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Fans of Minnesota author Sinclair Lewis will gather next week in Sauk Centre, his home town, to mark the 100th anniversary of his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “Arrowsmith.”
Many believe the story of an idealistic doctor struggling with ethical questions about medicine and the ideals of scientific research and rigor remains as relevant today as it was when it was published in 1925.
Sauk Centre, about 45 miles west of St. Cloud, is where the author grew up, and served as the basis for his famous novel, “Main Street,” a scathing portrayal of small-town America.
The Sinclair Lewis Society hasn’t met in person there since 2017 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fittingly, the group’s first in person get together in eight years will be a timely discussion of “Arrowsmith,” Lewis’ critique of the conflict between clinical medicine and scientific ethics. It’s told through the eyes of a young, ambitious doctor, Martin Arrowsmith.
“The first half of the novel is basically charting his career, as he takes on different aspects of what it means to be a doctor in American society,” said Sally Parry, executive director of the society, which is hosting the conference.
That includes stints as a big-city hospital intern, a small-town doctor and a public health official. Lewis likely drew on his own father’s experience as a doctor in Sauk Centre, and his older brother, who was a physician in St. Cloud.
But Arrowsmith’s passion is medical research, said Parry, who is also a professor emerita of English at Illinois State University.
The second half of the novel takes place on a fictional Caribbean Island, amid an outbreak of bubonic plague.
“And the responses of the people on the island — ‘Oh, I don’t know. Maybe we shouldn’t talk about it very much. It might be bad for business if we shut down,’” Parry said. “Let’s just say the rhetoric was incredibly reminiscent of what was going on in 2020.”
Arrowsmith develops a bacteria-eating phage, a potential treatment for the deadly epidemic. Initially, he plans to avoid using it before it’s been thoroughly and scientifically tested — until the disease claims many lives including his wife’s, and Arrowsmith must choose between his ideals as a scientist and a humanitarian.
“He had been trying to do all of these medical protocols, where half of the people would get the injection, half of them wouldn’t, to make sure that it really worked as it was supposed to,” Parry said. “Once she dies, he gets drunk and gives it to everybody.”
As a result, the plague subsides, and Arrowsmith is treated as a hero. But Parry said the ethical questions are left unanswered.
“Arrowsmith” is often cited as an inspiration for medical students, and an accurate portrayal of the struggle to balance scientific ideals with the pressures of the medical profession and societal demands.
Parry said that tension was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic and recent national debates over vaccines.
“There are people who push back. They say, ‘Well, the doctors don’t know what they’re doing.’ There’s mistrust and whatnot,” she said. “One of the things that the novel deals with over and over again is the fact that doctors have to deal not only with the scientific side, but with the human side, which is infinitely messier.”
“Arrowsmith” won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. But Lewis refused to accept the award, saying he didn’t agree with contests where one book or author was praised over another. Parry said it’s possible Lewis was upset that the judges had overlooked his earlier novels, “Main Street” and “Babbitt.”
The conference kicks off on Wednesday, July 16. Attendees will tour Lewis’ boyhood home in Sauk Centre, where his father practiced medicine, and they’ll have a historic dinner at the Palmer House, the hotel where Lewis once worked. They’ll also view the 1931 film version of “Arrowsmith” directed by John Ford.
Thursday evening will feature a 7 p.m. conversation with Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, at First Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre. It’s open to the public.
Osterholm has said he’s an admirer of Lewis. He’ll talk about the enduring relevance of “Arrowsmith” and its connection to modern public health issues.
The Sinclair Lewis Society’s next conference in Sauk Centre will be in 2030, a century after Lewis became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Five years later, they’ll mark the 100th anniversary of Lewis’ novel, “It Can’t Happen Here,” a dark satire about a fascist politician rising to power in the U.S. It reappeared on the bestseller list after the 2016 election.
Lewis had a knack for writing prescient stories that still feel timely and relevant today, Parry said.
“It seems like every couple of years, there’s something that he’s written and it zeroes in on what a sense he had of the American people,” she said. “The details change, but the aspects of Americans not always behaving very well is just as true today.”
English (US) ·