Main Street

The revelation that Carol is not well-liked continues to haunt her. Feeling uncomfortable, she avoids certain shops. She visits the store belonging to Axel Egg, an immigrant, rather than visit stores where she might recognize someone. She notices that even the local teenagers seem to gossip about her; young boys repeat their parents’ comments, then add their own comments and “guffaw” (92) about her appearance. Cy Bogart, the young son of Mrs. Bogart, terrorizes Carol with his antisocial and violent behavior. One day, she overhears Cy and Earl Haydock talking about her. They agree that she is strange and attractive; their parents mock Carol, they joke. Trying to forget her discomfort, Carol resolves to spend more time with Kennicott. They visit Kennicott’s mother, and she is relieved to get away from the small town. When they return, however, she begins to have doubts about whether she made the right decision in marrying him. Vida tries to be supportive. She gathers compliments from the townspeople and passes them along to Carol. Bea is the real source of comfort, however, as she seems to genuinely like Carol. When Kennicott is called away to treat a sick patient, Carol feels intensely alone. She still fears the Jolly Seventeen and is hesitant to go to another meeting.

In an effort to build back her self-esteem, Carol sets her original plan in motion. She wants to “change the town completely” (100). When Kennicott is away, Carol decides to explore in spite of the cold. Outside the town is a “slum” (102) known as Swede Hollow. Few townspeople speak about Swede Hollow because it contradicts their insistence that there is no poverty in the town. There, Carol is greeted with affection by Miles Bjornstam, also known as the Red Swede. Miles is a handyman who once repaired the furnace in Carol’s home. He is intelligent and well-informed; Carol also appreciates his quietly radical politics. Miles reveals to Carol that the rest of Gopher Prairie treats him as a pariah due to his political views. He is an anarchist and the “town atheist” (104). He tells her that the Jolly Seventeen club and its members are fools; they are evidence of the way in which the people of Gopher Prairie prioritize money over everything, including religion. Miles believes that he and Carol are some of the only people in the town with any intelligence. In this group, he also includes the foreman of the flour mill and Guy Pollock. Vida might be included, Miles says, but he feels as though she is trying to salvage the status quo rather than pursue true reform. For an hour, he chats to her about his “proletarian philosophy” (107). The conversation with Miles helps to restore Carol’s confidence, so much so that she is ready to return to the Jolly Seventeen. There, she is polite and eager to impress by resolving to be dull and to avoid controversy.

In her efforts to integrate herself into the community, Carol attends the Thanatopsis Club. Vida insists that the club will help her to get in touch with the “intellectual thoughts that are going on everywhere” (111). At the first meeting, the attendees discuss English poetry. From Carol’s perspective, the club’s approach is to select names from a list that appears in the magazine Culture Hints, then have a superficial discussion about the writers’ biographies. The actual poetry or literature is never discussed. The next week, Carol learns, the group intends to discuss fiction and essays. The following week, they will switch from English literature to works by Russian, Polish, and Scandinavian writers. Carol does not want to feel discouraged. She still believes that the women of the Thanatopsis Club have the potential to be agents of change in their community. When she hears one woman mention the failings of City Hall, Carol is inspired. She comes up with a plan for the town and, after conducting her research in the local library, presents this to the members of the Thanatopsis Club who are married to many of the “controllers of business and politics” (118) in town.

In spite of her enthusiasm, the women dismiss Carol. According to the pastor’s wife, all change should be driven by the church. Mrs. Dyer, on the other hand, insists that her husband is right: The town needs a new armory. Carol approaches many women with her plans to rejuvenate the town, but they are all reluctant. Vida Sherwin, whom many credit as the real driving force behind any change in the town, suggests that the men of Gopher Prairie will have no interest in spending such money. In a final effort, Carol speaks to the Mr. Dawson, a wealthy businessman, about whether he could sponsor the rejuvenation of the town. Mr. Dawson dismisses the idea of spending his “hard-earned cash” (126) on building projects for “shiftless beggars” (126). When Carol speaks of poverty at the Thanatopsis Club, the women insist that there is “no real poverty” (128) in the town. They all agree that “women haven’t any place in politics” (129).

