Cecilia “Sissy” Jessup Character Analysis in It Can’t Happen Here

Sissy Jessup is Doremus and Emma Jessup’s youngest daughter. She is in high school at the beginning of the book, as she is just 18 years old—far younger than her siblings Mary (who is 30) and Philip (who is 32). She is incredibly witty, capable, and fearless, but most of the people around her underestimate her. In particular, she merges her father’s moral compass with her younger generation’s progressive values. This is doubly true when it comes to gender and romance. Intellectual Julian Falck and popular Malcolm Tasbrough compete for her heart, but she definitively chooses Falck after Tasbrough becomes a Windrip supporter. After they join the New Underground together, Sissy boldly seduces Shad Ledue in order to obtain inside information about the administration and pass it to the New Underground’s publishers. She ends up exposing the atrocities he commits against the population and his corrupt business dealings (which land him in Trianon concentration camp). After her sister Mary dies, Sissy moves north to work and organize New Underground activities with Lorinda Pike. She and Pike are dear friends, and she even approves of Pike’s affair with her father. Later, she helps her father escape to Canada.

Cecilia “Sissy” Jessup Quotes in It Can’t Happen Here

The It Can’t Happen Here quotes below are all either spoken by Cecilia “Sissy” Jessup or refer to Cecilia “Sissy” Jessup. 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:

Doremus discovered that neither he nor any other small citizen had been hearing one hundredth of what was going on in America. Windrip & Co. had, like Hitler and Mussolini, discovered that a modern state can, by the triple process of controlling every item in the press, breaking up at the start any association which might become dangerous, and keeping all the machine guns, artillery, armored automobiles, and aeroplanes in the hands of the government, dominate the complex contemporary population better than had ever been done in medieval days, when rebellious peasantry were armed only with pitchforks and good-will, but the State was not armed much better.
Dreadful, incredible information came in to Doremus, until he saw that his own life, and Sissy’s and Lorinda’s and Buck’s, were unimportant accidents.

Related Characters: Doremus Jessup/William Barton Dobbs, Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, Cecilia “Sissy” Jessup, Lorinda Pike, Buck Titus

Page Number and Citation: 260

Explanation and Analysis:

She was very sick about his being killed. She was very sick about all killing. She found no heroism but only barbaric bestiality in having to kill so that one might so far live as to be halfway honest and kind and secure. But she knew that she would be willing to do it again.

Related Characters: Doremus Jessup/William Barton Dobbs, Cecilia “Sissy” Jessup, Oscar “Shad” Ledue

Page Number and Citation: 337

Explanation and Analysis:

Cecilia “Sissy” Jessup Character Timeline in It Can’t Happen Here

The timeline below shows where the character Cecilia “Sissy” Jessup appears in It Can’t Happen Here. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...local doctor, Fowler Greenhill, and mother of an eight-year-old son, David. The youngest is 18-year-old Cecilia, or “Sissy,” who is in high school and hopes to become an architect. (full context)

...visits the picnic. Along with the wealthier but less intellectual Malcolm Tasbrough, he’s fighting for Sissy Jessup’s heart. (full context)

...it. Emma asks him to be careful and worries about his carelessness. But Father Perefixe, Sissy, Lorinda Pike, and the housekeeper Mrs. Candy are furious about Windrip’s platform, too. (full context)

...Jessup’s surprise, Shad Ledue gives speeches, organizes rallies, and even leads a parade for Windrip. Sissy Jessup’s two suitors, Julian Falck and Malcolm Tasbrough, argue about Windrip when they visit her:... (full context)

...to hide, but he’s also thinking about the death threat he received. At that moment, Sissy walks in the door. She, her father, and Lorinda Pike have tea. Afterwards, Jessup crosses... (full context)

On their way home, Sissy criticizes Doremus’s overly cautious driving, then comments on his frequent visits to Lorinda Pike and... (full context)

At home, Shad Ledue forgets to bring the keys inside and insults Sissy again, so Doremus Jessup finally fires him. Ledue proudly declares that he is leaving to... (full context)

Political Communication and Mass Media Theme Icon

...district headquarters, the former Dartmouth College campus in Hanover. Before Doremus Jessup leaves to attend, Sissy, Julian Falck, Buck Titus, and Lorinda Pike write him a rhyming poem about how dreadful... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...as he can. He often considers quitting his job, but he has to support Emma, Sissy, Mary, and David. Still, he feels no different from a dishonest salesman who sells scam... (full context)

