It Can't Happen Here
ISBN 045121658X | |
It Can't Happen Here is a 1935 dystopian
Premise
The novel was published during the heyday of fascism in Europe, which was reported on by Dorothy Thompson, Lewis's wife.[3] The novel describes the rise of Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, a demagogue who is elected President of the United States, after fomenting fear and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and "traditional" values. After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government via self-coup and imposes totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force, in the manner of European fascists such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The novel's plot centers on journalist Doremus Jessup's opposition to the new regime and his subsequent struggle against it as part of a liberal rebellion.
Plot
In 1936, American Senator Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip enters the
Having previously foreshadowed some
Open opponents of Windrip, led by Senator Trowbridge, form an organization called the New Underground (named after the Underground Railroad), helping dissidents escape to Canada and distributing anti-Windrip propaganda. One recruit to the New Underground is Doremus Jessup, a traditional liberal and an opponent of both corporatism and communism, the latter being suppressed by Windrip's administration. Jessup's participation in the organization results in the publication of The Vermont Vigilance, a periodical in which he writes editorials decrying Windrip's abuses of power.
Shad Ledue, the local district commissioner and Jessup's former hired man, resents his old employer. After discovering Jessup's actions, Ledue has him sent to a concentration camp. Ledue terrorizes Jessup's family and particularly his daughter Sissy, who he unsuccessfully attempts to seduce. Sissy discovers evidence of corrupt dealings on the part of Ledue which she exposes to Francis Tasbrough, a one-time friend of Jessup and Ledue's superior in the administrative hierarchy. Tasbrough has Ledue imprisoned in the same camp as Jessup, where inmates sent there by Ledue organize his murder. Jessup eventually escapes when his friends bribe one of the camp guards. He flees to Canada and rejoins the New Underground. He later serves the organization as a spy, passing along information and urging locals to resist Windrip.
In time, Windrip's hold on power weakens as his promised economic prosperity fails to materialize, and increased numbers of disillusioned Americans, including Vice President Perley Beecroft, flee the country. Windrip also angers his
General Emmanuel Coon, one of Haik's senior officers, defects to the opposition with a large portion of his army, giving strength to the resistance movement. Although Haik remains in control of much of the country, a new civil war soon breaks out as the resistance tries to consolidate its grasp on the Midwest. As the conflict begins, Jessup works as an agent for the New Underground in Corpo-occupied portions of southern Minnesota.
Reception
Reviewers at the time,[4] and historians and literary critics ever since, have emphasized the resemblance to Louisiana politician Huey Long, who used strong-arm political tactics and who was building a nationwide "Share Our Wealth" organization in preparing to run for president in the 1936 election. Long was assassinated in 1935 just prior to the novel's publication.[5][6][7][8] The inspiration for Winthrup backer Bishop Prang was renowned radio priest Charles Coughlin,[9][10] who in real life conspired with Long to oust Roosevelt in the 1936 U.S. Presidential election.[11][10]
According to Boulard (1998), "the most chilling and uncanny treatment of Huey by a writer came with Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here."
Keith Perry argues that the key weakness of the novel is not that he decks out U.S. politicians with sinister European touches, but that he finally conceives of fascism and totalitarianism in terms of traditional U.S. political models rather than seeing them as introducing a new kind of society and a new kind of regime.
Adaptations
Stage
In 1936, Lewis and John C. Moffitt wrote a stage version, also titled It Can't Happen Here,
The Z Collective, a San Francisco theater company, adapted the novel for the stage, producing it both in 1989 and 1992. In 2004, Z Space adapted the Collective's script into a radio drama that was broadcast on the Pacifica radio network on the anniversary of the Federal Theater Project's original premiere.[17]
A new stage adaptation by Tony Taccone and Bennett S. Cohen premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in September 2016.[18]
A staged reading of the original Lewis and Moffitt play was held at the
Unfinished film
In December 1938, Charlie Chaplin announced his next movie would satirize Hitler (The Great Dictator).[25] MGM's Hubbard "dusted off the script"[26] in January, but the "idea of a dictator ruling America" had now been discussed in public for years. Hubbard rewrote a new climax, "showing a dictatorship in Washington and showing it being kicked out by disgruntled Americans as soon as they realized what had happened." The film was placed back on the production schedule for the third time with shooting starting in June and Lewis Stone playing Doremus Jessup.[27] By July 1939, MGM "admitted it would not make the movie after all"[28] to some criticism.[29]
Television
The 1968
Inspired by the book, director–producer
Legacy
Since its publication, It Can't Happen Here has been seen as a cautionary tale, starting with the 1936 presidential election and potential candidate Huey Long.