In the summer, Kennicott and Carol do what many of the people of Gopher Prairie do: They buy a summer cottage. While on a walk, Carol runs into Miles, who tells her that he is traveling across the Midwest, trading horses for a time. The warm weather and the change of season are enough to help everyone forget—briefly—the gossip and “social jealousies” (135) of the town. By fall, Carol suggests that the townspeople continue their outdoor activities. She wants to keep the good mood alive. She also wants to start a salon for the discussion of important topics. Both suggestions fall flat. Carol meets Champ Perry, credited as one of the founders of Gopher Prairie. Inspired by the meeting, Carol suggests that the townspeople have lost touch with their roots. The community should try to emulate the integrity and the hardiness of the town’s founders. She tries to talk about the subject with Perry and his wife. Their responses do not inspire her. They suggest that the townspeople should be more religious, that socialists should be “hanged” (138), and that they should condemn the rich as wicked. Carol quickly loses faith in Perry, but the conversation fades from her mind when Miles returns to town.

Carol runs into Guy Pollock, who invites her into his nearby office. Right away, Carol can tell that their stimulating conversation is exactly what she has sought in Gopher Prairie. She asks him what is wrong with the town; he responds that the people are the issue, since they have mistaken ideas of what makes a town. With bitterness, he notes that the natural challenges facing many small towns lead to a sense of stifling boredom: Such towns create their own problems, including racism, reactionary politics, labor issues, and petty social rivalries, just to feel some excitement. If this is true, Carol asks, then it is strange that Guy has stayed in Gopher Prairie. He explains that he has the “Village Virus” (140), a problem that strikes many intellectual, ambitious people when they arrive in a small town. After too long in such a place, they lose touch with the excitement and the rigor of life in the city. If Guy were to try to return to the city, he says, then the Village Virus would pull him back to the small town. Now, he feels like a “living dead man” (142). Their conversation begins to shift in tone. Though Guy is 20 years older than Carol, their dialogue takes on a flirtatious tone. Carol mirrors Guy’s flirting as he criticizes small-town provincialism, which she admits that Kennicott exhibits as well. When she complains that the town is a bore, he offers to be her confidante. Carol is concerned that people will gossip about her meeting with Guy, but she agrees to talk to him occasionally. He invites the Dillons—a new couple in town—to drink coffee with them so as to appear “tremendously tactful” (145).

Back at home, Carol ponders Guy’s words as well as her attraction to him. His comments about materialism and rivalry particularly trouble her. She asks Kennicott about his own work and his colleagues. Kennicott is neutral, but the more he opens up, the more scathing he is about his rival doctors. Their integrity, their ethics, and their talent are called into question. Carol mentions that she overheard how doctors can sometimes undercut one another. This comment infuriates Kennicott. He explodes with anger, accusing Carol of always seeking to think the worst of the people in the town. Carol, he says, believes that she is better than the rest of Gopher Prairie. Carol does not back down. The fight becomes more heated, expanding to the subject of how women are treated in Gopher Prairie. Carol returns to her idea of a discretionary allowance. Kennicott would rather keep her as a “nice sweet cow of a woman” (157), she says. She accuses him of not caring when his own friends spit on the floor of his house. Kennicott defends his friends, insisting that had Carol taken the time to find out, she would know that they are educated and cultured. Kennicott reveals that he has his own ambitions, ambitions that Carol knows nothing about. Carol backs off, gradually realizing that her husband’s comments may contain some truth.

Following the argument, Carol recognizes a change in herself. The frank honesty of the exchange helps Carol to fall in love with Kennicott all over again. She has a greater respect for his work, so she eagerly throws herself into the role of a country physician’s wife. This helps her to realize how hard he actually works. His patients are very grateful to him. When she runs into Guy Pollock again, she refers both him and herself as “hypercritical loafers” (163) compared to her active husband. Carol swears that she will do everything she can to further Kennicott’s career. Her most instructive lesson on her husband’s job comes when he invites her to join him on a series of house calls. Kennicott visits the farmers outside of town, and Carol sees firsthand how much they respect him. She observes her husband chatting calmingly and reassuringly with the farmers in German. She sees how he agrees to defer payment for the poor patients, generously suggesting that they need not pay him right away. Carol begins to see her husband as a hero, especially when he manages to remain calm throughout an amputation. Carol becomes increasingly happy in her “career” (166) as a doctor’s wife.