| This study investigates the image of fog as a psychological experience, a mental state of confusion and ignorance that clouds the mind and impedes awareness. In Scarlett O'Hara's recurring, post Civil War nightmare, the dreamer-protagonist of Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone With the Wind is lost in fog, searching vainly for a safe haven. The fact that at the novel's close the entire city of Atlanta, Scarlett's home, is cloaked in dense fog appears significant, a synchronous manifestation of a common fog that manifests not only in the individual psyche of the dreamer, but also in the collective psyche of the culture in which that dreamer resides.;This study is psycho-social in nature, noting and exploring the intimate relationship between the individual and cultural psyche and seeking fog's hidden truths and meanings in both of these contexts. In order to bring the study into the realm of current relevance, its exploration of Civil War era Southern cultural fog serves as a transition to, and a template for, investigation into the fog of contemporary America.;Primary methodologies used to investigate individual and cultural fog are deconstructive in nature. Foggy myths, conventions, and facades are detected, penetrated, analyzed, and dismantled with the intention of clearing a way for both a deeper understanding of revealed elements and the emergence of fresher, healthier, and more truthful constructs. The method of hermeneutics is employed in the interpretation of the disclosed elements. In approaching the text of Gone With the Wind as a living being, to whom the researcher attends closely in order to comprehend its nature and meanings as deeply as possible, the phenomenological method is also employed.;A major finding is that culture is a primary source and disseminator of psychological fog. The study's purpose is to elucidate some of the ways in which culture performs this role. The implication for Depth Psychology is the need for heightened awareness of cultural fog as a source of psychopathology and a fuller and more comprehensive approach to the intimate relationship between psyche and culture. |
