Sinclair Lewis
Review By
Carol Schaye
“The American novelist or poet or dramatist or sculptor or painter must work alone, in confusion, unassisted save by his own integrity.”
Sinclair Lewis
“But withal, Sinclair Lewis, a genius of unappeasable anger and mirthless derision, wanted urgently to shine his light upon us. Who can say it is not illuminating? And who can say of life in America today that the Arrowsmiths aren’t few and the Babbitts aren’t many? Lewis’s fierce moral nature was the source of his greatness and that is what we close the book on, as we do with any prophet who tells us what we don’t want to hear.” – E.L. Doctorow
Familiar with the health care system myself, working to support my acting/writing habit in past years, I found myself being promoted up the system’s hierarchy. Upon a major promotion in one medical system, I told my boss I was reluctant to promote, unsure if I was competent enough, she reassured me, “Don’t worry too much, you are just being promoted to a higher level of disfunction.” As the fictional character Arrowsmith discovered on his journey through the health care system, the closer I got to the respected medical folks at the top, the more frightened I became at how uninformed and uninspired they were.
For me the most alarming feature during my adventures in health care was the promotion of incompetent employees who had agreed to go along with the system no matter what, were family members of local politicians and were blatantly corrupt.
Sinclair Lewis, the first American to win a Nobel Prize for literature, won a Pulitzer Prize for this novel, “Arrowsmith.” Lewis refused to accept the Pulitzer. Much like his main character, Arrowsmith, Lewis was an idealist who found issues with the Pulitzer committee’s criteria.
As a young man the main character Martin Arrowsmith, dreamed of becoming a physician. Entering the world of medicine, we follow him from medical school through several unfulfilling jobs as a physician. He finds the corporate medical worlds orientation, the emphasis on success financially, disturbing. Arrowsmith sees as motivation for other medical students and then physicians, social status without concern for rigorous scientific methods or concern for patient care. Arrowsmith turns to research to find treatment to fight the bacteria’s and situation which cause epidemics. Mentored by a Medical School Professor, Professor Gottlieb, he begins to find a path for himself.
Arrowsmith’s journey through several attempts to fit in, to comply in various medical situations, are seen through his eyes as he grows increasingly disappointed by the health care system of his day.
As timely today as it was when Lewis published this book in 1925, health care professionals will recognize Arrowsmith’s struggle against corporate powers and external pressure to obtain wealth.
Considered one of the first science novels, Lewis cowrote the book with a scientist Paul de Kruif.
Unlike Babbitt the main character in the book of the same name, Arrowsmith is a hero with an uncompromising attitude. Essential to the success of this novel is our being included in his thoughts about coworkers and superiors. Repulsed by their lack of knowledge, their indifference to suffering and an emphasis on social status. That said, it is fair to say that in his satire, Lewis paints an either or characterization of the various physicians, scientists and families Arrowsmith encounters.
(Satire noun 1. the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues: “the crude satire seems to be directed at the fashionable protest singers of the time”)
Lewis gives Arrowsmith a real life, with a dedicated wife, who starts the story as a student nurse, then forced to drop out of nursing school because her father finds it beneath her. Leora, Arrowsmith’s wife, is an anachronism (one would hope) in her lack of development of a full life of her own.
The issue of ethics in medicine, driven by an idealistic physician, is the theme of this intriguing story. Arrowsmith in our time, might be a female physician but that is not the issue. We are left asking ourselves has the inclusion of women in the health care system changed the medical culture or have women physicians just been included in the dummying down of treatment and the lack of concern for all patients as people?
Medical School ethics professors continue to use this book to educate students.
Some folks working in healthcare today will find Arrowsmith’s insights in to the system and its managers disturbing due to its continued similarities.
Lewis could have been speaking about the Covid epidemic instead of the bubonic plague with some caveats.
Whenever I read a book by Sinclair Lewis, I come away better educated (by a novel) with more insight, as well as a lingering angst as he shines his pen on todays world. Martin Arrowsmith reminds me of Sinclair Lewis himself, who refused to accept the Pulitzer Prize for this book because he did not like the criteria for the award.
