Dissecting "Gone With the Wind"

I just finished reading "Gone With the Wind", so since it's fresh on my mind, I thought this would be a good time to have a one-way discussion about it...one-way, because I'm here and you're there, and that pretty much gives me free rein on the subject.

I think Margaret Mitchell's intention was to have Scarlett O'Hara and the South as interchangeable characters in the book.
 
Scarlett O'Hara before the war:
soft, beautiful, carefree, ignorant, exclusive, self-serving, headstrong, dismissive, cruel, but not completely heartless
The South before the war:
soft, beautiful, carefree, ignorant, exclusive, self-serving, headstrong, dismissive, cruel, but not completely heartless

Scarlett O'Hara after the war:
harder, not quite as beautiful, more determined, smarter, more inclusive, still self-serving, more accepting, forced to be more humane
The South after the war:
harder, not quite as beautiful, more determined, smarter, more inclusive, still self-serving,  more accepting, forced to be more humane

You get the picture?

Mitchell wanted us to love parts of Scarlett, just like she wanted us to love parts of the southern way of life, but not the whole package. She wanted us to see the beauty, but not be blind to the ugliness.

My God, she was smart.