Main Street · Chapter
XIII explained
Carol visits Guy Pollock in his office, where he delivers a lengthy confession about his own infection with the 'Village Virus'—the provincial stagnation that traps educated people who return to small towns.
What happens
Carol visits Guy Pollock in his office, where he delivers a lengthy confession about his own infection with the 'Village Virus'—the provincial stagnation that traps educated people who return to small towns. He describes his past in New York and his gradual decline into complacency. Their conversation grows intimate, touching on the hypocrisy of Gopher Prairie's ruling class and the impossibility of reform. They are interrupted by the arrival of the Dillons, and Carol leaves through the November wind.
Themes in this chapter
The Village Virus
Guy Pollock explicitly diagnoses himself and others with the 'Village Virus'—a metaphor for the intellectual and spiritual stagnation that afflicts educated people who return to small towns.
Illusion vs. Reality
Pollock discusses the hypocrisy of Gopher Prairie's ruling class, who must maintain a facade of correctness while engaging in petty jealousies and commercial trickery.
Class and Social Hierarchy
Pollock asserts that there is a ruling class in Gopher Prairie despite professions of democracy, and that this class is subject to constant scrutiny and must conform to strict social codes.
Characters to notice
- Carol Kennicott
Visits Guy Pollock's office; listens to his confession about the Village Virus; admits she finds Gopher Prairie a bore; struggles with her own desire for rebellion versus the pressure to settle down.
- Guy Pollock
Delivers a monologue about his own infection with the Village Virus; describes his past in New York and his decline into provincialism; expresses loneliness and a desire for connection with Carol; introduces the Dillons.
- Dr. Will Kennicott
Mentioned in the context of professional jealousies among doctors; Carol recalls his remarks about the Widow Bogart.
- Julius Flickerbaugh
Mentioned as the lawyer who briefly partnered with Guy Pollock and then parted ways.
- Harvey Dillon
A dentist new to town; he and his wife are brought in by Guy Pollock for coffee.
- Mrs. Dillon
Harvey Dillon's wife; joins the coffee gathering in Pollock's office.
Key passages
“The diagnosis of my Village Virus is simple enough. I was born in an Ohio town about the same size as Gopher Prairie, and much less friendly.”
Guy Pollock explains that his own provincial stagnation began in a small Ohio town similar to Gopher Prairie.
Pollock's self-diagnosis of the Village Virus.
“I went to a denominational college and learned that since dictating the Bible, and hiring a perfect race of ministers to explain it, God has never done much but creep around and try to catch us disobeying it.”
Pollock describes his religious education as repressive and focused on divine surveillance.
Critique of narrow religious education.
“I decided to leave here. Stern resolution. Grasp the world. Then I found that the Village Virus had me, absolute: I didn’t want to face new streets and younger men—real competition.”
Pollock resolved to leave Gopher Prairie but realized he had become too comfortable and afraid of competition to actually go.
The moment Pollock acknowledges his own defeat by the Village Virus.
“I’m a tedious old fool analyzing the obvious, while you’re the spirit of rebellion.”
Pollock calls himself a boring old man stating the obvious, and praises Carol as the embodiment of rebellion.
Pollock's self-deprecation and admiration for Carol.
