Arrowsmith was awarded the 1926 Pulitzer Prize, but Lewis declined the award. In a letter to the committee, he wrote:
"I wish to acknowledge your choice of my novel Arrowsmith for the Pulitzer Prize. That prize I must refuse, and my refusal would be meaningless unless I explained the reasons.
All prizes, like all titles, are dangerous. The seekers for prizes tend to labor not for inherent excellence but for alien rewards; they tend to write this, or timorously to avoid writing that, in order to tickle the prejudices of a haphazard committee. And the Pulitzer Prize for Novels is peculiarly objectionable because the terms of it have been constantly and grievously misrepresented.
Those terms are that the prize shall be given "for the American novel published during the year which shall best present the wholesome atmosphere of American life, and the highest standard of American manners and manhood." This phrase, if it means anything whatsoever, would appear to mean that the appraisal of the novels shall be made not according to their actual literary merit but in obedience to whatever code of Good Form may chance to be popular at the moment."[1]
I really admire this author. It's very true what he says and not many people have the guts to refuse such an award. You must truly love what you do and believe in it entirely to forgo the adornments that may really should not have anything to do with. Is he essentially saying that the Pulitzer prize is a popularity contest which is at best a measure of conformity? It's difficult to be objective in reading and picking one author or novel is sometimes really ridiculous.
What he says is applicable to a lot of the materialistic society we have become and endorse. Even though there are instances when we deny we're working for anything other than the joy of the issue at hand or that we actually pursuing the benefit of humanity, in the end when we reach an achievement - are those who deny it called out of the world idiots, an outcast who is foolish not to become recognized by others? By accepting the award, isn't it possible the recipient condone this kind of thought.
Sometimes awards for philanthropy is ironic and maybe at times, contrary to its own principles.
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