Who Martin Arrowsmith is
Martin Arrowsmith grows up in Elk Mills, where helping Doc Vickerson first draws him toward medicine. He loves feeling useful, though he does not yet distinguish healing patients from understanding their illnesses. At medical school, his restless intelligence meets a more exacting idea of what a doctor can become.
What Martin Arrowsmith wants
Martin wants to investigate disease honestly, even when money, popularity and comfort make other paths attractive. Gottlieb's laboratory teaches him that a scientific claim needs evidence which another experimenter can test. Country practice tests those standards against patients who often want reassurance and quick relief.
Martin Arrowsmith and the others in the story
Max Gottlieb becomes Martin's demanding teacher, giving him standards he carries into later jobs. Martin admires this scientific honesty, though Gottlieb is also proud, harsh and lonely.
Leora Tozer, a nurse in training when they meet, becomes Martin's wife and supports his work through their moves. She sees him clearly, but his single-minded attention to science can leave him blind to her needs.
Questions
What does Martin Arrowsmith want?
Martin wants to discover how disease works while remaining faithful to honest scientific inquiry.
Who is Martin Arrowsmith's wife?
His wife is Leora Tozer, a plain-spoken nurse who brings steadiness to his unsettled working life.
Is Martin Arrowsmith a good person?
Martin can be generous and conscientious, but he is also impatient, arrogant and careless about others' needs. His dedication does not spare those close to him from being hurt.