'Gone With the Wind': The Catholic Heart of Margaret Mitchell's Saga

It wasn’t until rather recently that I discovered that Gone With the Wind, the epic classic about the Civil War, was written from a distinctly Catholic perspective.

Only in 2011, when the estate of author Margaret Mitchell gave half the trademark and literary rights of the book to the Archdiocese of Atlanta (where I am pastor of St. Anna's Church), I discovered that Mitchell was Catholic (although she later became Episcopalian), and that the classic story of the Old South came from that worldview.

I had not thought about it before, but it certainly helped me see the book and classic movie in a whole new light.

The Sweep and Scope of Gone With the Wind

Gone With the Wind premiered in Atlanta on Dec. 15, 1939, but it didn't hit wide release in the U.S. until January 1940. So, both 2024 and 2025 can lay claim to being its 85th anniversary year.

When I saw the movie in college, I was blown away by the enormity of the characters, places, and events in the story. Scarlett O'Hara (played by British Catholic Vivien Leigh) was the larger-than-life protagonist I had always heard about, determined and brave yet selfish, with the classic Southern grit I had been taught from childhood.

I did find, however, that Scarlett's selfishness was an obstacle to fully appreciating the merits of her perseverance and inner strength. It wasn’t until I watched the movie again, after understanding the Catholic perspective that lay at its foundation, that I understood more fully the richness of her struggles and the story at large.

Moments of Faith

The movie does not have many moments of overt Catholicism, but the ones that are there point to the underlying foundation of faith that moves the story.

Scarlett's father is an Irish-born Catholic, and her mother comes from a French Catholic family in Savannah, Georgia, descendants of late-17th-Century Catholic emigrants fleeing persecution in the wake of the French Revolution.

The family's Georgia plantation is named Tara, after the hill that was the legendary seat of Irish kings -- and which has been the site of Catholic churches since the late 12th Century.

In the beginning of the film, Scarlett’s family gathers for evening prayers, collectively praying an act of contrition, called the Confiteor, invoking the intercession of the saints, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Scarlett, though lost in herself by her love of neighbor Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard) and thoughts of how to interfere with his betrothal to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton (Olivia de Havilland), joins in the prayer after her mother’s watchful eye corrects her distraction.

Although Scarlett is willful and errant, she comes from a deeply faithful family whose matriarch instilled the values of contrition and penance in her children. This comes back to Scarlett when later she begins to recognize some of her selfishness, and also begins to fear Hell when she dies.

A most tender moment demonstrating the Catholic faith of her mother comes when Scarlett returns home after the war only to find her mother has passed, and the Yankees have taken everything, including her mother’s Rosaries.

The grief of losing her mother coupled with the violation of having such intimate articles of her mother’s faith stolen, is a particularly poignant loss for Scarlett, on top of all she has already endured.

The Problem of Suffering

In a broader sense, the overall themes of Gone With the Wind reflect the universal themes of the Catholic faith in many ways.

The struggle to overcome suffering, the hope and determination to seek a better life, the presence of goodness around us to help us on our way in spite of ourselves, all resonate with the Catholic struggles to find God in the midst of our weakness and errancy.

Melanie shines as the saintly friend who was always there for Scarlett, even though she was the single obstacle to Scarlett’s perception of happiness in her love of Ashley. God also loves and cares for us even when we see him as an obstacle to what we think will make us happy.

Similarly, the love of the smuggler and rake Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) for Scarlett, and the many ways he sought to help and care for her, seemed insufficient to her, in spite of his persistence. God remains persistent with us as well, even when we cannot see the benefits of his intercessions and gifts.

Finally, Scarlett does seem to come to her senses a bit after the death of Melanie, and recognizes that her pursuit of Ashley was folly. Though this repentance is too little, too late for Rhett, it does show that she is at last open to appreciate what she has been given, and to still have faith in the future.

“Tomorrow is another day!” she famously states at the end, not giving up on happiness, but tenaciously clinging to the virtue of hope.

Prayer also runs through the story. There's not only the opening scene above but also scenes set in an Atlanta church (with a huge stained-glass window of the Resurrected Christ) turned war hospital, including one in which a clergyman recites the 23rd Psalm over an injured soldier.

And at her lowest moment, a ragged but defiant Scarlett declares her willingness to do anything to live, concluding with, "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again."

A Film of Its Time and Place

Of course, the undercurrent of chattel slavery in this story the antebellum South can't be ignored. If Max users screen the film, it begins with a disclaimer reading:

Gone With the Wind is a product of its time and depicts racial and ethnic prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society. These racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today.

To create a more just, equitable, and inclusive future, we must first acknowledge and understand our history.

This picture is presented as it was originally created.

Turner Classic Movies also presented the film, with this preamble from TCM Host and film scholar Jacqueline Stewart:

It's an irony, then, that a film glorifying the slaveholding South produced the first black Academy Award winner, as Hattie McDaniel beat out co-star de Havilland, winning for her role as Scarlett's strong willed "Mammy."

From The Hollywood Reporter:

The daughter of two former slaves gave a gracious speech about her win: “I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything I may be able to do in the future. I sincerely hope that I shall always be a credit to my race and the motion picture industry.”

The Invisible Hand of Grace

Gone With the Wind is a great example of storytelling that reflects faith in action that isn’t shallow or easy. If Scarlett had not the faith in God instilled by her mother, could she have overcome the setbacks in her life at all?

It is easy (and often correct) to criticize her methods, but God was with her the whole time, working with her imperfections, and moving her to growth as a person by His grace.

This all lies underneath the surface and isn’t specifically mentioned, but nevertheless is present in the Catholic faith foundation of the story. It is easy to tell stories that of faith that can be preachy, but stories that reveal a faith imperfectly working deep within a flawed person makes rich stories like this classic tale of the South truly shine.

Gone With the Wind is available on DVD/Blu-Ray, can be rented or purchased digitally from several sites, and streamed with a Max subscription.

Image: Shutterstock/Canva

Father Randy Mattox is the pastor at St. Anna's Catholic Church in Monroe, Georgia. He also does Bible commentary for the Great American Community app, and co-hosts Zoom chats for the Great American Book Club. Both are part of the Great American Media group of channels, which also includes Great American Family, Great American Faith & Living, and Great American Pure Flix.

You can learn more about Father Randy here.