Main Street (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Sinclair Lewis
- First Published: 1920
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social satire
- Time of Work: c. 1910-1920
- Setting: A small midwestern town
- Genres: Long fiction, Satire
- Subjects: Values, Social reform, Tradition, Midwest, Doctors, Manners or customs, 1910’s, Small-town life, Idealism, Conformity, Gossip
- Locales: Chicago, IL, Washington, D.C., Midwest (U.S.), Minneapolis, MN
Characters Discussed
Carol Kennicott, an idealistic girl eager to reform the world. Interested in sociology and civic improvement, she longs to transform the ugliness of midwestern America into something more beautiful. Having married Dr. Will Kennicott, she moves to his home in Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, a hideous small town indistinguishable from hundreds of similar communities. There, she shocks and angers the townspeople by her criticisms and by her attempts to combat the local smugness. To its citizens, Gopher Prairie is perfection; they can see no need for change. To her,...
[The entire page is 884 words long]
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