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Originally Posted by ReadingManiac
Having read it three times, I see it very differently. At the beginning, slavery is just what is, the life Scarlet has grown up in. As the war causes hardships all around, Scarlet develops as a character and the roles of black and white are something she has to think outside of when she tells her sisters to work the farm.
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I agree that this is also a theme in the book. As a teenager, I really liked a heroine who was good at maths and bad at people, and had a practical, pragmatic view of life. And I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't really think about the racism in the book.
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I do remember a scene where some of the husbands are out doing something illegal and one of them gets shot, is that the scene you're thinking of?
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I went to pick up my copy, which still had the bookmarks from when I last discussed this with someone. Yes, that scene is one of the two mentions of KKK that I found when last I looked. Two men (one black, one white) attack Scarlett and try to rape her, she escapes, and KKK (where the husbands are members) go to kill the two men. I have a Norwegian edition of the book, here's part of it:
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Originally Posted by Gone With the Wind, chapter 45
"Naturligvis er mr. Kennedy i klanen, og Ashley, og alle de mennene vi kjenner," ropte India. "De er mannfolk, er de ikke? Og hvite menn og sydstatsmenn. Du skulle være stolt av ham"
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In English, my translation:
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"Of course mr Kennedy is a member of the klan, and Ashley, and all the men we know," India shouted. "They are men, aren't they? And white men and Southern men. You should be proud of him"
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But the worst part is a lenghty infodump in chapter 37 about conditions in the south after the war. It mentions KKK by its full name, and claims that it was founded by "tragic necessity" to protect white women from former slaves. There's also a lot about how Black people were happier as slaves. I was about to quote some examples, but can't stomach it.