How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Three gray birds were starting up from the stubble. They were round, dumpy, like enormous bumble bees. (5.1.12)
Carol's first experience of the Minnesota wilderness comes when she goes bird hunting with her new husband Will. The experience does her good, because she's already looking for an escape from the dull town. It's almost like she feels more kinship with these birds than with the townspeople, and even this is a stretch: notice how the birds are gray and dumpy, like everything else Carol sees around her.
Quote #2
She watched her conquering man tuck [the birds] into his inside pocket, and trudged with him back to the buggy. (5.1.13)
It's tough to say whether Carol really feels admiration for her "conquering man," or if this narration is sarcastic on Sinclair Lewis's part; it could go either way. Carol might actually like Will at this moment, or she might think he's silly for killing birds to show his manhood.
Quote #3
Daily Carol walked from town into flashing country hysteric with new life. (12.1.1)
Carol eventually gets fed up with the town of Gopher Prairie so much that she almost feels drunk as soon as she enters the wilderness surrounding it. It just goes to show what a lame place Gopher Prairie is and how great an escape nature can be. There's also a suggestion that life in Gopher Prairie is so profoundly unnatural that just stepping outside it makes you feel almost hysterical with relief.