Elmer Gantry (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Sinclair Lewis
- First Published: 1927
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Satire
- Time of Work: 1915-1925
- Setting: Midwestern United States
- Principal Characters: Elmer Gantry, Mrs. Gantry, Cleo Benham Gantry, Lulu Bains, Hettie Dowler, Oscar Dowler, Jim Lefferts, Judson Roberts, Frank Shallard, Eddie Fislinger, Wallace Umstead, Horace Carp, Harry Zenz, Jacob Trosper, Ad Locust, Sharon Falconer, Cecil Aylston, Art Nichols, Mrs. Evans Riddle, T. J. Riggs
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Satire
- Subjects: Sex or sexuality, Religion, Midwest, 1910’s, 1920’s, Ministry or ministers, Greed, Moral conditions, Ethics, Preaching, Corruption, Fraud, Fundamentalism
- Locales: Midwest (U.S.)
The Story:
Elmer Gantry, known as “Hell-cat” to his classmates at Terwillinger College in Kansas in 1902, was a large man, six feet one, with a loud booming voice. He led the team as football captain and was twice elected class president. Although he was assumed to be popular, Gantry was not really well liked by his classmates. Elmer’s father, Logan Gantry, a feed dealer, had died at a young age, leaving his widow to support herself and her son with her sewing. She was a religious woman and made Gantry go to church, where he learned about religion but failed to learn...
[The entire page is 2058 words long]
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