Sinclair Lewis

1920's Podcast 4A - McManus

by Jear Anne L

Sinclair Lewis also known as ‘’Harry’’ or ‘’Red’’ was born on February 7, 1885, in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Sinclair was the third son of Dr. Edwin J. Lewis and Emma Kermott Lewis. When he turned 6, his mother passed away and didn’t accept his stepmother very well. He attended Oberlin Academy and later joined into Yale University. He was an editor and journalist of Literary Magazine and worked on New Haven news papers. He dropped out of college before graduation. He had temporary jobs, by 1907, he returned to Yale and earned his degree a year later. Lewis’ first marriage failed, then married Dorothy Thompson, a widely known foreign correspondent and newspaper columnist. Sinclair’s fame publishing several novels that relates to the American Society. Main Street published in the year of 1920 sold almost 200,000 copies over the first six months. Within a few years, sales reached at about two million. The book referenced World War I and the start of Prohibition. Babbitt, published in 1922, discussed American culture, society, reality, morals, and behavior. Another novel Arrowsmith, published in 1925 received the Pulitzer Prize. Followed by two other novels, Elmer Gantry of 1927 and Dodsworth of 1929. He became the first US writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930. He slowly started to be overshadowed by other American writers. He died in Rome, Italy on January 10, 1951 of a heart attack. Lewis had heavy drinking that lead to a medical problems, shortening his life.

Sinclair Lewis impacted the 1920s by achieving instant worldwide recognition of his novels. These years showed his literary peak in his writings. He wrote in a descriptive, almost surrealistic style. He cared more about quality than the development or structure that captures the readers and critics attention. They showed commercialisation, the cycle of a new product or production method into the market, and commodification, the transformation of goods and services, of society and culture in post-war America. His novels explained the negative effects on society when in war, how to adapt the constantly evolving and complex world. He was known to be truly original, capturing the attention of all during those years.

From his novel, Main Street he quoted, ‘I think perhaps we want a more conscious life. We’re tired of drudging and sleeping and dying. We’re tired of seeing just a few people able to be individualists. We’re tired of always deferring hope till the next generation. We’re tired of hearing politicans and priests and cautious reformers… coax us, ‘Be calm! Be patient! Wait! We have the plans for a Utopia already made; just wiser than you.’ For ten thousand years they’ve said that. We want our Utopia now - and we’re going to try our hands at it. ‘’ - Sinclair Lewis