WHO WAS JONAS WILKERSON

 WHO WAS JONAS WILKERSON — AND WHY DID SCARLETT DESPISE HIM?

Jonas Wilkerson may not have been one of the biggest characters in Gone With the Wind, but he caused the O’Hara family plenty of trouble.

Before the Civil War, Wilkerson was the Yankee overseer at Tara.

His position came to an abrupt end after it was discovered that he had fathered a child with Emmie Slattery, the daughter of the poor Slattery family who lived near Tara. The baby died, and Ellen O’Hara insisted that Gerald dismiss Wilkerson.

But that wasn’t the last Tara would see of him.

After the war, Wilkerson became associated with the new Reconstruction government and worked for the Freedmen’s Bureau. He also married Emmie Slattery and returned to Tara with money and influence.

And this time, he wanted Tara for himself.

In the novel, Wilkerson helps manipulate Tara’s taxes upward, hoping the O’Haras will be unable to pay them. He and Emmie then arrive at Tara and openly announce their intention of buying the plantation.

Scarlett is furious—not only because Wilkerson once worked for her family, but because the idea of Emmie Slattery becoming mistress of Tara is almost more than she can stand.

And this is important: Wilkerson’s scheme is one of the reasons Scarlett becomes so desperate for money. She decides to go to Atlanta, has Mammy make the famous green velvet curtain dress, and plans to convince Rhett to give her the money needed to save Tara. When Rhett cannot help her, she eventually marries Frank Kennedy and uses his money to pay the taxes.

In the movie, Wilkerson’s return also leads directly to Gerald O’Hara’s death, when Gerald chases after Wilkerson and Emmie on horseback and is killed attempting the jump. That particular connection was strengthened for the screenplay.

So although Jonas Wilkerson doesn’t get a huge amount of screen time, he helps set some of the most important events in Scarlett’s story into motion.

 Did you remember that Jonas Wilkerson had actually been Tara’s overseer before the war?

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