Main-Travelled Roads (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Hamlin Garland
- First Published: 1891
- Type of Work: Short fiction
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: Late nineteenth century
- Setting: Middle West
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: Nineteenth century, Rural or country life, Alienation, Guilt, Midwest, Poverty or poor people, Farms, farmers, or farming
- Locales: Midwest (U.S.)
Critical Evaluation:
In 1887, Hamlin Garland traveled from Boston to South Dakota to visit his mother and father, whom he had not seen in six years. According to his own account, the trip through farming country was a revelation. Although he had been brought up on a farm, he had never realized how wretched farmers’ lives were. The farther west he traveled, the more oppressive it became for him to see the bleakness of the landscape and the poverty of its people. When he reached his parents’ farm and found his mother living in hopeless misery, Garland’s depression turned to...
[The entire page is 1176 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
