Emma Jessup Character Analysis in It Can’t Happen Here

Emma Jessup is Doremus Jessup’s wife. They met in high school, and after three children and several decades of stable marriage, they love one another but often fail to see eye-to-eye. In many ways, Emma is a stereotypical housewife: she enjoys knitting, baking, and romance novels. She is unfailingly loyal and honest, but also very conventional and naïve, especially when it comes to politics. This frustrates Doremus, who prides himself on his moral and political awareness. While Doremus worries about the future of the United States under Buzz Windrip, Emma cares far more about her family’s safety, reputation, and financial situation. She disagrees with Doremus’s decision to join the New Underground (but tolerates it anyway), and she never notices his relatively overt affair with Lorinda Pike. But most of all, she worries endlessly about his safety, especially after he ends up at Trianon. After Doremus’s imprisonment and Mary’s death, Emma takes her grandson David to live with her Corpo son Philip. The character of Emma represents the way that ordinary middle-class people fail to understand the true consequences of fascist regimes like Windrip’s—and end up supporting them out of ignorance or convenience.

Emma Jessup Character Timeline in It Can’t Happen Here

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

...Hunkies and Chinks” out of the country. The whole crowd sings along. Doremus Jessup’s wife, Emma, sarcastically praises him for shutting up Lorinda Pike. The Jessups agree not to invite “the... (full context)

...Doremus Jessup will go to Francis Tasbrough’s house for an afterparty. But first, he drives Emma home. They pass through the sleepy, picturesque New England granite-mining town of Fort Beulah, where... (full context)

Jessup is a fair, competent, and politically independent editor. He and his wife, Emma, first met in high school, and they now have three children. The oldest is 32-year-old... (full context)

...Jessup waking up and stretching in the morning. He’s a rough sleeper, so he and Emma sleep in separate bedrooms. It’s Saturday, the day of Prang’s show, but Jessup’s son Philip... (full context)

...officially endorses Buzz Windrip and declares that the League will propel him to the presidency. Emma Jessup comments that Prang sounds like a left-winger, but Doremus replies that Buzz Windrip will... (full context)

...after Prang has endorsed Windrip, Jessup is speechless and worried in the mornings, which worries Emma. (full context)

...weren’t for his wealthy ancestors, Jessup realizes, he would probably be one of Prang’s “Dispossessed.” Emma still doesn’t understand him, but he tolerates her complaints. (full context)

Emma Jessup finds Windrip’s platform confusing and contradictory, but Doremus thinks it’s clear. Windrip will bring... (full context)

...he can to stop Windrip—but that he and his family might be shot for it. Emma asks him to be careful and worries about his carelessness. But Father Perefixe, Sissy, Lorinda... (full context)

...“too old to make love.” He suddenly feels much better. After a brief conversation about Emma, Jessup and Pike discuss their affair, which they agree is exciting, harmless, and well-hidden. (full context)

...denounces the suggestion, but Sissy says that an affair probably wouldn’t even hurt her mother Emma. Doremus asks if Sissy even knows anything about sex. Sissy sarcastically jokes that she’s happy... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...over the building, and his Minute Men take Doremus Jessup to jail. Jessup worries about Emma and Lorinda. He realizes that one of the Minute Men is Aras Dilley, but Dilley... (full context)

...But now, it may be too late. Jessup worries that he’ll have to choose between Emma and Lorinda, and he wonders how Lorinda’s case went in court. Just after midnight, Aras... (full context)

...speak at the dinner table. In contrast, nine-year-old David talks constantly, bothering everyone else, and Emma constantly worries, but about the wrong things: she thinks that Doremus going to jail reflects... (full context)

...badly 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... (full context)

...year. But he doesn’t know what he would do in Canada, and he knows that Emma would hate living in poverty. So, like people everywhere living under tyranny, Jessup continues weighing... (full context)

...and he tries and fails to read a popular new romance novel. He listens to Emma and Mrs. Candy discuss chicken pie recipes instead. Sissy comes home and declares that she’s... (full context)

...Pike 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... (full context)

...stuck in a snowdrift. Sissy, Buck, and Doremus struggle to get it moving again, while Emma makes coffee in an abandoned shack. Everyone drinks it with Mrs. Candy’s cake. The car... (full context)

...Fort Beulah shops, pretending to enjoy golf, or spending all day at home, which bothers Emma. (She even encourages him to go visit Buck Titus and Lorinda Pike.) Once, Jessup visits... (full context)

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

...space to carry on their affair—while neither of them believes in monogamy or worries about Emma, they prefer not to sneak around. Jessup finds Pike more attractive than ever, and he... (full context)

...local newspaperman of publishing the New Underground pamphlets and send him to the concentration camp. Emma Jessup doesn’t understand why Doremus bothers to criticize the authorities, but she’s glad that Lorinda... (full context)

...being. Jessup struggles to sleep, and for the first time in years, he yearns for Emma. On the Fourth of July, the Jessup family attends the Minute Men’s grand parade. That... (full context)

...Dr. Olmsted visit 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... (full context)

...For instance, 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... (full context)

...from Massachusetts and declares that everyone in the family is insane—except himself and his mother, Emma, whom he tells to rent out the house and move in with him. She does,... (full context)

...still alive in the camps, Father Perefixe is running the Fort Beulah New Underground, and Emma and David are happy with Philip in Worcester. Sissy is still working for the New... (full context)

...Rev. 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... (full context)