This brilliant work, published in 1920s America and winner of a Pulitzer Prize, addresses the state of medical research shortly after the Flexner Report famously shone a path for medical research to progress. It sets forth the classical view of a medical researcher – isolated, dedicated to his research, not interested in people, and essentially living in his lab. And yes, that view is traditionally centered around a researcher being a male in a more-or-less patriarchal role. Lewis sets forth this vision, modeled it after the Rockefeller Institute (now, Rockefeller University) in New York City.
This fictional story tells about the career of Martin Arrowsmith, MD. It shares about his two marriages, his career in seeing patients, his discovering a cure for the bubonic plague and saving of an island-full of lives on an island in the West Indies, his regrets, and finally his utmost dedication to the ideals of science. This was the way of the new medical doctor. Before the Flexner Report, American medical practice was much more of an art-form than a science. The revolution which Lewis’ Arrowsmith represents sought to ground medical practice in reality-based science. Around the time of its writing, institutes of medical research like Johns Hopkins and Rockefeller were on the rise in the United States, and people were dedicating their lives to science in a seemingly selfless manner.
Of course, Arrowsmith eventually proves to be more of an addict to science in the end. His story is one about the excesses of science and the very real human costs of such a lifestyle. Approximately one hundred years later, a generation of women scientists have questioned whether such devotion and imbalance are necessary. These courageous women point to the value of a family life and to having some sort of life outside of scientific work.
Perhaps another Arrowsmith needs to be written for our century. Medical research is not the up-and-coming thing anymore (though it is still a fruitful and lucrative endeavor); computer technology is the field more on the ascent. In Lewis’ era, medicine was more of a quasi-priesthood, and medical research was something done well primarily in Germany. Today, medicine and medical research are essentially one of many professions of the educated establishment. In contemporary research, there still exists a radical fanaticism of extreme devotion towards a single goal, but alongside, there exist other ways of approaching a vocation. Perhaps a new writer needs to tell the tale of groundbreaking work done in a healthy, responsible, and mature manner…
If that ever comes about, that new writer’s path will go squarely through Lewis’ paradigm-setting work of Arrowsmith. He set the path for generations to come with this tale. Lewis’ words artfully bring the characters to life; his research is impeccable; and his plot is plausible and moving. His character types fit today’s culture even if they need to be updated for alternate modern forms. This book is worth the time to read for those interested in the fields of healthcare and research.
Arrowsmith
by Sinclair Lewis
Copyright (c) 1925
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
ISBN13 9780451526915
Page Count: 269
Genre: Fiction, Medical Research
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