Minnesota where he grew up.

Question

from Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
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She fled from the house.
She stared with seriousness at every concrete crossing, every hitching-post, every rake for leaves; and to each house she devoted all her speculation. What would they come to mean? How would they look six months from now? In which of them would she be dining? Which of these people whom she passed, now mere arrangements of hair and clothes, would turn into intimates, loved or dreaded, different from all the other people in the world?
As she came into the small business-section she inspected a broad-beamed grocer in an alpaca coat who was bending over the apples and celery on a slanted platform in front of his store. Would she ever talk to him? What would he say if she stopped and stated, "I am Mrs. Kennicott. Some day I hope to confide that a heap of extremely dubious pumpkins as a window-display doesn't exhilarate me
(The grocer was Mr. Frederick F. Ludelmeyer, whose market is at the corner of Main Street and Lincoln Avenue. In supposing that only she was observant Carol was ignorant, misled by the indifference of cities. She fancied that she was slipping through the streets invisible; but when she had passed, Mr. Ludelmeyer puffed into the store and coughed at his clerk, "I seen a young woman, she come along the side street. I bet she is Doc Kennicott's new bride, I wonder will she pay cash, I bet she goes to Howland & Gould's more as she does here, what you done with the poster for Fluffed Oats?")
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11.
When Carol had walked for thirty-two minutes she had completely covered
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Hellams, 1:
The author uses irony in paragraph 8 most likely to show the discrepancy between the hotel's -
condition and its supposed grandeur
® rates and its available amenities
© location and its convenience for travelers
@ size and its capacity for housing guests

Answer 1

In the excerpt you provided from Sinclair Lewis's "Main Street," the author employs irony to illustrate the difference between Carol's perceptions of her surroundings and the reality of small-town life. In your question, however, it appears to be referring to a specific paragraph labeled '8' that is not included in the text you've shared, which makes it difficult to address the exact point regarding irony directly related to that paragraph.

However, based on the general themes in "Main Street," Lewis often contrasts characters' expectations with the reality they encounter—highlighting issues such as disillusionment, social dynamics, and the challenges of adapting to small-town life. If the paragraph in question discusses a hotel's condition versus its perceived grandeur, the irony would serve to underscore the gap between illusion and reality, which is a recurring motif in Lewis's work.

If you could provide more details about the specific paragraph or context you're referring to, I would be happy to help analyze it further!