Gone with the Wind: Chapter 23 Summary & Analysis

Scarlett goes into the kitchen and eats. She should go check on Melanie, but she doesn’t want to go into the room where she spent so many hellish hours. She waits on the porch, anxious for Rhett to come. The glow of fire appears on the horizon. It grows brighter and brighter until a huge tongue of flame bursts above the trees. The Yankees must be burning the town. Scarlett runs upstairs to her room as explosions sound outside. She is so scared she can’t think and just wants to be home.

Scarlett hears Prissy’s feet on the steps. Prissy yells that the explosions are Confederate soldiers burning the foundries before leaving town. Scarlett is thrilled; they still have time to get away. Prissy says she found Rhett in a barroom, but the army took his horse. He’s looking for another horse and will come for them then. Scarlett is relieved. She tells Prissy to pack some clothes and wrap the baby in towels. Scarlett tries to pack some china and silver, but her hands shake so badly that she breaks two plates. She runs out to the porch to wait. Finally, Rhett pulls up in a small wagon. He has two pistols and looks both fierce and amused.

Rhett jokes about Scarlett’s upcoming trip. She tells him not to joke; she’s scared and wants to go home to Tara immediately. Rhett calls her a fool. There are deserters and soldiers everywhere between here and Tara, and Tara could be swarming with Yankees. Scarlett beats on his chest, saying she’ll kill him if he stops her from going home. She falls into his arms. He caresses her hair gently and says “there, there, darling.” He kisses her hair and tells her she will get home. She wants to stay in his arms forever. He wipes her eyes with his handkerchief and suggests that Melanie stay with Mrs. Meade. When Scarlett refuses to leave her, Rhett suggests they put a feather bed in the wagon for Melanie.

Rhett asks Scarlett if she is afraid. Scarlett is upset that he is mocking her again. She tells Prissy to get Wade’s feather bed, then she and Rhett go upstairs to Melanie’s room. Scarlett explains what is happening to Melanie. Rhett picks Melanie up gently. As they start downstairs, Melanie gestures at her altar, telling Scarlett to take Charles’s photo, pistol, and sword. Scarlett obeys. She looks at Charles’s photo. He’d been her husband, but she can’t even remember him. She looks at Melanie’s baby. This is Ashley’s baby, and she wishes it was hers too.

Outside, everyone gets into the rickety wagon. Melanie lies on the featherbed with Wade, Prissy, and the baby. The horse is thin and unwell, but Rhett says it was the best he could find. He lifts Scarlett onto the narrow bench and climbs up beside her. Scarlett realizes she hasn’t locked the door. Rhett laughs that Scarlett thinks she can lock out the Yankees and drives into downtown. Melanie moans as the wagon bounces and as flames shoot into the sky. As they pass a dangerous street, Rhett whips the horse to go faster. Scarlett is terrified, but Rhett seems exhilarated.

Rhett starts to give Scarlett a pistol, but Scarlett says she already has Charles’s. Rhett teases her for not ever having had a husband, but Scarlett tells him to hurry. As the wagon moves down Marietta Street, Rhett tells Scarlett to take a good look at the Confederate soldiers. He says she can tell her kids one day about seeing the Confederates retreat. Though Scarlett knows her life depends on Rhett, she hates him for mocking the soldiers. She shouts at him again when he stops to watch a soldier rescue one of his fellows. Finally, they reach the quiet side streets. Scarlett is thankful for Rhett’s presence and his protection.

Clutching Rhett’s arm, Scarlett says she’s glad he’s not in the army. He responds with an angry look that makes Scarlett shrink away. As the wagon turns south and enters the deep woods, Rhett asks if Scarlett still wants to go to Tara. Scarlett says she does and mentions a horse trail they can take. Rhett says Scarlett can take it—alone. Scarlett is horrified, but Rhett says she’s not helpless. And he’s going to join the army. Scarlett is shocked and begins to cry, but Rhett calls her selfish. Rhett suggests he might be sentimental or ashamed as he drags Scarlett out of the wagon and into the trees.

Laughing, Rhett quotes a speech and says he couldn’t love Scarlett if he didn’t love honor more. He says he loves Scarlett, no matter what he said earlier—they’re both alike in that they’re selfish “rascals.” Embracing her, Rhett asks if she’s changed her mind about being his mistress. He kisses Scarlett’s neck and chest like Charles never kissed her, making Scarlett feel hot and then cold. Scarlett comes back to herself when she hears Wade calling her. She slaps Rhett across the face and calls him a “nasty, low-down cad.” He’s no gentleman. Rhett just laughs and says he hopes Scarlett feels guilty when he’s dead. He returns to the wagon to find that Melanie has fainted, so he gives Prissy a pistol and walks away. Scarlett hates him. Why is he walking into a lost Cause when he’s safe and rich?