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.
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