Lewis wrote this novel after the publication of the Flexner report
The Flexner Report is a book-length landmark report of medical education in the United States and Canada, written by Abraham Flexner and published in 1910 under the aegis of the Carnegie Foundation. Flexner not only described the state of medical education in North America, but he also gave detailed descriptions of the medical schools that were operating at the time. He provided both criticisms and recommendations for improvements of medical education in the United States.
The Report, also called Carnegie Foundation Bulletin Number Four, called on American medical schools to enact higher admission and graduation standards, and to adhere strictly to the protocols of mainstream science principles in their teaching and research. The report talked about the need for revamping and centralizing medical institutions. Many American medical schools fell short of the standard advocated in the Flexner Report and, subsequent to its publication, nearly half of such schools merged or were closed outright. (1)
“Arrowsmith the movie”
(You can watch “Arrowsmith” for free HERE.)
- Director _______________________________ John Ford
- Ronald Colman_________________________Dr. Martin Arrosmith
- Richard Bennett________________________Gustv Sondelius
- A.E. Anson _____________________________Professor Max Gottlieb
- Clarence Brooks _______________________Oliver Marchand
- Alec B. Francis _________________________Twyford
- Claude King ___________________________Dr. Tubbs
- Bert Roach _____________________________Bert Tozer
- Myrna Loy _____________________________Mrs Joyce Lanyon
- Russell Hopton ________________________Terry Wickett
Cast as the main character, Martin Arrowsmith, actor Ronald Colman is a disappointment on several levels. Colman was forty years old when he was cast as a young medical student. Director John Ford used over the shoulder shots from behind to disguise Colman’s age in earlier scenes. Essential to the success of this story is Arrowsmith’s internal struggles with attempts to comply with the medical establishment.
The story is stripped down to dialogue which inadequately captures the self-doubt, and futile attempts to compromise with people he does not hold in high regard.We are left with Colman posturing like a movie star, attempting to upstage his love interests in every love scene. Complicating matters is the thick British accent this actor brings to a uniquely American character.
30-year-old Helen Hayes manages to hold her own, consistently being believably in love with the obsessive Arrowsmith. Playing a young nursing student the actress pulled it off. Hayes actually upstaged Colman’s hogging of the shots with her realistic performance. It appears Hayes learned her acting craft through experience. There is no mention of actual acting training. Hayes began acting at a young age working on the stage as well as film.
The movie is shot in black and white, which enhances the seriousness of its subject. Ford, who was later known for his work in Western films, had a long and important career in the film industry. Looking back at some of his work it was his lack of emphasis on good acting rather than lack of filmmaking, which prevented his works from remaining as relevant as Elia Kazan’s are. Kazan came after Ford but he was able to combine a knowledge of filmmaking with a directing of actors as artists. In all fairness American actors did not begin to embrace reality acting until the advent of the Stanislavski method of reality acting after Ford was at his prime.
Against a background of graft and social climbing and insincerity, the figure of Dr. Max Gottlieb stands out as a pure scientist and a seeker of truth. Lewis modeled him after Jacques Loeb, a prominent United States scientist of the time, born in Germany. Some critics find Gottlieb the novel’s most memorable character. Gottlieb is the kind of man who carries civilization on his shoulders.
Albert Anson portrayed Arrowsmith’s mentor. A British actor again, left to pretend he is German, he is less than convincing with his accent. The cacophony of accents is disconcerting and takes away from an amazing story. I would like to see this film remade with American actors with training in realism. The novel remains relevant today. The character of Max Gottlieb is as important a character as Arrowsmith, serving as his superego for science.
Cinematography
Cinematographer Ray June, responsible for such gorgeous films as Alibi (1929), The Bat Whispers (1930) and Roman Scandals (1933) gives Arrowsmith all of its style and much of its class. It is worth watching the film for the first-rate framing, and use of lighting. Keep in mind this film was made in 1934. Read the novel, then watch the film for the excellent cinematography.
(1) Wikipedia
Carol Schaye has had several short stories published by McFadden’s Women’s Group, Sierra Nevada Ally and other publications. Carol has written for two west coast newspapers and has worked extensively in television. A fan of Flannery O’Connor, Carol studied acting with Lee Strasberg and Austin Pendleton and writing with Salem Ludwig. She attended Marymount College majoring in theater.
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