Plot summary
Carol Milford is a liberal, free-spirited young woman, reared in the metropolis of
Saint Paul, MinnesotaSaint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
. She marries Will Kennicott, a doctor, who is a small-town boy at heart.
When they marry, Will convinces her to live in his home-town of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota (a town modeled on
Sauk CentreAs of the census of 2000, there were 3,930 people, 1,616 households, and 1,042 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,057.2 people per square mile . There were 1,709 housing units at an average density of 459.7 per square mile...
, Minnesota, the author's birthplace). Carol is appalled at the backwardness of Gopher Prairie. But her disdain for the town's physical ugliness and smug conservatism compels her to reform it.
She speaks with its members about progressive changes, joins women's clubs, distributes literature, and holds parties to liven up Gopher Prairie's inhabitants. Despite her friendly, but ineffective efforts, she is constantly derided by the leading cliques.
She finds comfort and companionship outside her social class. These companions are taken from her one by one.
In her unhappiness, Carol leaves her husband and moves for a time to Washington, D.C., but she eventually returns. Nevertheless, Carol does not feel defeated:
-
- "I do not admit that Main Street is as beautiful as it should be! I do not admit that dish-washing is enough to satisfy all women!"
Literary significance and criticism
Readers' fascination with the portrayal of petty back-stabbers and hypocrites in a small town was probably a factor in the novel's popularity. When the book was published, it was common to wish to live in purportedly "wholesome" small towns like Gopher Prairie; a notion denounced by Main Streets vicious realism and biting humor.
Though it was not expected to be extremely popular, in the first six months of 1921, Main Street sold 250,000 copies, becoming a major best-seller of its time.
Many urban literary critics derided the novel's seeming lack of direction and endless description. Some of Lewis's contemporaries said the novel was too bleak, even humorless, in its conveyance of ignorant small-town life and people. However, Main Street is generally considered to be Lewis's most significant and enduring work, along with its 1922 successor
BabbittBabbitt, first published in 1922, is a novel by Sinclair Lewis. Largely a satire of American culture, society, and behavior, it critiques the vacuity of middle-class American life and its pressure on individuals toward conformity....
.
Some small town residents resented their portrayal and the book was banned in
AlexandriaAs of the census of 2000, there were 8,820 people, however the most recent count suggests a population upwards of 10,000, which is displayed on Alexandria's city limits signs. The census lists 4,047 households, and 2,011 families residing in the city. The population density was 992.5 people per...
, Minnesota.
Because of the popularity acquired by Lewis and his book, high school teams from his hometown of
Sauk CentreAs of the census of 2000, there were 3,930 people, 1,616 households, and 1,042 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,057.2 people per square mile . There were 1,709 housing units at an average density of 459.7 per square mile...
, Minnesota began to be called the Main Streeters as early as the 1925–26 school year. This name was essentially given to the town by the nearby towns at school events. The Sauk Centre High School still goes by the name in a tribute to Lewis.
Allusions/references to history, geography and culture
The story is set in Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, a fictionalized version of
Sauk CentreAs of the census of 2000, there were 3,930 people, 1,616 households, and 1,042 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,057.2 people per square mile . There were 1,709 housing units at an average density of 459.7 per square mile...
, Minnesota, Lewis's hometown. The novel takes place in the 1910s, with references to the start of
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the United States' entry into the war, and the years following the end of the war, including the start of
ProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
.
With the book published in 1920, Lewis could not have written about the
Roaring TwentiesThe Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
or the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
to follow, but his characters give voice to many of the social and cultural attitudes which would become significant in the years to come.
Awards and nominations
Main Street was initially awarded the
1921 Pulitzer Prize-Journalism awards:*Public Service:**Boston Post, for its exposure of the operations of Charles Ponzi by a series of articles which finally led to his arrest.*Reporting:**Louis Seibold of New York World, for an interview with Woodrow Wilson....
for literature, but was rejected by the Board of Trustees, who overturned the jury's decision. The prize went, instead, to
Edith WhartonEdith Wharton , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.- Early life and marriage:...
for
The Age of InnocenceThe Age of Innocence is a novel by Edith Wharton published in 1920, which won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize. The story is set in upper-class New York City in the 1870s. In 1920, The Age of Innocence was serialized in four parts in the Pictorial Review magazine, and later released by D...
. In 1926 Lewis refused the Pulitzer when he was awarded it for Arrowsmith.
In 1930, Lewis was the first American ever awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. While a Nobel prize is awarded to the author not the work, and itself does not cite a particular work for which he was chosen, Main Street was Lewis's most well-known work and enormously popular at the time. In the Nobel committee's presentation speech, both Main Street and
ArrowsmithArrowsmith is a novel by American author and playwright Sinclair Lewis that was published in 1925. It won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Lewis but he refused to accept it. Lewis was greatly assisted in its preparation by science writer Dr. Paul de Kruif, who received 25% of the royalties on sales, but...
were cited. The prize was awarded "...for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters."
In 1998, the
Modern LibraryThe Modern Library is a publishing company. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, it was purchased in 1925 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer...
ranked Main Street #68 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
See also
- Main street
Main Street is the metonym for a generic street name of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in many parts of the world...
— the iconic street in small town America
External links