Scarlett is just different from those people like Ashley who always lives in the dreams of the old South and is unwilling to weak up for the new life. Although the life of the old South is colorful and yearning to most of the Southern people, it is already dead and people still have to seek new ways for living. Scarlett knows this very well. No matter how hard the life is and no matter what the new world is; she has to raise her whole family and protect them from starving and freezing to death. 

2.2.3 After the Civil War
The war is finally over! But they are still in trouble; the Yankee carpetbaggers and southern scalawags have raised the taxes on Tara. Tara faces the danger of being bought away by the others. She must do something to save Tara. She tries all the ways to get money for Tara. After the failure of borrowing money from Rhett who is in the jail, she lures her sister’s lover Frank and marries him undoubtedly; never considering her sister’s feeling and her own sacrifice. She is so realistic that she even has no time to think about the future, but just resolves the problems at present.

Although women at that time are not allowed to go outside to earn money, Scarlett sticks to managing the sawmill herself. She puts her all energy to the business. When she has no accompanier, she will drive the carriage herself even she is pregnant. She employs prisoners to work for her for less expenditure but more profit; she send out her money to mortgage as loan; she trades with black men for money; and she even cleans up the money from the widows. Though she has a bad reputation of having an eye to the main chance, she doesn’t care at all, for the reason that she feels so horrible about the memory of hunger, coldness, loneliness and danger again and again in the nightmares. She makes money to make sure the whole family to lead a life without worry for food and clothes. Rhett says Scarlett wants to get two things in the world: one is Ashley; the other is money for doing what she wants to do. After the war, she becomes a new-rich who is not necessary to worry about money any more and Melanie’s death gives her chance to be together with Ashley, but she suddenly finds that both before her face are not what she really wants. The man who really loves her and her loves is going away…
From 1920s to 1930s, America suffered from the most serious economic crisis in the history: Factories were closed and many workers lost their jobs; Agriculture was lean and so many farmers left their land to seek new ways for living. What people should do? The women needing the book or watching the film in the 1930s were coming out of the Great Depression, and perhaps gained strength and inspiration from the characters in the story.[7]Certainly, Scarlett’s famous determination not to be hungry again encouraged most of the readers and audience.
3. Reasons for the Shaping of Scarlett’s Character
Portrayal of a character can’t be separated from the environment she or he is in, and the social environment plays the same important role as the natural environment to portray the characters of the figures. It is the same to portray the figure of Scarlett, which must also rely on both the social and the natural environment.[8]
3.1 The Exterior Reason
The transition of the living environment is the exterior reason for Scarlett’s changing her character, which causes Scarlett’s distinctive character. Before the war, Scarlett lives in the traditional and conservative plantation and the life style forms her plantation master’s character of loving land than anything else in the world and her rebellious character spontaneously.[9] She leads an extremely poor life during and after the war, and that abominable environment molds her character to confront the reality bravely; and her independence and selfishness to overcome difficulties. The rich life experience before war; the unstable life during the war and the extremely poor life after war provide the foundation to form the character of Scarlett. And thus in such environment, Scarlett’s character can be complicated.
3.2 The Internal Reason
Meanwhile the triangular love between Scarlett, Ashley and Rhett is another element to influence the d

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