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Julian Falck
Mrs. Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch is a conservative activist and extreme nationalist who believes that traditional American values are under threat and ought to be imposed on the country by any means necessary—including a Windrip dictatorship. In particular, she wants to ensure that women remain at home and have as many children as possible, rather than participating in public life. In fact, her strong opposition to women’s suffrage is her signature issue. She is one of Buzz Windrip’s most prominent supporters during his campaign: she gives a speech in the novel’s opening scene, and she writes many of Windrip’s absurd, patriotic campaign songs. After the election, Windrip follows Gimmitch’s own advice about women’s rights by refusing to give her a job in the government. She ends up working in Hollywood instead. Sinclair Lewis primarily uses the character of Gimmitch to parody the thoughtless nationalism and hypocritical self-righteousness of many middle-class Americans.
Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch Quotes in It Can’t Happen Here
The It Can’t Happen Here quotes below are all either spoken by Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch or refer to Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
Quotes
“For the first time in all history, a great nation must go on arming itself more and more, not for conquest—not for jealousy—not for war—but for peace! Pray God it may never be necessary, but if foreign nations don’t sharply heed our warning, there will, as when the proverbial dragon’s teeth were sowed, spring up an armed and fearless warrior upon every square foot of these United States, so arduously cultivated and defended by our pioneer fathers, whose sword-girded images we must be … or we shall perish!”
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“Well, all the birdies in their nest agree. My friend, Mrs. Pike, ought to know that freedom of speech becomes mere license when it goes so far as to criticize the Army, differ with the D.A.R., and advocate the rights of the Mob. So, Lorinda, I think you ought to apologize to the General, to whom we should be grateful for explaining to us what the ruling classes of the country really want. Come on now, my friend—jump up and make your excuses.”
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Chapter 7
Quotes
Buzz and buzz and keep it up,
Our cares and needs he’s toting,
You are a most ungrateful pup,
Unless for Buzz you’re voting!
[…]
See, youth with desire hot glowing,
See, maiden, with fearless eye,
Leading our ranks
Thunder the tanks,
Aeroplanes cloud the sky.
Bring out the old-time musket,
Rouse up the old-time fire!
See, all the world is crumbling,
Dreadful and dark and dire.
America! Rise and conquer
The world to our heart’s desire!
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Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch Character Timeline in It Can’t Happen Here
The timeline below shows where the character Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch appears in It Can’t Happen Here. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...the speakers is Herbert Y. Edgeways, a retired brigadier general. Another is Mrs. Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch, a famous anti-women’s suffrage activist who now wants to “maintain the purity of the American...
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Mrs. Gimmitch is next. Back during the Great War, the narrator notes, she fought to send canaries...
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Instead of voting, Mrs. Gimmitch announces, women should stay home and have six children each. The cranky young widow Lorinda...
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...for shutting up Lorinda Pike. The Jessups agree not to invite “the Siamese elephant, the Gimmitch,” over to their home for a drink.
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Chapter 2
...people are too lazy and sheltered to do anything great. Maybe General Edgeways and Mrs. Gimmitch are right, he thinks—maybe the U.S. needs a war to whip its young people into...
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Chapter 7
The audience cheers Windrip for four hours. But first, Mrs. Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch sings a patriotic version of “Yankee Doodle,” with special lyrics about Windrip. (The song is...
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Chapter 10
...cause. So have several European political and military leaders, and of course, Mrs. Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch.
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Chapter 12
...two days later, Jessup sees a parade march past his house, singing Mrs. Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch’s new song about Buzz Windrip’s victory. The song says that any “Antibuzz” who voted against...
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Chapter 15
...Milo Reno to France, and the nationalistic Mississippi Senator Bilbo to Russia. Mrs. Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch demands a cabinet position but ends up in Hollywood writing movies instead. As a joke,...
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