Main Street by Sinclair Lewis | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Sinclair Lewis was an American writer and playwright who became the first American to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930. One of his most successful novels is Main Street, published in 1920. It is a satirical novel that begins with references to the start of World War 1. A satirical novel is a form of fiction in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or exposing the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself for improvement. Sinclaire Lewis satirizes the small-town life of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, a fictional town based in Sauk Center, Minnesota. The novel relates the life and struggles of Carol Milford Kennicott as she comes into conflict with the small-town mentality of the residents of Gopher Prairie.

Characters:

Carol Milford Kennicott is a midwestern liberal young woman, a librarian by profession. She marries Doctor Will Kennicott who takes her to a miserable small-town life, away from her more liberal life in St. Paul. The novel mainly concerns her relationship with small-town characters. Dr. Kennicott's natural authority in the small town attracted Carol to him, but he turns out to be more conservative than she originally hoped for. He often criticizes Carol for her curious and spunky attitude. Vida Sherwin is another young woman who marries a man from the town and settles there. Unlike Carol, Vida is conservative and likes Gopher Prairie's old-fashioned society. Bea Sorenson is a resident of Gopher Prairie. Her husband Miles Bjornstam is a free-thinking Swedish man whose wife and child die accidentally. The townspeople consider him responsible for their death. Guy Pollock is a lawyer, a free-thinking man who naturally attracts Carol. He is also tired of small-town life. Eric Vallborg is another resident of Gopher Prairie of Swedish origin. Carol begins an affair with him. Fern Mullins is a young high school teacher. She is not much older than her students and eventually, she falls for one of her students named Cy Bogart. Soon it becomes the talk of the town and she is badly mistreated after which she runs away from the town.

Summary:

Carol Milford is a young, bright, and beautiful student of Blodgett College, Minneapolis, Minnesota. She dreams of settling in a small town and improving it into a place of beauty, culture, and refinement. After completing her graduation, she starts working as a librarian at St. Paul college. One day, she meets Doctor Will Kennicott at a friend’s party and gets attracted to him. Dr. Will Kennicott courts her for a year and then he marries her. After their marriage, they move to Will’s hometown of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota.

Carol finds out that Gopher Prairie is a dull conservative town and she gets disappointed by the narrowmindedness of the people of Gopher Prairie. Carol observes that the town’s people are thoroughly uncultured and often backbite against each other. She comes in contact with Will’s neighbor Mrs. Bogart who is a religious zealot who hypocritically gossips about others. Bea Sorenson is another young lady who arrives at Gopher Prairie on the same day when Carol arrived. Unlike Carol, Bea gets impressed by the splendor of the town. She decides to stay in the town and becomes Carol’s maidservant.

Carol decides to refurbish Will’s old-style house according to her liking and changes all the furniture. She prepares to throw a party to celebrate her marriage with Will. At the party, Carol realizes that the townspeople do not appreciate any change. Despite her genuine efforts, Carol is criticized by all others for her new thoughts and modern style. She is even derided for her choice of clothing. Carol realizes that she might have made a mistake. She looks for the socialite fun of her city life but finds that the small town is more reserved and intimate than her friends back home. However, she is not giving up without a fight. She always dreamed of transforming such a backward place into a beautiful attractive town with elegance. Gradually she tries to mingle up with the townspeople and recruits a drama club that performs a show titled ‘The Girl from Kankakee. Along with that, she joins a bridge club of young married women and attends a literary society named Thanatopsis Club. Soon she realizes that the programming of these clubs is drab and dull. She tries to reinvigorate Thatopsis Club by giving a push to the library and trying to inculcate a habit of reading in townspeople. People begin to listen to her ideas as she has been a professional librarian. However, the Library Board doesn’t consider the books as a means to bring change or improvement, rather considers them as precious property. The local librarian doesn’t want people to take books for reading because she likes to keep them clean. She feels that if people will take the books for reading, they will get ruined. Will sides with the librarian and accuse Carol of being an elitist and that ensues a bitter argument. Carol meets a local guy named Guy Pollock who is a lawyer by profession and realizes that like her, he also favors a liberal viewpoint. She immediately befriends her and finds him attractive. But soon she realizes that Guy Pollock is not interested in bringing any change and he lives there only because he is suffering from ‘village fever.’ Another lawyer is Percy Bresnahan, a local money man who comes on strong to Carol and gets rejected. She befriends Vida Sherwin, a high school teacher.

