The end of the novel Main street. Resignation or a spark of hope. Elaborate

The ending of Main Street is rather inconclusive. Really it ends with an impasse in which little has changed. Carol did fight with Gopher Prairie but really it came to nothing, she was defeated. This, however, isn't a total loss. She has settled accounts both with Gopher Prairie and her husband. There is also at least the idea of active reform in the town where there was none before.