Pulitzer Book Club Inclusion Guide
"Arrowsmith"
by Sinclair Lewis
INCLUSION MILESTONES
1926
• Gertrude Ederle first woman to swim the English Channel
• Richard Byrd almost flies over the North Pole
• Amateur Bobby Jones wins British Open
AUTHOR INSPIRATIONS
Country doc’s son Sinclair Lewis was born in a Scandinavian small town in Minnesota. Lewis collaborated with prominent bacteriologist Paul DeKruif who fictionalized his life into Martin Arrowsmith’s bio sketch as Lewis outlined his novel. Lewis and DeKruif conceived concept of tropic isle with bubonic plague while in a Trinidad bar.
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– Share your key take-away about inclusion in this book in a sentence or two.
– Write a paragraph or two (up to 250 words) to describe your thoughts on exclusion/inclusion in the book, why you related or did not connect with the book, and why you think reading, inclusion and dialog about inclusion matter.
– Identify the name and website address of a cause you support with an inclusive mission.
Doc’s love and struggles to embrace life of pure scientist.
Major scientific discovery but somebody else publishes first.
Novel’s hero is a drug discovery scientist.
Goes quicker than its 392 pages, 21 hours
Find your tribe, find the truth.
Elitism, hierarchy, and snobbery within medical community. Contrast between laboratory scientists and clinical doctors. Scientific mindset versus influencer beliefs. Gender differences in the medical world; roles of women as wives, nurses, administrators. Mentor relationships. Ignorance of experts in other pursuits.
Small-town and big city provincialism. Political priorities and sloganeering. Animal experimentation.
Prejudice against Jews. Caribbean “darkies” and highly skilled black doctor.
All kinds of sandwiches: sad ones from dicey shops, late night sammies made by the sloppy love of your life, delish ones made by your German mentor, and fancy ones like a very rich second wife serves at tea.
“God give me strength not to trust in God.”
Pseudo laboratory setting, but without the strychnine, vials of a potential plague vaccine, and experimental animals, perhaps an executive office with an unused laboratory feature.
What does Arrowsmith reveal about medical commercialism and personal gain versus focus on the greater good and helping individuals?
Discuss saving individuals, pure science with potential to cure masses in the novel and how public health and pharmaceutical research have evolved to address that challenge.
Compare gender roles in the novel to contemporary gender challenges. How did the novel deal with discrimination against women, Jewish people, black people, nurses, newcomers.
What corruption and abuse happen in the novel?
Compare trust in vaccines, medical treatment, and doctors in the novel to the climate today. How is it possible to build/rebuild trust?
What does the novel prescribe for supporting a partner with big ambitions and/or a demanding career, dealing with old friends who have changed in a discordant way, and standing up to a “superior”?
Wheatsylvania, Winnemac, McGurk Research Institute, and St. Hubert are imaginary, so why not get real and participate in clinical research as a patient or volunteer? Consider National Institutes of Health “All of Us” research program, ask your doc if there’s a trial you should consider, or explore a trial registry like ResearchMatch. Learn about disease control and prevention at David J. Sencer CDC Museum in Atlanta or The Public Health Museum on the campus of Tewksbury Hospital in Tewksbury, Massachusetts.
Alternatively, attend an animal rights event or get a vaccine your doc recommended based on science.
Arrowsmith film (1931), Arrowsmith Czech miniseries (1997)
Four more Lewis novels are set in Winnemac: Babbit (1922), Elmer Gantry (1927), Dodsworth(1929), and Gideon Planish (1943). Lewis was first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1930). Novels published prior to that win include Our Mr. Wrenn (1914), Main Street (1920), Babbit (1922), Mantrap (1926), Elmer Gantry (1927), The Man Who Knew Coolidge (1928), and Dodsworth (1929). Other notable works include It Can’t Happen Here (1935) and Kingsblood Royal (1947).