Main Street

A preface introduces the setting. Main Street largely takes place in the town of Gopher Prairie. The Midwest town is home to several thousand people and is emblematic of America itself in that its Main Street is “the continuation of Main Streets everywhere” (i).

Carol Milford is a student at Blodgett College, located just outside Minneapolis. Though she was orphaned at 13, her late father encouraged her to be curious. He told her to read often and to ask questions. Carol has grown up to be an attractive, intelligent girl who dreams that she will one day take over the world for “the world’s own good” (3). After taking a sociology class, Carol begins to take an interest in village improvements and, after college, she hopes that she will be put in charge of a small prairie town so that she can “make it beautiful” (5). In the bohemian atmosphere of the big city, she feels “ignorant” (9) but revels in the art and culture. She starts by studying librarianship in a school in Chicago, then works in the St. Paul’s public library. When three years have passed, Carol feels as though her life is not progressing as she hoped.