This is done through an analysis of the novel's contemporary reception in rural and urban America, as well as a critique of protagonist Carol Kennicott and her problematic urban pretensions. Therefore, this paper poses the argument that Main Street, rather than attacking small-town America, is as readily a critique of urban culture in 1920s America. However, it is my contention that Lewis never meant for his work to be seen as a criticism of rural America, but American provincialism as a whole, found readily in both urban and rural communities. Situated in the fictional small-town of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, popular readings of the novel came to view Lewis' work as a criticism of rural America. "Sinclair Lewis' hugely successful novel Main Street became a benchmark work that highlighted the urban and rural divide of 1920s America.
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