The novel “Jubilee” (1966) written by Margaret Walker and the novel “Gone With The Wind” (1936) written by Margaret Mitchell, produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming, both tell different stories of slavery, the Civil War and the period of Reconstruction. However both these novels are not just stories of a historical period, but stories of two women: the indomitable Scarlett O’Hara (“Gone With The Wind”) and the black slave woman Vyry (“Jubilee”).
One of the main themes in both novels is the transformation of the southern society.
The Civil War resulted in numerous new ideals that established the separation between the Southern societies and the Union. The traditional and prim southern society was transformed by the Civil War into a slavery uproar. In spite of the fact that slavery was finally abolished only many years after the Civil War, it lowered the standard and the essence of the slavery phenomenon to a fight between morality and the absence of it. For example, the ending of “Jubilee” presents a connection between the events described in the novel during Reconstruction and the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The narrative “ends on a train bound for Selma”. (Carmichael, 2004) Jim and his father board the train and the conductor gives an announcement about the segregated order of seating – white people in the back and colored people in the front. The novel “Gone With The Wind” also demonstrates the transformation of the Southern society, as the narration starts in the world of tradition and pride. However the beginning of the Civil War changes power structures and traditional gender roles. In the pre-war time men ruled the world and women obeyed. After the war started it becomes essential who can feed a family, be it a man or a woman. Ashley stands for the Old South, and Scarlett gradually turns into a woman who is not afraid to reject the old traditions in order to save her family from starvation. Sometimes she is even supporting Yankee and disguising people from the Old South.
The novel “Jubilee” published in 1966 is one the first novels written about the Civil War in which the historical experience of African-American people in the South of the 19th century is presented from a black female point of view. Its historical value becomes higher taking into account the fact that it is not an imagined story, but a real narration of life of Margaret Walker’s great-grandmother Margaret Duggans Ware Brown, who was a slave and lived in southwest Georgia through the whole Reconstruction period. Thus, the overcoming of adversity with willpower described in this novel is more real comparing with the obstacles overcome by Scarlett in “Gone With The Wind”. So, the end of the Civil War does not bring to Vyry, the protagonist of “Jubilee” the long-desired freedom. She still has caretaking duties and “along with a "contraband" freedman” named Innis Brown she must work the crops. (Carmichael, 2004) Not only is she tired with a hard life during the war and after it, but she also is in constant anxiety waiting for her husband Randall Ware. Unfortunately she receives very sad news about the death of her husband, but in her heart Vyry refuses to believe that. She really needs great will power to overcome all the difficulties. Her friend Innis Brown wants to support a poor woman and suggest her to become his wife so that he could help her in hard times. After all the hardships and difficulties on their way of building the new house in reward they get “quilting bees, plenty of food, and the solidarity of the “neighborhood watch”. (Carmichael, 2004) Scarlett in “Gone With The Wind” manages to overcome many adversities with brute strength of will. She seems to be a feminist; however, she only relies on herself and manages to survive through the whole war. She rebuilds the family farm, adapts to the new political order, take care of those family members and friends who appear to be totally helpless in the war chaos. Sometimes Scarlett is very cruel, brute, and dominant. But she sees no other way out. There are other characters that demonstrate willpower. Among them are Old Miss Fontaine who was a child when the Indian scalped her family in front of her and then worked hard to run her plantation, and Rhett Butler who seems to be careless and ease but covers his bullheaded willpower.
The importance of land is emphasized in both novels “Gone With The Wind” and “Jubilee”. The black slave Vyry greatly depends on the lands she lives at. Being a slave all her life, she has been working on land. She marries Innis Brown and together they dream about their own home and farm where they will someday live. The couple moves to Alabama to fulfill their dream. The hardships do not stop to follow them, as they lose several homes including the one burnt by Ku Klux Klan. Even after the final building of the new house that is a community effort, the family has to overcome such difficulties as establishing the bonds between whites and blacks in the community. After overcoming the difficulties with hard work and strong willpower, Vyry and her family are still very close to land: they grow vegetables and then sell them on the local market so that showing their gratitude to the land that gives them food in wartime and in time of peace. Land is very important in “Gone With The Wind” too. At the very beginning Gerald tells to his daughter: “Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything," he shouted, his thick, short arms making wide gestures of indignation, "for 'tis the only thing in this world that lasts, and don't you be forgetting it! 'Tis the only thing worth working for, worth fighting for--worth dying for.” (Mitchell, 1936) First Scarlett does not pay too much attention to these words. However, after she loses dear people and precious things in the war, she understands that land is something unchangeable and something worth fighting for. After feeling the importance of her family land she finds the power to look forward and fight such enemies as hunger, poverty and social injustice. At the end of the novel Scarlett loses everything and thinks of Tara, hoping that she would find peace and comfort there.
Both novels contain lengthy narrative passages. However, in both cases it was necessary to keep the large volume of the novels so that to show the intelligence and capabilities of women. The main character of “Jubilee” Vyry moves from the slave cabin to her own big house and changes her social status from a slave to a free woman. Having overcame the major difficulties in her life, after being a slave she becomes a property protector and a caretaker of her master’s daughter and grandchildren. “Gone With The Wind” presents women of severe gender inequality. However many of them demonstrate intelligence and strength equal to the intelligence of men. Scarlett is a cunning woman and she can easily manipulate men. When she starts to run Tara after her father falls ill, she realizes that she is a better manager than he was. Then she successfully runs a mill, has her own business and makes her husband look weak and incompetent: “A startling thought this, that a woman could handle business matters as well as or better than a man, a revolutionary thought to Scarlett who had been reared in the tradition that men were omniscient and women none too bright”. (Mitchell, 1936) Melanie seems to be a very weak woman; however she demonstrates great strength throughout the novel and at last seems to be wiser than some women and men.
Both novels “Jubilee” by Margaret Walker and “Gone With The Wind” by Margaret Mitchell tell a reader about the tragic fate of people during the Civil War and during the reconstruction period after it. Though both of them present female characters as protagonists of the narration, the views of the main characters are opposed, because Scarlett O’Hara overcomes difficulties being a white independent woman born in rich family, and Vyry tells about her life as a black slave who becomes free after the war. However despite these differences, both women surpass tragic adversities and hardships due to their intelligence and strong willpower.
References:
Carmichael, J. M. (2004). Jubilee. The New Georgia Encyclopedia. April 19, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/ArticlePrintable.jsp?id=h-1242
Mitchell. M. (1936). Gone With The Wind. Project Gutenberg. April 19, 2012.
