(Before we begin, let me shamelessly plug a little bit of fanfiction I'm cobbling together on FanFiction.net.
I've posted the first 2 thousand words in my GWTW fanfiction story, titled The Autobiography of Rhett Butler, CSA. It can be found at http://www.fanfiction.net/~historicalromancegal33. Let me know what you think!)
It's been some time since I've posted in this blog, but that doesn't meant that I haven't been advancing my analysis of GWTW. I finally finished my latest read of the novel a few weeks ago, and then I celebrated a birthday and went on vacation for a while, so I haven't had time to post or write or do anything more than work, eat, and sleep. However, on my way back from vacation our plane did fly right over Charleston, SC. Most people probably had no idea it was Charleston, but I recognized the Ashley and Cooper rivers because Rhett Butler is from the area. Which means I've spent more time gazing at maps of Charleston than I should have down through the years.
Anyway...
By the time we begin reading chapter 13, the first-time reader of GWTW has absolutely no idea what to think about Rhett Butler. MM has given us plenty of material about everyone from Ashley Wilkes to Prissy to the Tarleton twins, but while Rhett is easily the most mysterious--and therefore interesting--character in the novel, Scarlett herself doesn't spend much time thinking about him. He's the thorn in her side because he knows about her devotion/love for Ashley, but Scarlett doesn't actually care too much about him. He's just part of the landscape of Atlanta, a background player who lurks and starts trouble and argues with her and makes fun of the south.
However, while Scarlett doesn't think about Rhett too much, the rest of the town is apparently very worked up about his recent comments regarding the sanctity of the war and the comparative value of Confederate soldiers vs. Yankee soldiers. Chapter 13 opens with Dr. Meade "taking action" by writing a letter to the newspaper which the editor actually publishes. Interestingly enough, the editor puts the letter on the 2nd page of the paper, which is odd because "the first two pages of the paper were always devoted to:
advertisements of slaves, mules, plows, coffins, houses for sale or rent, cures for private disease, abortifacients and restoratives for lost manhood."
Now I'm trying to keep this blog spoiler free--or anyway, as spoiler free as it should be given that this book is nearly three quarters of a century old--but it's pretty good foreshadowing that the bulk of the novels upcoming plot points are pretty much spelled out in the above list. And, even more significant given the character arcs of the story, it's even more fascinating because all of that run-of-the-mill, slightly depressing advertising is pushed to the side so Dr. Meade's column about Rhett Butler can be put in a prominent place in the paper. Rhett Butler represents a break from the norm in Scarlett's otherwise totally normalized and formalized world, so it's fitting that Rhett displaces all those mundane things for sale, isn't it?
Anyway, Dr. Meade uses this space to run down Rhett Butler. But he doesn't just run down his character, he also gives us some tantalizing, exciting details about how Rhett has accumulated so much wealth when every other character in the story is about to go stony broke. You see, we already know that Rhett is a blockader, but now we learn that "he not only ran his four boats and sold the cargoes at unheard-of prices but bought up the cargoes of other boats and held them for rises in prices. It was said that he was at the head of a combine worth more than a million dollars..."
Hold up!
Rhett is at the head of a combine worth more than a million dollars? In today's money that's $22,668,709.08. While that's not quite Mark Zuckerberg money, that's good dough for an era when a prime slave in New Orleans ran you about $1100. So...Rhett Butler is rich and getting richer every day. And thanks to Dr. Meade we know that he's running his blockade chiefly out of Wilmington instead of Charleston. Which could be an important plot point if I were inclined to write fanfiction...
Anyhow, after we read Dr. Meade's letter, Scarlett eventually confronts Rhett about his behavior. But, true to her selfish nature, she doesn't reprimand Rhett for having his disloyal thoughts about the Confederacy. As a matter of fact, she doesn't even get mad at him for dissing the Confederacy--instead she's just pissed because his bad behavior means that he's become an outcast in Atlanta, which means people give her funny looks whenever they see the two of them together. But Rhett ignores Scarlett and drops some more interesting nuggets of advice that our girl receives sarcastically.
First and foremost, he reiterates his earlier statement about finance. He says:
"I told you once before that there were two times for making big money, one in the upbuilding of a country and the other in its destruction. Slow money on the upbuilding, fast money in the crack-up. Remember my words. Perhaps they may be of use to you someday."
It does turn out to be incredibly useful for Scarlett, but it will be several years before she takes advantage of his advice.....
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