Sinclair Lewis makes point of the efforts that Carol produces to reform her new
             home. These efforts can be perceived by the townspeople as unwelcomed and
             unsuccessful. Some of Carol's ideas are ludicrous, out of proportion and not ready for
             the slow-moving town. She tries several different approaches to reforming the town from
             the moment of her arrival. She goes from architectural reform to poetic reform to artistic
             to introducing liberalism to amusing social functions. All of these tactics she hopes will
             spring forth a reform movement to beautify and culturalize the town and people.
             Her initial attempts at bringing the town out of its shell consisted of throwing fun
             and exciting parties. Such as her Chinese house-warming party on page 66. She plans this
             social event as a way to bring the people out of their normal funeral parlor routine of
             sitting in a circle and making small talk. For the moment she is successful, but soon after
             she implements sledding, skiing and skating outings, people begin to recoil back into their
             normal routines. Again, Carol is frustrated with the progress of the town, and she soon
             feels rejected by the social elite at the Jolly Seventeen club on page 78. Her attempts to
             open the minds of the Jolly Seventeen to the issues of the lower class, backfires into a
             discussion of foreign incompetencies and laziness. Her reputation becomes the antithesis
             of Gopher Prairie social beliefs and structure.
             After presumably months of social reclusion,
             Carol is coerced to attend a meeting of the Thanatopsis club. She is revitalized and
             excited about this new opportunity she has been given to discuss a favorite topic of
             English poetry. Assuming an in-depth reading of selected poems and lively discussions
             will take up the time, she is startled by the biographical and historical information that is
             shown off as great literary papers. Her idea of starting a dra...