Rhett Butler's Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn, was a declaration of freedom. Exhausted by the drama of loving a strong-willed child disguised as a beautiful woman, he finally threw up his hands and walked away. He admired her strength, the way she dug in her heels and never gave up, but without the give and take that real love demands, enough was enough. Stubborn woman-child that Scarlett was, she believed tomorrow was another day, that somehow she would figure a way to win Rhett back into her arms; she'd done it before, she would do it again. She didn't know how to quit. No one ever taught her that even saints have limits; one of the reasons she loved Rhett was because he was no saint. Rhett may have been walking in a fog, but he knew where he was going. Freedom can be painful, but he would thrive in the end, while Scarlett roamed the halls of Tara, alone forever.
Elise Skidmore ©2023
