Main Street

In the wake of the flirtation between Erik and Carol, Fern approaches Carol to ask her to be a chaperone at an upcoming barn dance, but Carol declines. The dance goes ahead and, the next day, Carol sees Mrs. Bogart forcibly evicting Fern from her house. Mrs. Bogart claims that Fern has been a corrupting influence on her son, Cy. Mrs. Bogart claims that the 22-year-old Fern got the 20-year-old Cy drunk, then lied to Mrs. Bogart’s face and claimed that she did no such thing. Cy has a poor reputation; many people do not believe the rumors, and even Kennicott knows that Mrs. Bogart is spreading false gossip. Yet Mrs. Bogart has approached the schoolboard to ask them to sack Fern from her teaching job since Cy is still a student.

Fern tells Carol what really happened. She admits that she went to the dance with Cy, but claims that she only went “for the sake of dancing” (345). At the dance, however, she saw Cy steal bottle of liquor. Cy got very drunk, and Fern decided that she should help him by taking him home before he caused trouble. As she took him home, he repeatedly made advances toward her, and she was forced to fight him off.