The protagonists of both Main Street and Babbitt take apparently disparate views toward small town life: Carol Kennicott née Milford would rather be anywhere else than Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, whereas George F. Babbitt cherishes the routine and (apparent) simplicity of the fictional Zenith, Winnemac. Lewis manipulates these two characters' views of what it means to live in middle America, and, of course, our own.
Carol Kennicott has big dreams. We meet her as a student in Blodgett College, full of poetry and sensibility. Her conflict arises from the fact that she doesn't lose these youthful aspirations after marrying a small town doctor and moving with him to the Midwest outpost of Gopher Prairie, known for its German farmers and gossip. Claustrophobic in her neat house with nothing but chores to fill her time, Carol becomes a Midwestern Madame Bovary, tormented by her conviction that anywhere other than Gopher Prairie and its restrictive social conventions would be an improvement. For fear of spoiling the novel's ending, I will only remark that Carol's ascent is not quite so linear.
Nor is it for George Babbitt. A realtor (don't dare call him a real estate agent) with a solid family, a car, and a nice house in the prestigious Floral Heights neighborhood, Babbitt thinks he's got it made. Sure his kids could be a little more obedient and sure he could smoke less, but Babbitt firmly believes that if everyone else strictly followed his dear principles of Morality, Republicanism, and Common Sense, the world would be a much better, happier place. That is, until Babbitt learns through hard experience that his convictions don't necessarily correspond to reality.
Carol's unhappiness stems from her inability to see what is good about her life, whereas Babbitt's downfall results from not seeing his own failings enough to forgive it in others. Lewis presents us with these two extreme and often ridiculous approaches to life, leaving us, his readers, to find some middle ground.
No comments:
Post a Comment