Magnifying Glass
Chapter one of the novel draws to a close with Arrowsmith’s original medical mentor giving him a beloved and cherished possession: a magnifying glass. The gift is never mentioned again and plays no literal role in the narrative, yet lingers of the entire book as a symbol. It is representative of Arrowsmith’s constant search for which direction to take research or practical medicine. The magnifying glass also takes on a more palpable symbolism as the primitive forerunner of what will prove to be a far more important in the modern world of medicine that Arrowsmith inhabits: the microscope.
St. Hubert
St. Hubert is one of the most powerfully robust symbols in the novel, if not the entire canon of Lewis. Its status as a British colonial holding is not just local color or background information; it is instrumental in the construction of the setting as symbol. This “colony” consists of a population comprising different “cultures” to create a living petri dish in a giant lab in which Arrowsmith can conduct experiments as a self-contained non-control being tested against which a control group not being put at risk can be be tested.
Symbolic Names
Highly influenced by Charles Dickens, Lewis was prone to using symbolism through the names of certain characters. Arrowsmith is presented as a straight arrow of medical ethics, for instance. Clif Clawson is constantly trying to get his hands (claws) into a moneymaking scheme. Inchcape Jones comes within an inch turning a crisis into a full-blown disaster saved only by the timely intervention of another. Dr. Adam Winter is in the season of his career indicated by his name. And as for names, the most ridiculous figure in the entire novel is almost certainly Almus Pickerbaugh.
The McGurk Institute
Lewis was partially inspired to write the novel by the real-life experiences of Paul de Kruif experience at the Rockefeller Institute. While many often cite the McGurk Institute as a symbol of the negative influence of commercialism and economics on medicine, the target is really influence of politics on the decision-making process within such organizations. In this way, the symbolism gains added weight as part of a tapestry of metaphorical obstacles placed in the path of pure scientific research stripped of corrosive external influences.
Wheatsylvania
Wheatsylvania is a symbol that reveals Lewis had still—even after writing Main Street—not said all he had to say about the insidiousness of small time evil. The rural setting where Arrowsmith settles down for a career as a practicing doctor is hornet’s nest of provinciality, ignorance, backstabbing, gossip and superstition.
