Dr. Will Kennicott

Dr. Will Kennicott is a country practitioner. He takes his work seriously. Having worked his way through college, he knows the value of money. His ambition is to build a big house and keep aside enough money to take care of their old age. His knowledge of medicine is sound and his patients respect him. He is very sympathetic and does not hanker after his fees. He attends to his patients regardless of the sun or rain or snow. He never over charges his patients.

He loves Carol. He agrees to let her have her own account, a room of her own, tries to appreciate poetry and even visits art galleries and makes an effort to appreciate paintings. He finds Carol to be cold when it comes to physical intimacy but he does not make an issue of it. He does go to Maud's house often but knows that Carol is the best woman in the whole of Gopher Prairie. He forgives her flirting with Guy Pollock and Erik Valborg. He feels heartbroken when Carol leaves him. Yet he is generous and finances her trip to Washington. He goes to Washington dressed in a new suit, tie and polished shoes. He applies psychology by showing her photographs of Gopher Prairie and their house. He wins her back and fathers a daughter.

His other interests are motoring, hunting and real estate. He does not bother about dressing up. He believes that Carol's idea of propriety even after marriage is too inconvenient because he wants the liberty to walk in his sock, slump into a chair or put his legs up. His complaint against Carol is that she frightens away his good friends with her high brow attitude. Though he loves Carol he is not above laughing at her along with his Uncle Whittier Smail and Aunt Bessie. When Carol fails to show interest in the promotion campaign he gets angry and accuses her of not being patriotic.

He loves his son very much. Though he does not like Bjornstam, he attends Bea and Olaf. He tries to save them and lets Carol nurse them.

The first son of the Kennicotts, he looks like his father and his attitude is also like his father. He considers Bjornstam to be the greatest man because of the wonderful skill he has in chasing a pig or cutting up a chicken. Bjornstam's son Olaf is his best friend with whom he can explore the mysterious world full of mouse holes and similar things.

He loves nature like Carol does and wants to know what the sun says and what the trees say. He loves to go for walks with his mother. He loves to watch the tools of his father though he is not allowed to touch them. He loves playing with Bjornstam's tools. But Carol's absence for three months brings him under Mrs. Bogart's influence. He tells his mother that Aunt Bogart gave him cookies and told him about the Dear Lord.

When he comes back with his mother after two years stay in Washington, Kennicott finds him monopolizing the conversation. When Kennicott complains, Carol insists that the children should be allowed to have their own ideas and her main duty would be to stop herself and Kennicott from educating the children.

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