Gone With the Wind Chapter 37 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • It's nighttime at Frank and Scarlett's home when Tony Fontaine appears at the door.
  • He killed Jonas Wilkerson, but Ashley got him away and sent him on to Frank's house.
  • Frank is pleased to hear about the murder.
  • Tom tells them that Jonas stirred up black people, and says that the Yankees are going to have black people vote. This—along with the idea that black people should be allowed to love white people—is presented as the epitome of evil. In this book, the only white people black people are supposed to love are the white people who own/used to own them.
  • The Fontaine's former slave Eustis said something to Sally; Sally screamed, and Tony shot Eustis.
  • Then he went to kill Wilkerson.
  • Tony flees to Texas.
  • Despite the fact that he's killed two men on the basis of racist hatred, the book elicits sympathy from readers for him. No dice on our end.
  • Frank is all dewy-eyed with patriotism at the thought of vicious racist terror and scaring black people; he says all will be well when former Confederates have the vote again.
  • Scarlett doesn't really understand, but tells Frank she's going to have a baby.
  • Their house is searched over and over by Yankees who think they may be hiding Tony.
  • Scarlett realizes the Yankees control everything and that she's insecure as long as they can take everything from her.
  • There's some praise of the KKK defending the rights of the maligned whites by going out and killing black people.
  • As far as racism goes, this chapter just might be the absolute lowest point in the book. It's pretty awful.