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One of the most noble friendships in literature is that of Melanie and Scarlett O'Hara in Margaret Mitchell's classic, Gone With The Wind. Melanie is characterized as a woman who "always saw the best in everyone and remarked kindly of it" Even when Scarlett tries to confess her shameful behavior toward Ashley, Melanie's husband, Melanie says, "Darling, I don't want any explanation...Do you think I could remember you walking in a furrow behind that Yankee's horse almost barefooted and with your hands blistered - just so the baby and I could have something to eat - and then believe such dreadful things about you? I don't want
to hear a word."

Melanie's refusal to believe, or even hear, ill of Scarlett leads Scarlett to passionately desire to "keep Melanie's high opinion. She only knew that she did not care what the world thought of her or what Ashley or Rhett thought of her, but Melanie must not think her other than she had always thought of her."

It is as Melanie lays dying that Scarlett faces her deep need for Melanie's pure and generous friendship "Panic clutching at her heart, she knew that Melanie had been her sword and her shield, her comfort and her strength." In two words, Melanie had been her true friend. A true friend loves at all times and always believes the best. Is that the kind of friend you want to have? Is that the kind of friend you aspire to be?