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Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in It Can’t Happen Here, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
American Fascism
Liberalism and Tolerance
Morality and Resistance
Political Communication and Mass Media
Summary
Analysis
In Zero Hour, Windrip writes that he loves the peace and quiet of small-town America. The chapter begins with Doremus Jessup attending his 40-year reunion at Isaiah College and meeting with the Classics professor Victor Loveland, who has just been fired for opposing the government. His colleague Dr. King, a chemist who was just fired for being Jewish, is going to work for the electric company. Jessup meets with the college president, Owen J. Peaseley, who denies firing Loveland for political reasons. Peaseley also reveals that he will be the district’s new Director of Education, which means that he will be ensuring that editors like Jessup are “spreading correct Corporate ideals and combating false theories.”
Isaiah College’s closure and Peaseley’s new job as an official government censor further show that the administration is cracking down on free thought, speech, and media in order to prevent the American people from recognizing and opposing their crimes. Peaseley clearly cares about his own professional advancement more than the ethical and social values he’s supposed to uphold as an educator. In fact, Lewis suggests that this kind of petty self-interest and careerism is the lifeblood of fascist governments, because it gives leaders the eager, obedient bureaucrats they need to carry out their sinister plans.
Themes
A large company of Minute Men is training in Fort Beulah, but Doremus Jessup doesn’t pay attention to them until they stage a major parade in August. They march in unison to the Civil War song “Marching to Georgia,” led by Shad Ledue on horseback. Jessup enjoys the show, even though he hates what it represents. The same month, Jessup writes up a positive review of a satirical minstrel show that mocks the fools leading the new government.
The Minute Men sing “Marching Through Georgia,” which celebrates the Union victory in the Civil War, in order to link Windrip’s administration to the idea of mobilizing the nation to fight for freedom. This shows that, even after taking power, they stick to the same tactics: they win public approval by treating politics as a form of entertainment. But the satirical minstrel show demonstrates that Windrip’s enemies can also do the same thing. In fact, just like Sinclair Lewis himself, these performers use satire to oppose fascism and defend democracy.
Themes
The next month, Jessup learns that that Secretary of Education Hector Macgoblin is purging teachers he dislikes from the nation’s schools and universities. One night, after spending the day at Columbia University, firing professors who voted against Windrip, Macgoblin calls up his old professor, the biologist Willy Schmidt, who now lives in New York. Macgoblin learns that Schmidt is visiting Rabbi Vincent de Verez, who lives nearby, so he stops in with his two bodyguards for a visit. He demands whisky from the Rabbi and declares that Jewish people should leave the U.S. The Rabbi explains that his people are used to being persecuted and only believe in God, not Windrip. Schmidt says that Macgoblin should be ashamed to have given up his principles, and the Rabbi orders Macgoblin and his goons to leave.
Macgoblin is highly unstable and clearly unqualified to evaluate the work of the nation’s professors. This is exactly why he’s such an asset to Windrip’s administration—one of the best ways to suppress free speech is by developing a reputation as cruel and unpredictable. Macgoblin’s relationship with Schmidt suggests that he once had the potential to become a respectable, educated intellectual. But his absurd anti-Semitism shows that he chose to embrace ignorance and paranoia instead, for the sake of his own short-term gain. Needless to say, Lewis uses this scene to show how fascist societies replicate this pattern on a grand scale: through repression, they encourage millions of people to become angry ideologues instead of critical thinkers.
Themes
Macgoblin pulls out his gun and shoots both Schmidt and the Rabbi de Verez. But at trial, Macgoblin claims that he was trying to stop Schmidt and the Rabbi from conducting Jewish “ritual murders,” and he is declared innocent. A reporter writes Doremus Jessup a letter about the case, and Jessup angrily starts writing an editorial that criticizes the government’s incompetence and malice. The newspaper’s typesetter, Dan Wilgus, worries that the editorial will get the whole staff shot, and he urges Jessup not to publish it. But Jessup insists.
