Published in the year 1925, “Arrowsmith” is a novel written by Nobel Prize winning American playwright and author, Sinclair Lewis. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize but Lewis refused to accept it. For the preparation of this novel, Lewis was assisted by scientific writer, Dr. Paul de Kruif, who also received 25% of the royalties.
“Arrowsmith” is also considered by many people to be the first novel to discuss scientific culture. The novel comprises of numerous comments on the state and all possible prospects of medicine in the United States in the 1920s. It has been a source of inspiration for many a medical and pre-medical student around the globe in the years that followed its release. The novel discusses numerous issues like public-health, medical practice, scientific research, scientific and medical fraud and ethics in medicine that are still prevalent today. Other issues like professional jealousy, greed, negligence, stupidity and self-involvement are some of the characteristics of the protagonist, Martin Arrowsmith. However, he does possess various good qualities such as dedication, respect for scientific procedure, and honesty in intelligence.
The book has also been compared to another novel, “The Citadel”, written by A.J. Cronin, which talks about the challenges faced by another young and aspiring doctor who defies the existing system and takes efforts to improvise on it.
As mentioned before, Arrowsmith won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction but the honor was denied by Lewis. After he declined the award, Lewis wrote the following letter to the concerning committee:
“I wish to acknowledge your choice of my novel Arrowsmith for the Pulitzer Prize. That prize I must refuse, and my refusal would be meaningless unless I explained the reasons.
All prizes, like all titles, are dangerous. The seekers for prizes tend to labor not for inherent excellence but for alien rewards; they tend to write this, or timorously to avoid writing that, in order to tickle the prejudices of a haphazard committee. And the Pulitzer Prize for Novels is peculiarly objectionable because the terms of it have been constantly and grievously misrepresented.
Those terms are that the prize shall be given "for the American novel published during the year which shall best present the wholesome atmosphere of American life, and the highest standard of American manners and manhood." This phrase, if it means anything whatsoever, would appear to mean that the appraisal of the novels shall be made not according to their actual literary merit but in obedience to whatever Code of Good Form may chance to be popular at the moment.”
The novel “Arrowsmith” has been adapted into a theatrical play. The play, in turn, won four nominations for the Academy Awards including one for Best Adapted Screenplay.