...new romance novel. He listens to Emma and Mrs. Candy discuss chicken pie recipes instead. Sissy comes home and declares that she’s quitting high school rather than pledge allegiance to the... (full context)

Doremus, Sissy, and Julian Falck rush off to ask Lorinda Pike about their new business idea. At... (full context)

...Lorinda Pike insists that they can all do more to help the U.S. from Canada. Sissy reveals that Shad Ledue has asked her out, and that she’s frightened of him. Jessup... (full context)

...in the bathroom and admits that he’s planning to return. Buck Titus packs Doremus, Emma, Sissy, Mary, David, and Foolish the dog into his car. Julian Falck says goodbye to Sissy—he... (full context)

...to cheer up his family. After several hours, the car gets stuck in a snowdrift. Sissy, Buck, and Doremus struggle to get it moving again, while Emma makes coffee in an... (full context)

...contact Jessup, who is busy running the press. Lorinda Pike sets the type, and Emma, Sissy, and Mary help bind pamphlets. (full context)

...Pollikop scatter pamphlets all over Frank Tasbrough’s quarry, so the workers can retrieve them. Finally, Sissy Jessup and Mrs. Candy’s cousin get evidence on the granite scam that Tasbrough, Shad Ledue,... (full context)

The data that Sissy Jessup found in Shad Ledue’s notebook helps the New Underground piece together the Corpos’ graft... (full context)

...Ledue’s opulent but boring hotel suite, and then Staubmeyer and his date leave. Ledue asks Sissy for a kiss. Even though it makes her sick, she pretends to be as innocent... (full context)

Ledue clumsily puts his hand on Sissy’s knee and accuses her of still thinking of him as nothing more than her family’s... (full context)

Ledue maniacally grabs at Sissy’s breasts, and she starts to yell in fear. She tells him that he wouldn’t want... (full context)

However, Sissy does convince Julian Falck to join the Minute Men and start collecting intelligence from the... (full context)

...him from Fort Beulah. Olmsted updates Jessup on his family and friends: Emma, Mary, and Sissy are safe at home, Lorinda Pike is still free, and Buck Titus is at a... (full context)

...Clarence Little reports Henry Veeder’s escape plan and gets released as a reward. Emma, Mary, Sissy, David, and even Philip (who’s now a judge for the Corpos) all visit Jessup, but... (full context)

...captured in the area. Jessup worries that, with Julian gone, Shad Ledue will finally rape Sissy. (full context)

...arresting traitors, and all of his old friends are afraid of him now. He wants Sissy Jessup—she has stopped visiting, but he’ll do anything to have her. (full context)

...gone to Trianon or quit out of fear. Mary Greenhill now leads it, and just Sissy, Father Perefixe, Dr. Olmsted, and a few others remain. They do what little they can,... (full context)

...from Francis Tasbrough directly. One day in September, he was conducting an official drill (and Sissy Jessup was watching). Then, Shad Ledue approached him, called him a traitor, and arrested him.... (full context)

...the house and move in with him. She does, and she brings David with her. Sissy decides to go work for Lorinda Pike instead, and in the meantime, she stays in... (full context)

Shad Ledue takes the opportunity to visit Sissy—it’s early November, and he’s still the County Commissioner. Sissy can’t stand being around Ledue, but... (full context)

The next morning, Sissy Jessup drives to Hanover and tells Francis Tasbrough about Shad Ledue’s plans. Ledue immediately disappears.... (full context)

Sissy Jessup and Lorinda Pike run a mostly empty tea room in Beecher Falls. They discuss... (full context)

...different places and transports him in many different ways until he reaches a remote farmhouse. Sissy and Lorinda Pike are inside. (full context)

Doremus Jessup is dirty, gaunt, and weak, but alive. Sissy and Lorinda Pike give him a warm bath, fresh clothes, and hot food. He feels... (full context)

...the Fort Beulah New Underground, and Emma and David are happy with Philip in Worcester. Sissy is still working for the New Underground and dreaming of marrying Julian, and Francis Tasbrough... (full context)

...Mr. Falck, Henry Veeder, John Pollikop, Truman Webb, and even Karl Pascal. Lorinda Pike, Emma, Sissy, Mary, David, Foolish, and Mrs. Candy wait in the distance. Shad Ledue starts to chase... (full context)