Later on, Carol witnesses Will amputating an arm of a patient to save his life and envisions him as a heroic figure. Will and Carol give birth to a baby whom Carol names Hugh after her late father.

Meanwhile, Bea Sorenson marries Miles Bjornstam and gives birth to a child. Miles is ostracized by the townspeople for his support of socialism and the Democratic Party. Bea and her son suffer typhoid. Miles seeks help for their cure but nobody helps. Carol decides to serve Bea as her nurse. After some days, Vida, and two other women visit Bea’s house to see her but they show they're disdained. Miles gets infuriated and tells them to go away. Later on, Bea and her son succumb to death. The town’s people blame Miles for their death and he is forced to flee away.

Carol befriends Erik Valborg who is attracted to her and starts taking her on long walks. Will becomes aware of the growing relationship between Eric and Carol but ignores it. Meanwhile, he develops an affair with Maude Dryer. Meanwhile, Fern Mullins, a young high school teacher gets embroiled in a controversy as rumors of her being in a romantic relationship with one of her students get spread. She is forced to leave the town and flea away. Will realizes the emergency and warns Carol and puts stop to the growing relationship between Carol and Eric. Carol decides to break up with Eric but she is too disheartened by the ill-fate of Fern Mullins. She decides to leave the town and her husband. She goes to Washington DC to work. Will tries to stop her but she says that she will return at a proper time. Carol’s time in Washington gives her a new perspective. She feels as if she can make a small contribution to help change Gopher Prairie for the better. When she returns, Carol accepts the townsfolk for who they are. She continues to fight small battles to enforce change. Soon, Carol gives birth to a daughter, whom she hopes can continue her legacy. In the end, Carol discusses her difficulty in inciting reform as Will inattentively ponders the weather.

In 1921, Main Street was initially chosen as the winner of the Pulitzer Prize. However, the decision was later changed in favor of the TheAge of Innocence by Edith Wharton. In 1926, Sinclair Lewis was again offered the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Arrowsmith but he refused it. In 1930, Sinclair became the first American to win Nobel Prize in Literature. Both Main Street and Arrowsmith were mentioned in the Nobel committee's presentation speech.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

The Restoration Age of English Literature

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The period from 1660 to 1700 is known as the Restoration Age of English Literature. King Charles II came out of exile and was restored in 1660 to reinstall the monarchy in England. The change of government from Commonwealth to Kingship brought a huge change in the mood of the nation. The effect of Puritanism was receding while England was cherishing the Renaissance delight. This period is also known as the Age of Dryden because John Dryden was the most influential or representative writer of this period.

The religious zeal of Puritanism was weakening as the society, in general, was accepting a more rational and realistic approach. The two main events of this period include the establishment of the Royal Society of England which ensured the rapid development of science. The establishment of the Royal Society was a landmark in the history of England. Interest in science began to grow. The growing interest in science caused the beginning of rational inquiry and a scientific and objective outlook. Objectivity, rationality, and intellectual quality also enlivened the literature of this period. The other event that defined the restoration age was the Great Fire of London which was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of London from Sunday, 2 September to Thursday, 6 September 1666. The Restoration of Charles II brought about a revolutionary change in life and literature. The instincts which were suppressed during the previous era came to violent excesses. The King had many mistresses and numerous children. He was surrounded by corrupt and degenerate ministers. Profligacy was glorified in the royal court. Corruption was rampant in all walks of life. The Great Fire of 1665 and the Plague that followed, both were popularly regarded as suitable punishments for the sins of the profligate and selfish King. While London was burning and the people were suffering, the King and his nobles kept up their revels. The beginning of the Restoration began the process of social transformation. The atmosphere of gaiety and cheerfulness, of licentiousness and moral laxity, was restored. The theatres were reopened. There was a stern reaction against the morality of the Puritans. Morality was on the wane. There was laxity everywhere in life. All these tendencies of the age are reflected in the literature of the period.

