Gone with the Wind: Chapter 34 Summary & Analysis

The next morning, Scarlett stays in bed faking sickness until Pitty, Mammy, and Uncle Peter leave. Then she jumps up and puts on her new dress. She is excited for “a struggle of the wits” with a man. Her gown makes her look dignified and rich. She hides her calloused hands in Miss Pitty’s muff, not wanting Rhett to be able to guess she’s poor. She tiptoes out and waits for a carriage. It’s cold, and she wraps Miss Pitty’s shawl closer. Finally, an old woman gives her a ride, raising her eyebrows at Scarlett’s fancy clothes. Scarlett knows the woman thinks she’s a “hussy.”

When Scarlett gets off in the town square, she pinches her cheeks and bites her lips to make them red. The square is crowded with army tents, and the door of the firehouse is guarded by two Yankee sentries. Scarlett has killed a Yankee, so she isn’t afraid. She goes up to the sentries and says she wants to see a prisoner. The man thinks she might cry, so he leads her to the headquarters, talking gently, and she warms to his friendliness. Yankees can, apparently, be nice. Scarlett walks up the broken steps into a bare room filled with a group of officers in blue coats.

Scarlett tells the captain of the group she’s Rhett Butler’s sister and she wants to see him. The captain says Rhett has lots of “sisters.”  Offended, Scarlett starts to leave, but the captain asks her name and goes to get Rhett. Rhett appears, unshaven and disheveled. He cries for Scarlett, grasps her hands, and calls her his sister while he kisses her cheek. The guards let Rhett and Scarlett talk in a side room while they wait outside.

Rhett stands close to Scarlett and asks if he can kiss her. She says he may kiss her on the forehead, like a brother. He says he’ll wait for a better kiss, looking at her lips. Rhett continues that he can’t believe she’s here; he thought she’d never forgive him for deserting her the night of the siege. He doesn’t sound mocking like he usually did. Scarlett teases that she never forgave him; why did he do such a silly thing as enlist in a lost Cause? Rhett says he’s not ashamed of leaving Scarlett, but he is ashamed he joined the war—but Southerners, he insists, can’t resist a lost cause. They continue to banter, and Scarlett shows off her dress. Rhett says she’s beautiful, but he won’t take advantage of her.

Rhett had seemed happy to see Scarlett a moment before, but now something feels wrong. He asks what she’s been up to. Scarlett lies and says that they got a good cotton crop at Tara and that Gerald has everything under control. She says she came to Atlanta because she’s bored and wants to have some dresses made. Rhett says she must have gone through all the country boys and is here for the city ones. She thinks of the “country boys” like the poor, helpless Fontaines, but she giggles at his joke.

Rhett says he’s tried to understand what’s so charming about Scarlett. Even though he’s been in Europe with prettier and smarter girls, he hasn’t forgotten her. Scarlett feels triumphant; now all she has to do is make him believe she feels the same. She says she’s so upset he’s in jail. Her distress is appropriate, he says, seeing as he is going to be hanged. He laughs and says he’ll mention her in his will. To hide her excitement, Scarlett looks down. Rhett mentions that the Yankees think he has Confederate money, and Scarlett asks if it’s true. Trying hard to act sweet and upset, Scarlett says Rhett is too smart to be hanged. She says she feels bad for what she did to him the night he joined the army, and she’ll die if he’s hanged.

Scarlett looks up at Rhett, expecting a kiss. Instead, he kisses her hand and puts her palm on his cheek, like a lover would. Scarlett is sure that Rhett is about to ask her to marry him or say he loves her. But instead, he turns her hand over and sees her calloused palm. She clenches her fist, afraid. He opens her hand and tells Scarlett to look at him. Rhett asks if she’s been plowing and says her hands aren’t a lady’s hands as Scarlett tries to pull away. She’s sure Rhett had been about to confess his love when he saw her hands.

Scarlett lies that she ruined her hands riding a horse without gloves. Rhett says she’s been working with her hands like a “nigger”; why did she lie that everything is good at Tara? He asks what the real purpose of her visit is, since he can tell she doesn’t care if he is hanged. He asks if she expected him to propose and asks why she wants to force him into marriage. Scarlett is so afraid of Rhett that she’s glad he’s not proposing, but maybe she can still borrow money. She asks for $300 for the taxes on Tara and offers a mortgage on Tara in return, but Rhett doesn’t want a farm. Scarlett says things at Tara are bad; she’s hungry. Her dress is made from curtains, Ellen is dead, Gerald has lost his mind, and she can’t let the Carpetbaggers take Tara.

Rhett says his feelings are hurt that she wanted his money and not him. Scarlett wonders if his feelings are actually hurt. Does he really care for her? Had he been about to propose when he saw her hands? She offers to be his mistress in return for the money and reminds him of when he said he wanted her more than he ever wanted anyone. He asks what makes her think she’s worth $300. Scarlett is humiliated. Rhett asks why she doesn’t live at Miss Pittypat’s instead of Tara. She cries that she can’t let Tara go. He shakes his head at her stubbornness.

Rhett clarifies that she wants $300 in exchange for being his mistress. He says it is ironic that he’d made the same offer, but she’d gotten mad at him. This proves that virtue is a matter of price, he says. Scarlett imagines it’s summer, and she’s lying in the grass at Tara under a blue sky. Tara is worth all this. She asks if he’ll give her the money. Rhett refuses; if he tries to withdraw money, the Yankees will seize it. Scarlett angrily jumps up. Rhett grabs her waist and covers her mouth with his hand. He holds her writhing in his lap, telling her to hush or the Yankees will hear. She doesn’t care. She goes dizzy, and then faints.

Scarlett slowly wakes up. The captain is pouring her whiskey, and Rhett is slapping her wrist. She gulps the whiskey and it revives her. The guards step out again. Scarlett starts to leave, but Rhett holds her back. Scarlett tells Rhett she hates him. She feels too tired to be angry, but her anger returns. Rhett smiles and says she must be feeling better, but Scarlett calls him a hateful for letting her humiliate herself. Mockingly, Rhett says it was fun. When Scarlett leaps up, Rhett asks if she’s made offers like this to other men. Scarlett says she hasn’t, so Rhett tells her to be more subtle in the future—men don’t like blunt women. He insists his hanging will cheer her up, and he’ll mention her in his will. Scarlett snaps that it’ll be too late to pay the taxes by then.