Main Street · Chapter
Chapter XVII explained
Carol Kennicott organizes a dramatic performance of 'The Girl from Kankakee' with the help of the town's residents, but the production is a disaster due to poor acting and lack of rehearsal.
What happens
Carol Kennicott organizes a dramatic performance of 'The Girl from Kankakee' with the help of the town's residents, but the production is a disaster due to poor acting and lack of rehearsal. Despite the failure, the community's enthusiasm for the event highlights their provincialism and Carol's growing disillusionment with Gopher Prairie.
Themes in this chapter
Illusion vs. Reality
Carol's hope for a successful artistic production clashes with the reality of the town's amateurish performance.
Small-Town Provincialism
The town's uncritical celebration of the failed play underscores their limited cultural horizons.
Characters to notice
- Carol Kennicott
Organizes the dramatic performance and experiences frustration with the town's lack of artistic sensibility.
- Vida Sherwin
Supports Carol in organizing the play and tries to maintain enthusiasm despite the poor execution.
- Guy Pollock
Participates in the play and shares Carol's sense of irony about the production's failure.
- Raymie Wutherspoon
Takes a leading role in the play and delivers a memorably bad performance.
Key passages
“The play was a failure. It was not merely a failure; it was a disaster.”
The performance was not just unsuccessful but completely catastrophic.
Carol reflects on the disastrous outcome of the play she organized.
“They were all so proud of it, so pleased with themselves, so certain that they had done something fine.”
Everyone involved was extremely proud and satisfied, convinced they had achieved something great.
Carol observes the townspeople's misplaced pride in the failed production.