Macgoblin’s sham trial shows how fascism distorts the legal system: rather than preventing and punishing wrongdoing, the courts now perpetrate and justify it. Jessup hopes that he can help set the record straight through journalism. Macgoblin defends himself by citing classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, ones that are still popular today. Again, Lewis carefully reminds his readers about the clear parallels between anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany and the U.S. during his era. To modern readers looking back at the history of European fascism, Lewis’s message takes on an even more chilling, urgent tone: atrocities like the Holocaust could easily “happen here” in the U.S., too.
Themes
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Doremus Jessup shows a copy of his article to his star reporter Otis “Doc” Itchitt and Julian Falck. Doc Itchitt says that nothing will go wrong, but Jessup suspects that Itchitt might try to turn him in and take over the Informer. At home, Emma worries that the Corpos will put Doremus in prison, while Sissy isn’t sure what she thinks, and Julian Falck thinks that it’s noble to speak against the new government. Doremus declares that he has a professional obligation to write the truth, but pretends to be returning to the office. He heads to visit Lorinda Pike at the Tavern instead.
Jessup’s strong moral compass sets him apart from most other characters in the novel (including Itchitt and Emma), who immediately choose self-interest over any moral principles they believe in. Yet Jessup still struggles to balance his family’s personal safety with his obligation to inform the public. If journalists cannot tell the truth anymore, Jessup worries, then the majority of Americans will never have the chance to see Windrip’s crimes for what they truly are.
Themes
But first, Jessup visits his daughter Mary’s family. He finds Mary writing letters at her desk while her husband Fowler Greenhill, their son David, and Greenhill’s partner Dr. Olmsted discuss David’s future. David says that he wants to be a doctor like his father, or maybe a newspaperman like his grandfather. Greenhill declares that he’ll summon Doremus Jessup with his “magic power” to ask about being an editor—and then he goes to the door and lets Jessup in. Jessup chats with the family for about 10 minutes, and Greenhill reveals that Shad Ledue is trying to get him become the Minute Men’s medical officer, but he won’t do it.
By showing Jessup visit his respectable, loving family, Lewis emphasizes how difficult it will truly be for him to choose between publishing his editorial and keeping a low profile to protect his loved ones. Lewis thereby suggests that even principled, socially conscious people like Jessup will struggle to make the sacrifices necessary to save democracy from fascism. Meanwhile, young David’s aspirations are significant because they speak to the mindset of the nation’s youth. Over the course of the novel, as David’s aspirations start to change, the reader will learn how the Windrip administration is transforming young people’s values and goals.
Themes
The Beulah Valley Tavern is busy with tourists from New York, so Lorinda Pike isn’t available until after 10 p.m. Doremus Jessup asks her to read his editorial—he has less than an hour to decide whether to publish it. Pike decides that he should. She explains that Shad Ledue visited the Tavern and demanded lower prices for Minute Men. She has also learned that her business partner, Mr. Nipper, is suing her in the county court tomorrow. Jessup advises her to hire his dumb but detail-oriented lawyer, Mungo Kitterick, because the district’s new judge, the “perfect gentleman-Fascist” ex-banker Effingham Swan, will be presiding over the trial.
Jessup asks Lorinda Pike for advice because she shares his strong moral compass and extraordinary courage. Sinclair Lewis clearly believes that the fate of democracy will lie in the hands of people like them, since the majority of Americans—like Ledue, Nipper, and Swan—will choose conformity and self-interest over justice and equality. In fact, Nipper’s lawsuit is just an opportunistic attempt to seize control of the business from Lorinda: he knows that the new government wants women in the home, not running businesses, and he sees a great financial opportunity in this misogyny.
Themes
Lorinda Pike predicts that either she and Jessup will grow paranoid and isolated, or they will dedicate their whole lives to joining the resistance against Windrip. She asks if Jessup is still planning to publish the editorial, and he says yes. He couldn’t reach the office to stop it even if he wanted to, and although he’s frightened of what will happen to him, he’s sure about publishing it. Pike joyously kisses him, then goes back to work. Jessup barely sleeps that night.
Lorinda Pike suggests that for people committed to liberal democratic values—like equality, tolerance, and free expression—risking one’s life to fight fascism is a better option than living idly under it, powerless and afraid. So, despite their fears, she and Jessup take their first definitive steps toward joining the resistance.
Themes
