Gerald O’Hara is Scarlett’s father and the master of Tara. He is a short, stocky man with a loud voice and a raucous lifestyle. Although he had a rough exterior—he’s always gambling, drinking, shouting, and jumping horses—he has a soft heart. He immigrated from Ireland after his family lost their fortune there, hoping to make his own wealth in America. He won Tara—a wide expanse of wilderness in rural northern Georgia—in a poker game. He slowly transformed Tara into a sprawling plantation, and married Ellen O’Hara of Charleston. Throughout the story, Scarlett confides in her father more than in her mother because she and Gerald understand each other; they are both “passionate and earthy.” Gerald is deeply devoted to Ellen, but he goes behind her back, getting drunk and dangerously jumping his horse whenever he has the chance. After Ellen dies, Gerald loses his mind and is unable to cope without her. However, he maintains a fierce streak of patriotism until the end, refusing to comply with Suellen who wants him to sign an oath of Yankee cooperation. He dies when he rides home drunk, falls off his horse, and breaks his neck.
Gerald O’Hara Quotes in Gone with the Wind
The Gone with the Wind quotes below are all either spoken by Gerald O’Hara or refer to Gerald O’Hara . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
“Only when like marries like can there be happiness.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything, for ‘tis the only thing in the world that lasts.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3
Quotes
It was a man’s world, and she accepted it as such. The man owned the property, and the woman managed it. The man took the credit for the management, and the woman praised his cleverness.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Gone with the Wind LitChart as a printable PDF.
Gerald O’Hara Quotes in Gone with the Wind
The Gone with the Wind quotes below are all either spoken by Gerald O’Hara or refer to Gerald O’Hara . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
“Only when like marries like can there be happiness.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything, for ‘tis the only thing in the world that lasts.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3
Quotes
It was a man’s world, and she accepted it as such. The man owned the property, and the woman managed it. The man took the credit for the management, and the woman praised his cleverness.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
