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Get every literary device explanation for Gone with the WindPlus so much more...
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Metaphor
Explanation and Analysis—Unbroken Phalanx:
After India publicly accuses Scarlett and Ashley of infidelity, Melanie comes to Scarlett’s defense, dividing the Wilkes family along loyalties to India and Melanie. Here, Mitchell uses a metaphor that compares the Wilkes family, prior to this bitter fight, to a phalanx, an Ancient Greek military formation:
Half of Atlanta was kin to or claimed kin with Melanie and India. The ramifications of cousins, double cousins, cousins-in-law and kissing cousins were so intricate and involved that no one but a born Georgian could ever unravel them. They had always been a clannish tribe, presenting an unbroken phalanx of overlapping shields to the world in times of stress, no matter what their private opinions of the conduct of individual kinsmen might be [...] They were gentle, quiet spoken, reserved people and not given to even the amiable bickering that characterized most Atlanta families.
The Wilkes family, Mitchell writes, were always a closely-knit and “clannish tribe," presenting themselves in public as “an unbroken phalanx of overlapping shields.” In this metaphor, the novel compares the loyalty of the Wilkes family to a phalanx. In Ancient Greece, a phalanx was a military formation composed of overlapping shields and weapons that presented a nearly impregnable defense to other armies. With some guilt, Scarlett realizes that she has undermined the close bonds of the family, which she knows must be particularly painful for Ashley.
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