Main Street

After Percy Bresnahan leaves, Carol grows even more frustrated with life in Gopher Prairie and with Kennicott. She likens her marriage to those of the “talked out couples” (261) she has seen in restaurants. Carol is tired of the same people, the same conversations, and the same meals. Carol realizes that Kennicott views her as pretentious, highbrow, and “neurotic” (265), while she views him as stupid and uncultured. The couple begins to argue more frequently, hotly debating everything from the new income tax to Kennicott’s friends. Carol eventually has enough. She moves into her own bedroom to be away from Kennicott. When she learns that Mrs. Westlake has done the same, Carol begins to confide in her.

Ever since Bea left, Carol has not been able to find anyone as capable of handling the household duties and has taken over many of them herself. Kennicott tries to appease Carol by returning to his old idea that they should build a brand new house for themselves. He believes that they are secure enough financially to make this happen. Though she is initially pleased by the idea, Carol’s hopes are soon dashed. Her vision for their new house does not match what Kennicott wants: While Carol wants a quaint cottage, Kennicott wants to copy Sam Clark’s square, cream-colored home with its large furnace, “exactly like every third new house in every town in the country” (269).