Gone With the Wind Part 5

On the last two Gone With the Wind Wednesday's, the topic has been characters.  Namely Scarlett, Rhett, Melanie, and Ashley.

Today's post examines two more integral characters, Tara and Twelve Oaks.

Yes, these are the names of two plantations in the book and film.  But places can be characters too.  These two plantations have story-line's of their own.  They are dynamic characters, meaning they change over the course of the story.  We as readers and viewers come to care what happens to these places/homes of our main human characters.

Tara is the name of the plantation that Scarlett grows up on.  Twelve Oaks is the name of the plantation that Ashley grew up on.  Both Scarlett and Ashley care deeply about their homes.  This becomes clear over the course of the story.  As Gerald, Scarlett's father said "land is the only thing that matters".

Tara

Twelve Oaks

These were cotton plantations in the American south (The Confederacy) in the mid to late 1800's.  Large, well maintained, and filled with people.  At least at the beginning.  These places are the source of both great happiness and great sorrow.  The type of homes that represent a way of life.  They are at once filled with love and strife.  The strife of the landowners and their families and strife of the slaves that helped to run these gigantic operations.

Grand Staircase at Twelve Oaks

Beautiful homes.