Gone with the Wind

Scarlett O’Hara is sitting with twins Brent and Stuart Tarleton outside at Tara, the O’Hara’s plantation, in April 1961. Scarlett isn’t beautiful, but she charms everyone, including the twins. She is pale, with dark eyebrows and green eyes. Her elegance and poise are mature for a girl of 16, but her eyes are “her own” and are full of willful passion. The Tarleton twins are identical—red-haired, athletic, and cheerful. Scarlett and the twins lead easy, upper-class lives, but they have the vigor of people who’ve grown up outdoors. Like all north Georgians, they take pride in growing cotton, riding, shooting, and dancing rather than in reading and dull activities.

Brent and Stuart have just been expelled from the University of Georgia. Their brothers, Tom and Boyd, left too, refusing to stay without them. Scarlett isn’t studious herself, so she’s amused by the story. The twins claim they would’ve come home anyway to fight in the war. Scarlett scoffs, saying vaguely that Abraham Lincoln will make an “amicable agreement” about the Confederacy. The twins exclaim excitedly that the war is inevitable. Scarlett is bored; she likes to be the center of every conversation. She playfully threatens to leave if she hears the words “Abe Lincoln,” “secession,” or “war” again.

Charmed by Scarlett, Brent and Stuart give up the subject of war. Scarlett asks how Beatrice Tarleton, the twins’ mother, reacted to their expulsion from college this time (they’ve been expelled before from a different school). The twins explain that they avoided a confrontation with her by sneaking out to visit Scarlett before their mother was awake. Beatrice never whips her horses or her enslaved persons, but she occasionally whips her sons to discipline them. She runs a big plantation and has little patience for their mischief.

The sun starts to set, giving the red clay a bloody hue. The house is like a white island in a red sea. North Georgia is a “land of contrasts,” divided into bright sun and deep shade, placid cotton fields and sinister forests. Scarlett, Brent, and Stuart hear the enslaved people coming in from the fields and setting the table. The twins linger, hoping to be invited to supper.

Brent and Stuart bring up a barbecue at the Wilkeses’ the next day. They tease Scarlett, saying that if she promises to dance with them there, they’ll tell her a secret. Then Stuart spills the secret that Ashley Wilkes and Melanie Hamilton are announcing their engagement at the barbecue. Scarlett’s lips turn white. She agrees vaguely to dance with the twins, and then grows quiet. The twins eventually realize she’s stopped talking to them. They reluctantly see themselves out.

Brent and Stuart call for Jeems, their once playmate and now personal enslaved man, and mount their horses. Once out of sight, they stop and puzzle over why Scarlett didn’t invite them to supper. They can’t figure out what upset her. Jeems points out that she got quiet after they told her of Ashley and Melanie’s engagement. This still puzzles them, since Scarlett and Ashley have always been close friends. The twins try to think of somewhere they can have dinner, not wanting to go home to their mother. The twins are fearless when it comes to horses and guns, but their mother’s temper frightens them.

Brent suggests they go to the Wilkeses’, but Stuart doesn’t want to see India Wilkes. He’d once been her beau, but Brent thought she was boring. The twins didn’t want to fight over a girl. Then, they’d noticed Scarlett at a political event. They find her irresistible and charming because they never know where they stand with her. Stuart still feels guilty because he’d made India love him. Though he liked her, he also thought she was too dependable. Besides, the twins are happy to both love Scarlett. They haven’t considered what might happen if she chooses one of them.

Brent then suggests they go to the Cade Calvert’s. Stuart, however, doesn’t want to see his Yankee stepmother; she still hasn’t gotten over the time Stuart shot her stepson Cade in the leg. Brent points out that Beatrice had made jokes when Tony Fontaine shot him in the leg. The twins consider going home again. Stuart realizes gloomily that their expulsion probably cost them the trip to Europe their parents promised them. Brent says he doesn’t care; he’d rather be around to fight in the war anyway.

Stuart says they should go see Able Wynder, the elected lieutenant of the “Troop” (the Confederates). Jeems pipes up that Able is “po’ w’ite trash” and won’t have suitable food for them. Stuart admonishes him for his frank disdain of the lieutenant, explaining that Able is a small farmer, but that he isn’t “trash.”

The “Troop” was organized three months before when Georgia seceded from the Union. Ashley Wilkes was elected captain and Able Wynder lieutenant. Able is kind and honorable, although the women and enslaved persons resent him because he isn’t a gentleman. Since there aren’t many wealthy planters, the Troop recruited many small farmers instead. All were eager to fight, but the small farmers couldn’t afford to outfit and arm themselves. To solve this, a few of the wealthiest planters donated fancy, antique weapons. The Troop met twice a week to practice drills, tell stories, and pray for the war to begin. The meetings often ended in the saloons where fights would break out. At one of these fights, Tony Fontaine shot Brent, and Stuart shot Cade Calvert. Their mother then sent them to school, where they had missed the excitement of the meetings.

Brent and Stuart decide to go to Able’s. When Jeems complains, Stuart tells him to go to Beatrice and tell her they won’t be home for supper. Jeems says he’d rather stay out all night and be caught by patrollers than deal with Beatrice when she’s angry. The twins agree to bring him to Able’s as long as he behaves. While cutting through Mr. O’Hara’s plantation, the twins wonder again why Scarlett didn’t invite them to supper.