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MonkeyNotes-Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
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Bresnahan takes Carol out for a drive in Jack Elder's car. He tells
her he knew that she thinks that he is a bluff. He informs her that
he thought that even she was a bluff. When he praises
Kennicott's service to the people Carol points out that Kennicott
is a servant of reality. He tries to tell her that Gopher Prairie is a
good town and that she is lucky to be there, while discussing the
reforms she wants in Gopher Prairie. She retorts that it is because
of the praise of people like him that Gopher Prairie was so smug
and never acknowledged the need to change. She asserts that it is
a dull place and even the bridge playing Juanita was tired of the
town. He tries to tell her that every place had its own drawbacks.
She asserts that in big towns she would find people like herself
so that she could be happy. He remarks that in New York or any
other big city there were thousands of girls like her, saying and
feeling the same things and adds that she would lose the fun of
being the lone genius.
He points out that she antagonized even the few people who
would agree with her. She uses a fable to explain her point. She
compares herself to the cave woman who complains about the
damp cave, about the stiff garments she had to wear and about
the rats that ran over her legs. She compares the others, who
criticize her to the cave man who tells her that it cannot be so
wrong and feels that it is a good answer. She asserts that just
because Gopher Prairie produced Bresnahan, he cannot consider
it to be civilized, because it has also produced people like Mrs.
Bogart. He replies that if she were to run a factory she would
give up all her ideas within a day. He tells her that only a strong
man would find her a better cave and a whining radical would
never be able to do that. Carol finds him to be such a good friend
that she has to agree with his point of view. She feels that he
made her feel young and soft. His admiration for her makes her
look at Kennicott more critically.
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MonkeyNotes-Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
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