In which Martin Arrowsmith, freshly suspended from medical school and shaken by the scorn of authority, drifts aimlessly through various lowly jobs and drinks himself into near ruin before seeking refuge with Leora in her small-town home, where their engagement ignites the suspicion and control of her family. Amidst the gentle gloom of provincial life and the stern practicalities imposed by the Tozer clan, Martin confronts the harsh realities of love, duty, and the precarious promise of a future in medicine.