Ministering Mortality Movies Musicals Religion Repentence Rom-Coms Sin Trials Truth TV Shows Uncategorized Valiance Worth

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 March 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 October 2023 August 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Proverbs compare wisdom to?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A city A mountain A woman A river