Main Street Essays - Carol Peletier, Main Street, Carol, Ed

Main Street Main Street Lewis, Sinclair Copyright 1948 David Snow Paragraph 1 The protagonist in this story is Carol Kennicott. She is a young woman attending college in St. Paul Minnesota. She wants to go somewhere in her life. She has gone out and gotten a college education so that she wont have to be a house wife. She has an outgoing personality and is continuously trying to change the things around her. She meets a man named William Kennicott. They fall in love and move to the small town of Gopher Prairie. While there Carol tries to change her home, as well as all of the other buildings in town. Carol is identified as the protagonist because shes the main character and she has a conflict to overcome. Paragraph 2 The antagonist in this story is Carols personality. She is always trying to stay in love with William, but at the same time she cant stand the thought of living in a small town where the people dont change. Its important to the antagonist that she change the world one small community at a time. All of the attempts made by Carol are failures because shes moving too fast for the citizens of Gopher Prairie. Paragraph 3 The conflict in this story is best described as Carol vs. Herself. Carol wants to love Will and be a loyal wife. She wants to love his mother and be a mother herself. Carol has the desire and willingness to stay with Will, but at the same time the thought of changing the town and not adapting to their ways is always implanted in her mind. Carol wants to change the town to a more contemporary time. She has always had this thought, even during her stay at college. The reason she attended college is so that she wouldnt have to live the cliched life of being a house wife, with darling children, and an adoring husband. Carol has a desire from both ends of this argument. She loves her husband, but small town life doesnt suit her. This conflict is internal because Carol is always at war with her conscience. Paragraph 4 The climax of this story comes in the last two chapters. Carol has moved to Washington and is pursuing a career that will help change the city. Will comes out to visit and he brings photographs of Gopher Prairie and the surrounding fields. It becomes apparent at this point that Carol no longer wants to stay in Washington. She realizes that all the time she spent in Gopher Prairie she never gave the town a chance; rather, she tried to change everyone around her. She asks Will if she should stay or return with him. He says that the decision is hers and hers alone. She becomes so home sick that she knows she has to return and spend her life with her loving husband Will. Paragraph 5 Carol gets on a train and proceeds to make her way back to Gopher Prairie, Will, her friends, and her life. As the train gets closer and closer to the town Carol becomes even more homesick. She moves back in with Will and it doesnt take her long to get back into the motions of small town living. Carol and Will pursue a life of happiness together in the small town with all of their friends... Carol thinks the townspeople should change their routine and have an annual get together. Paragraph 6 Main Street takes place during the early 1900's in the small town of Gopher Prairie. Gopher Prairie is a close-knit community located in the western part of the United States. The town consists of a group of people who havent advanced over time with the rest of America. Carol is affected a great deal because she is always trying to change the townspeople and their way of life. The townspeople have become set in their ways and are not willing to allow Carol to change their world. However, after every attempt to change them Carol fails. These failures dont discourage her. Rather, they only rekindle her drive to change the world. Paragraph 7 The mood of the novel Main Street is best described as one of continuous despair. Around every corner Carol is met with disappointment.