How does Mitchell portray black people and slavery in the novel?
Mitchell, in common with her characters, takes the attitude of a Southern plantation owner to black people and slaves. She never questions the institution of slavery, seeing nothing wrong with it as long as owners treat their slaves fairly. She never mentions any incidences of abuse of slaves by owners, though this certainly existed. Mitchell approves of the loyal and devoted slaves like Pork, Mammy and Uncle Peter, who, after the war and emancipation, wish to stay with their white former owners. She strongly disapproves of the freed slaves (termed “free issue niggers”), describing their lives as “a never-ending picnic, a barbecue every day of the week, a carnival of idleness and theft and insolence.” She describes the freed slaves themselves as “lazy and dangerous as a result of the new doctrines being taught them.” Not one of the characters has anything good to say about the freed slaves, and even Mammy holds them in contempt. It is significant that Scarlett is attacked by a freed sl
