On Irish-American's attachment to the land in Gone with the Wind

Abstract

Gone with the Wind contains many words relating to 'Ireland', especially concerning Irish temper and history. Gerald O'Hara killed an English absentee landlord's agent and was forced to leave Ireland. He emigrated from Ireland to America. He was Catholic and disliked Orangemen whom his farmer ancestors had fought for their lands in the Battle of the Boyne. Gerald was a typical Irishman and possessed the Irish peasant temperament and a shrewd Irish brain. His daughter Scarlett had the same qualities. Gerald established a plantation which Scarlett maintained during and after the Civil War. This is because they had a strong attachment to the land.