Karl Pascal Character Analysis in It Can’t Happen Here

Karl Pascal is a communist mechanic and labor union organizer who works at John Pollikop’s garage. Pollikop and Pascal constantly debate whether socialism or communism will solve the world’s woes. Pascal also frequently tries to convince Doremus Jessup to join the Communist Party. However, Jessup generally refuses—he believes that Pascal’s faith in the Communists is just as irrational and dangerous as the American public’s faith in Windrip. (The one time Jessup does meet with the Party, they realize that he’s a liberal and reject him.) At the beginning of the novel, Pascal already knows Jessup from his time organizing a strike at Francis Tasbrough’s quarry, but they truly become close friends as cellmates in the Trianon camp. By collecting compromising information about the guards, Pascal ensures that they treat him well rather than torture and abuse him. Nevertheless, he still grows more and more radical during his time in the camps, to the point of advocating for a Communist dictatorship. Sinclair Lewis uses Pascal to argue that anyone can end up supporting tyranny if they let loyalty and blind faith guide their political decisions. Pascal is still in the camps when Jessup escapes at the end of the novel.

Karl Pascal Quotes in It Can’t Happen Here

The It Can’t Happen Here quotes below are all either spoken by Karl Pascal or refer to Karl Pascal. 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 Jessup] saw now that he must remain alone, a “Liberal,” scorned by all the noisier prophets for refusing to be a willing cat for the busy monkeys of either side. But at worst, the Liberals, the Tolerant, might in the long run preserve some of the arts of civilization, no matter which brand of tyranny should finally dominate the world.

“More and more, as I think about history,” he pondered, “I am convinced that everything that is worth while in the world has been accomplished by the free, inquiring, critical spirit, and that the preservation of this spirit is more important than any social system whatsoever. But the men of ritual and the men of barbarism are capable of shutting up the men of science and of silencing them forever.”

Related Characters: Doremus Jessup/William Barton Dobbs (speaker), Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, Karl Pascal

Page Number and Citation: 359

Explanation and Analysis:

Karl Pascal Character Timeline in It Can’t Happen Here

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

...leaders. But Jessup has supported unions striking against Tasbrough’s company—he even befriended the “alien murderer Karl Pascal .” Jessup agrees with Tasbrough that the country’s political situation is serious: Senator Buzz Windrip... (full context)

...still resent Jessup for this, and Jessup is still friends with the Communist strike leader, Karl Pascal , and his Socialist friend and coworker John Pollikop. If it weren’t for his wealthy... (full context)

...night. On their way, they stop at John Pollikop’s garage for gas, and they meet Karl Pascal , the communist mechanic. Pascal tells Jessup that he’s actually excited for Windrip to take... (full context)

...the garage’s owner and Jessup’s former bootlegger, stops in to chat. He makes fun of Karl Pascal and says that the socialists would have defeated “Buzzard Windrip” if they had the communists’... (full context)

...who has started organizing young women through cooking classes and preparing them for the revolution. Karl Pascal is also still organizing. He asks Jessup to join the Communist Party, but Jessup explains... (full context)

...34-volume Dickens box set. Later, Doremus attends the book burning with the Rev. Mr. Falck. Karl Pascal turns up and demands his books back, and Shad Ledue sends Pascal to the Trianon... (full context)

...day before, Shad Ledue comes to the house and asks about Doremus Jessup’s connections to Karl Pascal . Mary calls Ledue a murderer and threatens to kill him. Louis Rotenstern and Buck... (full context)

...he disagrees with their ideology, they’re the boldest resisters around. Falck agrees to talk with Karl Pascal next time he visits Trianon with Dr. Olmsted. Two days later, Falck tells Jessup about... (full context)

...confinement or torture chambers). With this job, Jessup’s longtime “bourgeois pride” starts to fade—although, to Karl Pascal ’s disappointment, he’s still no communist. Cleaning also gives Jessup the opportunity to chat with... (full context)

Karl Pascal becomes Jessup’s closest friend and confidant in the camps. Most communists get shot immediately, but... (full context)

The next month, John Pollikop gets arrested and dragged to Trianon. He and Karl Pascal instantly start bickering about socialism and communism—and Doremus Jessup feels relieved. Meanwhile, Shad Ledue is... (full context)

...the spot and sends him to Trianon. Ensign Stoyt throws Adams in Doremus Jessup and Karl Pascal ’s cell—until Adams gets too friendly with them, and Stoyt moves him to solitary confinement. (full context)

...rather than helping topple the regime, assassinating Ledue will only invite retaliation. But his cellmates—now Karl Pascal , John Pollikop, Truman Webb, a surgeon, and a carpenter—have already made up their minds.... (full context)

...get news of the outside world. Doremus Jessup learns about Mary’s death and the coups. Karl Pascal is growing bitter and impatient, and Jessup can’t stand his bigotry and anger toward anyone... (full context)

...worst part about the Corpo radicals, Jessup thinks, is that they’ve turned good people like Karl Pascal into radicals, too. (full context)

...to reliably pass out. One evening in January, he tips Jessup off. Jessup glances at Karl Pascal and Truman Webb, crawls through the fence, and hides in a New Underground furniture van.... (full context)

...embraces Jessup and gives him some final news before his departure. Buck Titus, Julian Falck, Karl Pascal , and John Pollikop are still alive in the camps, Father Perefixe is running the... (full context)

...Titus, Julian and the 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.... (full context)