Quote of the Day (Albert Murray, on the ‘Stress and Strain’ Endured by Heroes)

“Heroism, which like the sword is nothing if not steadfast, is measured in terms of the stress and strain it can endure and the magnitude and complexity of the obstacles it overcomes. Thus difficulties and vicissitudes which beset the potential hero on all sides not only threaten his existence and jeopardize his prospects; they also by bringing out the best in him, serve his purpose. They make it possible for him to make something of himself. Such is the nature of every confrontation in the context of heroic action.” —American literary and jazz critic and novelist Albert Murray (1916-2013), The Hero and the Blues (1973)

Worldwide these past few weeks—and for the foreseeable future here in the U.S.—medical personnel have emerged as the foremost heroes in the battle against the Coronavirus. 

A fictional forebear of this brave group was the title character of Sinclair Lewis’ 1925 novel Arrowsmith, adapted into a movie six years later starring Ronald Colman (pictured here). The climax of the novel and film is this young doctor’s battle against the plague on a fictional Caribbean island.

Lewis’ dogged pursuit of fact—and deeply realistic depiction of his hero’s life—led to the novelist being rewarded with the Pulitzer Prize. Someday, when our current crisis is over, perhaps another author will deliver a similar masterful account of a field that needs desperately to be better understood.