Keillor develops two main opposing themes, the nostalgic theme of how memory perfects childhood life in a small town, and the voluntary exile theme of how small town narrowness can be destructive of the spirit. Keillor as narrator fondly remembers both the fun and the terrors of childhood in Lake Wobegon, the fun of cat funerals, tomato fights, and the sleepwalking Lundberg family, and the terrors of walking to school in winter and of performing in school programs. On the other hand, he creates characters, many of whom are adolescents, who dream of a greater, more imaginative and adventurous life, a sort of life which is actively discouraged by the conservative culture of his town.
An unexamined puritanism pervades Lake Wobegon, leading its citizens to automatically disapprove of pleasure, comfort, leisure, imagination, and any kind.....
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