GONE WITH THE WIND

PART ONE

CHAPTER 1

Summary 

Scarlett O’Hara is seated on the porch of the O’Hara plantation. She flirts with Stuart and Brent Tarleton, two among many young men of the area who seem to be attracted to her. The boys are at the O’Hara home in order to prolong going to their own, as they have just been expelled from the fourth university in two years. The three of them think the expulsion quite amusing although the boys excuse their behavior by saying they would have had to come home as soon as war broke out anyway. Scarlett scoffs at the idea, refusing to believe that there will ever be a war.

During the conversation, Stuart and Brent remind Scarlett of a barbecue being held the following evening. They want her to promise them plenty of dances. They inform Scarlett that they have heard that Ashley Wilkes will announce his engagement to Melanie Hamilton at the barbecue. Although Scarlett retains her poise, the news is a shock to her, and she suddenly becomes distant from the young men, forgetting even to ask them to stay to supper.

After leaving Scarlett, Brent and Stuart introduce, by way of discussion about them, several other characters such as India Wilkes and Letty Monroe, both rivals of Scarlett’s. They have two more brothers named Tom and Boyd, and a black slave named Jeems. They decide to visit the Calverts for supper. They finally dismiss that idea because they dread another lecture at the hands of a Yankee stepmother. They finally decide to go to the Wynders.

The end of the chapter describes an assembly of upper class boys turned soldiers, called the Troop. They are a group of Calvary that had been organized on the day Georgia seceded from the Union. They are completely inexperienced and have selected officers merely by voting among themselves. Initially they recruited only among the rich planters, but for lack of numbers they also recruited from the families of small farmers, hunters and other "poor whites." The wealthier families purchased their horses and their weapons were a varied array of whatever could be gathered. The Troop meets twice a week to drill in Jonesboro, always ending up in saloons and in fights.