day 25 of the 30 day book challenge

Day 25. A character who you can relate to the most

I know, I know. I said I was trying not to double up on books, so that I could give you 30 different titles. 

Carol Kennicott of Sinclair Lewis's "Main Street"bites off more than she can chew. While we've moved in opposite directions (she from big city to small town & I the other way around, we want the same thing: to change the world, to improve lives, to save them.

Carol is seen as radical, snobby, superficial, too much, too loud, too opinionated. She doesn't want to parlor talk. She wants to show them culture–to shake them into fun.


While I have the luck of being born after women's lib, I'm still seen as radical, most likely as superficial, most certainly as too opinionated–with an environmental twist. Reading the novel, I imagined myself in those situations, pushing for parks & local produce in the supermarkets. I imagined how bizarre this would sound–because what community doesn't think they're already doing the best they can for themselves?


Carol struggles to find a niche for herself in the world of her husband & cries out against the constraints of her role in society. I do the same, in small ways–not against my husband, who would support me in anything that wasn't self-destructive, but against the employers, co-workers, politicians & citizens that still perpetuate gender roles & norms. I was proud of Carol when she announced that We were coming, we the women of the world–coming into the offices & industries men had worked to keep them from (see that quotation here).


She's a mess–confused about herself & her world, emotional, unsure of herself at times, stubborn, enthusiastic, scared, confident, human. I think we could all relate to her on at least two of those adjectives.

It's interesting to note that Carol was inspired by Lewis's first wife, Grace. Learn more about her in this TIME article.

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