Arrowsmith

What is the author's style in Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis?

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Lewis is the master of satire and writes with conviction about the less than glorious side of the medical profession in America in the early twentieth century. Satire is a style of writing which exposes some facet of the human condition by utilizing humor, ridicule and sarcasm. One example that showcases Lewis' satire in this novel is the character of Dr. Pickerbaugh, who is an almost comic character in his over-the-top behavior in the name of medicine. "'Well, if you want the straight dope, he hollers a good deal, but he's one awful brainy man. He certainly can sling the Queen's English, and jever hear one of his poems? They're darn' bright. I'll tell you: There's some people say Pickerbaugh pulls the song and dance too much, but way I figure it, course maybe for you and me, Doctor, it'd be all right if he just looked after the milk and the garbage and the kids' teeth. But there's a lot of careless, ignorant, foreign slobs that need to be jollied into using their kinks about these health biznai, so's they won't go getting sick with a lot of these infectious diseases and pass 'em on to the rest of us, and believe me, old doc Pickerbaugh is the boy that gets the idea into their noodles!'"

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Arrowsmith