Gone with the Wind: Chapter 62 Summary & Analysis

Scarlett opens the door and walks into the parlor. The tearful faces of Dilcey, Peter, India and Pitty greet her. India and Pitty come to her, but she snaps at them not to speak to her. She feels instantly sorry; she must pull herself together. There’s so much to do and none of these people are strong enough to do it. She apologizes for being cross and steps out onto the porch. A heavy mist hangs in the air, and the lights from windows shine weakly. She tries to cry, but no tears come. She tries to tell herself she’ll think about things tomorrow, but her old chant had lost its power. She knows that her too-late realizations—that she loved Melanie and doesn’t love Ashley—will plague her the rest of her life.

Scarlett decides she can’t go back in. She’ll make the funeral arrangements tomorrow. Home is only five blocks away and she needs to rest, so she starts walking up the long hill. As she walks, a feeling creeps over her that feels eerily familiar. She realizes that in her recurring nightmare she runs through fog like this, hunting the haven she can’t find. Has her dream come true? All that matters in her life is gone, and the earth is in ruins around her. She runs from a fear she can’t name. Lights loom suddenly before her, different from in her dream. The lights signal that this is not a land of ghosts. She sinks to the ground. Where is she running?

The lights are the lights of Scarlett’s own home. Then she realizes she’s running to Rhett. The fear that haunted her since she returned to Tara and found the world gone suddenly disappears. The haven she seeks isn’t Ashley; it’s Rhett, who sees “truth for truth” and has strong arms to hold her. Why has she never seen that he loves her? She thinks of how he danced with her at the bazaar, helped her escape Atlanta, loaned her money—these were the actions of someone who loves a woman. She trembles as she realizes she loves him.

Scarlett loves Rhett because he has none of Ashley’s foolish honor, which always let her down. Rhett never let her down, even the night of Ashley’s birthday when he should have killed her. Rhett always loved her, and she’s always been so mean to him. How could she have said he killed Bonnie? She had to lose everything to realize she loves Rhett. He is “passionate and earthy,” like herself. She decides she’ll tell him and make everything up to him. She runs up the street, happy because Rhett’s arms are at the end.