“不會有什麽戰爭！”孿生兄弟憤憤然嚷道，仿佛受了欺騙似的。

　　“這是哪兒的話，寶貝兒?戰爭當然要打，”斯圖爾特說，“北佬也許怕我們，可是前天博勒加德將軍炮轟蘇姆特堡，把他們趕走後，他們就非打不可了，要不然就得在世人面前當懦夫丟臉。再說啦，邦聯……”

　　斯佳麗的嘴角露出鄙夷神色。

　　“你們再敢說一遍‘戰爭’，我就進屋去把門關上。我這輩子最討厭的就是‘戰爭’這個字眼，說‘脫離聯邦’還差不多。爸爸從早到晚戰爭不離嘴，來找他的先生們全都大聲嚷嚷什麽蘇姆特堡啦，南部各州權力啦，亞伯拉罕·林肯啦，讓我煩得簡直要驚叫起來了！小夥子們也全都談論這事，還談論他們的老騎兵連。今年春天的一切聚會全都沒趣，因為小夥子們就沒別的好談。我真慶幸佐治亞等到聖誕節後才脫離聯邦，要不然準得把聖誕聚會也給攪了。要是你們再敢說‘戰爭’，我就進屋去。”

　　她這話可是當真的，因為她絕對不能長時間忍受人家交談卻不把她當成主要話題。不過，她說這番話的時候臉上掛著微笑，還故意把酒窩縮得更深，濃密的睫毛像蝴蝶翅膀一樣連連眨動。果然不出她所料，她那迷人的樣子讓兩個小夥子看呆了，兩人連忙道歉，說不該掃她的興。他們絲毫也不因為她對戰爭缺乏興趣就小瞧她。其實，他們反而更看重她了。戰爭是男人的事，與女士們無關，他們把她的態度當成了女性品質的證明。

　　“Not going to be any war！” cried the twins indignantly， as though they had been defrauded.

　　“Why， honey， of course there’s going to be a war，” said Stuart.“The Yankees may be scared of us， but after the way General Beauregard shelled them out of Fort Sumter day before yesterday， they’ll have to fight or stand branded as cowards before the whole world. Why， the Confederacy—”

　　Scarlett made a mouth of bored impatience.

　　“If you say ‘war’ just once more， I’ll go in the house and shut the door. I’ve never gotten so tired of any one word in my life as ‘war，’ unless it’s ‘’ Pa talks war morning， noon and night， and all the gentlemen who come to see him shout about Fort Sumter and States’ Rights and Abe till I get so bored I could scream！ And that’s all the boys talk about，

too， that and their old Troop. There hasn’t been any fun at any party this spring because the boys can’t talk about anything else. I’m mighty waited till after Christmas before it seceded or it would have ruined the Christmas parties， too. If you say ‘war’ again， I’ll go in the house.”　　She meant what she said， for she could never long endure any of which she was not the chief subject. But she smiled when she spoke， deepening her dimple and fluttering her bristly lashes as swiftly as butterflies’ wings. The boys were enchanted， as she had intended them to be， and they hastened to apologize for boring her. They thought none the less of her for her lack of interest. Indeed， they thought more. War was men’s business， not ladies’， and they took her attitude as evidence of her femininity.

　　以上摘自《飄》(Gone with the wind )

　　美國南北戰爭前夕的美國南方社會，男人們平日一遇到，話題便是美國南方與美國北方的戰爭，而且自信心很強，認為如果仗真的打起來，南方必勝。所以，在他們的心目裡，希望戰爭爆發才好。至於戰爭的殘酷性，大多數人都沒仔細考慮過。戰爭若打起來之後，南方是否一定會贏，大多數人也沒有理性考慮過。至於美國實行怎樣的制度才好，大多數人也是不甚了了。但有一點是可以肯定的:那時，大多數美國南方人，特別是男人們，他們的潛意識裡都認為，戰爭是在保衛自己的利益。

　　另一方面，在美國南北內戰即將爆發的南方社會，社會總體輿論認為，戰爭是男人的事，女人不關心戰爭很正常。

　　文中提到了SCARLETT的父親，SCARLETT的父親作為壯年成熟男人，和年輕男人一樣，也熱衷於談論戰爭。

　　戰爭喜歡被談起，說明了戰爭與人們有客論關聯，這種關聯，在人類總的歷史長河中，其實很司空見慣的。