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Table of Contents | Printable Version The Dawsons The richest person in Gopher Prairie is Mr. Luke Dawson. He lends money on mortgages. He considers Gopher Prairie to be the best town. When Carol approaches him to fund the town hall he tells her that he will not waste his hard earned money on people who never had the sense to save. He buys a bungalow in Pasadena and settles down there. When the Kennicotts meet them there during their tour, Mr.Dawson expresses his desire to go back to Gopher Prairie to make some more money. Ezra Stowbody Ezra Stowbody owns the Elevator Company. He is the banker. He hates modernization, labor unions and socialism. He believes in the power of money. The writer describes him as a caveman with reference to his attitudes. Ella Stowbody is his daughter. She studied singing, oratory and dramatic art for a year in Milwaukee. She is considered to be a professional when it comes to receipting poems. The Perrys Champ Perry and his wife, are one of the pioneer couples in Gopher Prairie. They lost all their money and lead a simple life. Perry works in the Elevator Company, as a buyer. He loves his wife very much. Her death leaves him alone. He goes often to her grave and spreads him hands over it as if to protect his wife who is laid there alone. He is retired from the Elevator Company because he is unable to concentrate on his work after his wife's death. Because of Carol's plea Lymn Cass employs him as a night watchman.
He is a lawyer in Gopher Prairie. Like Carol he too feels dissatisfied in Gopher Prairie but is unable to leave the town because he gets used to the easy life and effortless work in Gopher Prairie. As a result his knowledge becomes outdated in comparison with the city lawyers. He attributes his lack of enthusiasm to read good literature and to go to Minneapolis to watch good movies to 'the village virus'. He is considered to be an intellectual. Carol likes his company because she can discuss books with him. He falls in love with her but she is interested only in his mind. He tells Carol that everyone in the town including Kennicott were victims of professional jealousy. But Carol is not ready to believe it. When Carol wants him to help her to transform Gopher Prairie he too tells her that Gopher Prairie is better than any other prairie town and the people are friendly and more willing to accept strangers. When Carol wants everyone to have everything, Guy Pollock rejects the idea because he cannot and will not accept an ordinary worker as Carol's equal. He prefers the disparities in the society to the gray uniformity of equality. This attitude and his love for dead elegance disenchant Carol. He remains a good friend to Carol. Table of Contents | Printable Version |