Literary Devices in Arrowsmith
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Martin Arrowsmith and his wife Leora bounce around to a couple of places in this book, including New York, Chicago, the Midwest, and even the Caribbean. But Sinclair Lewis' most vivid descriptions...
Narrator Point of View
Arrowsmith begins with a third-person account of Martin Arrowsmith's great-grandmother, who's helping her family cross the American countryside. Only a page later, though, the third-person narrator...
Genre
Sure, there is some seriously tragic stuff happening in this book. The body count adds up pretty fast when Arrowsmith takes his Caribbean vacation, er, plague vaccination expedition. But when taken...
Tone
As a satirist, Sinclair Lewis plays the part of the chameleon really well. Whenever he's writing about a particular kind of character, he'll actually transform the tone of his writing to exaggerate...
Writing Style
For the most part, Sinclair Lewis tends to keep his writing nice and readable. You don't become a best-selling author, even in the 1920s, unless most people can understand what you're talking about...
What's Up With the Title?
Arrowsmith was titled after the seminal rock band Aerosmith. "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" was Sinclair Lewis' favorite song.No, you weirdos. We're joking. Arrowsmith came out in 1925 and Steven...
What's Up With the Epigraph?
To Dr. Paul H. DeKruif I am indebted not only for most of the bacteriological and medical material in this tale but equally for his help in the planning of the fable itself—for his realization of...
What's Up With the Ending?
"'I feel as if I were really beginning to work now,' said Martin. 'This new quinine stuff may prove pretty good. We'll plug along on it for two or three years, and maybe we'll get something permane...
Tough-o-Meter
Reading Arrowsmith is kind of like talking to a favorite grandpa. The expressions can be weirdly old-fashioned. There are a lot of repetitions of "Say!" and "You bet!" but overall nothing worse tha...
Plot Analysis
Club Med SchoolA plucky young man named Martin Arrowsmith enters medical school with stars in his eyes. He wants to become one of the greatest scientists the world has ever known, and he believes h...
Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis
Anticipation Stage and "Fall" Into Other WorldSinclair Lewis opens this book with a description of Martin Arrowsmith's great-grandmother, drawing a connection between her hearty pioneer ways and Ma...
Three-Act Plot Analysis
Martin Arrowsmith enters medical school with the dream of becoming a great scientist. Once he gets there, he's sad to discover that other med students are only interested in making lots of money an...
Trivia
Sinclair Lewis talked the talk and walked the walk. He even walked (the walk) away from the Pulitzer Prize because he didn't agree with the principle of the award, which was to promote "the wholeso...
Steaminess Rating
Sure, there's some mention of smooching in this book, but hardly any mention of sexytimes. It's true that Martin Arrowsmith is a bit of a dog, what with his flirting with nineteen-year old Orchid,...
Allusions
Henry Gray, Gray's Anatomy (1.2.1) Arthur Schopenhauer (4.4.12)Friedrich Nietzsche (4.4.12)William Blake (8.1.1)The Book of Job (13.4.24)James Joyce (34.7.17)World War I (27.5.24)