English Literature had influences from Roman and Greek literature during the Elizabethan, Jacobean and Puritan eras. However, during the Restoration Age, the French influence was predominant because the King had spent the period of his exile in France. The French manners and fashion spread from the court to the aristocracy. It also influenced contemporary literature.

Religious and Political Conflicts

During the years of Charles I, the two political factions were the Royalists and the Parliamentarians. During the age of Restoration, the Whigs and the Tories came forth as the two major political factions. While the Whigs followed the footsteps of Parliamentarians and openly supported the calls of limiting the monarchial powers in the interest of the people and the Parliament, the Tories supported the Divine Right theory of the King and strove to restrain the powers of the people in the interest of the hereditary rulers. These two political forces affected literal works. Prominent literary figures either supported Whigs or Tories through their works. John Dryden was a Tory. During the period of Oliver Cromwell, Puritans enjoyed power after the Restoration. The supporters of the Puritan regime were fanatically persecuted. The nation was predominantly Protestant and the Catholics were unduly harassed. The religion of the King himself was suspect. His brother James was a Papist (Roman Catholic). As Charles II had no legitimate heir, it was certain that after him his brother James, a Catholic, would succeed to the throne. Efforts were made to exclude James from the throne. The King sided with his brother and he removed all obstacles to the accession of James. Dryden‘s famous poem Absalom and Achitophel reflects these religious and political conflicts of the day.

James II ascended the throne in 1685. He soon revealed his Roman Catholic prejudices and he secretly tried to establish Catholicism in the country. He became unpopular within three years and the whole nation rose against him. The bloodless revolution of 1688 called the Protestant William and Mary of Orange to the throne. The country was once again restored to health and sanity. These deep and vigorous movements brought about certain changes in the inner social life. With the revival of factions and parties and the excitement caused by the Popish Plot, a quality of force and ardor revived in civic feelings, so that the tone of literature and social life is somewhat modified. With the political and moral transformation which began in 1688, the very Keynote of English literature, as of English life, was greatly changed. The literature of the Restoration age was starkly different from the literature of the past that enthusiastically supported individual heroism. During the age of Restoration Individual enthusiasm was discouraged while ideals of conduct under reason and common sense, to which all men should adapt themselves were promoted. The writers, both in prose and poetry, tacitly agreed upon the rules and principles by which they should write. Rules and literary conventions became more important than the depth and seriousness of the subject matter to the writers of this period. They express superficial manners and customs of the aristocratic and urban society and did not pry into the mysteries of the human mind and heart. The authors of the period were not endowed with exceptional literary talents. So they turned to the ancient writers, in particular, the Latin writers, for guidance and inspiration. It was generally believed that the ancients had reached the acme of excellence and the modern poets could do no better than model their writings on the classics. Thus grew the neo-classical school of poetry. The neo-classicists or pseudo-classicists could not soar to great imaginative heights or could not penetrate deeply into human emotions. They directed their attention to the slavish imitation of rules and ignored the importance of the subject matter. This habit was noticeable in the age of Dryden. It strengthened in the succeeding the age of Pope. 

The literature during the age of Restoration was realistic. It was very much concerned with life in London, and with details of dress, fashions, and manners. The early restoration writers wrote about corrupt courts and society, emphasized vices rather than virtues, and gave us coarse, low plays without interest or moral significance. The Restoration writers eschewed all extravagances of thought and language and aimed at achieving directness and simplicity of expression. Dryden accepted the excellent rule for his prose, and adopted the heroic couplet, as the next best thing for the greater part of this poetry. It is largely due to Dryden that ―writers developed formalism of style, that precise, almost mathematical elegance, miscalled classicism, which ruled the English literature for the next century.