In retrospect, Franklin D. Roosevelt's internment of Japanese Americans during World War II has been used as an example of "It can happen here".[31]
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention released their first album Freak Out! in 1966 with the song "It Can't Happen Here".[32][33]
In May 1973, in the middle of the
Presidency of Donald Trump
Several writers have compared the
In 2018, HarperCollins published Can It Happen Here?: Authoritarianism in America, a collection of essays about the prospect of authoritarianism in the United States, edited by Cass Sunstein.[43]
In 2019, Robert Evans produced the podcast series It Could Happen Here, which speculated on the causes and consequences of a hypothetical second American Civil War.[44]
In 2021,
Similar works
Books
- Atwood, Margaret (1985). The Handmaid's Tale. Dystopian novel set in a near-future fundamentalist New England.
- Butler, Octavia (1998). Parable of the Talents. Dystopian science-fiction novel sometimes said to predict the rise of Donald Trump's presidency.
- Conason, Joe (2007). It Can Happen Here: Authoritarian Peril in the Age of Bush. Nonfiction book.
- Dick, Philip K. (1962). The Man in the High Castle. A post World War II alternative history, where Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan are in control of America and the world.
- Jameson, Storm (1936). In the Second Year. Book about a fascist Britain.
- Knebel, Fletcher; Bailey II, Charles W. (1962). Seven Days In May. A novel about an attempted military coup in the United States government.
- London, Jack (1908). The Iron Heel. American dystopian novel.
- Moore, Alan; Lloyd, David (illustrator); Weare, Tony (additional art) (May 1982 – March 1988). V for Vendetta. British graphic novel about a terrorist overthrowing a post-apocalyptic fascist Britain.
- Roth, Philip (2004). The Plot Against America. Alternate history novel in which Charles Lindbergh defeats Roosevelt in 1940 and begins antisemitic and pro-German policies.
- ISBN 978-0062696212. Collection of essays.
- Walton, Jo (2006-08). The "Small Change" trilogy (Farthing, Ha'penny and Half a Crown). An alternate history trilogy where a fascist government takes over Great Britain.
Films & Television
- It Happened Here (1964; also known as It Happened Here: The Story of Hitler's England), a black-and white film about a fictitious fascist government in Britain during World War II.
- The Plot Against America, a 2020 alternate history drama television miniseries by David Simon and Ed Burns, based on the novel of the same name.
References
- ^ Lewis, Sinclair (1935). It Can't Happen Here. gutenberg.net.au. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Apicella, John (9 September 2012). "It Can't Happen Here and the Federal Theater Project". Retrieved 15 August 2018 – via YouTube.
- S2CID 151438638.
- ^ Haas, Edward F. (2006). "Huey Long and the Dictators". Louisiana History. 47 (2): 133–151.
- ^ a b Perry 2004, p. 62.
- S2CID 153531868.
- S2CID 145127305.
- ^ Kaiser, Wilson (2014). "The Micropolitics of Fascism in Carson McCullers's The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here". Genre: Forms of Discourse and Culture. 47 (3): 285–307.
- ^ Nazaryan, Alexander (October 16, 2023). "Getting Close to Fascism with Sinclair Lewis's "It Can't Happen Here"". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ a b "Radioactive: Ep. 6: Social Justice". PBS. March 9, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ Lunt, Richard L. (May 27, 1959). "Agitators: Long, Townsend, and Coughlin Versus The New Deal--1932 Through 1936". The University of New Mexico Department of History. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ Boulard 1998, p. 115.
- ^ Perry 2004.
- ^ See also Lingeman 2005, pp. 400–408
- IBDB. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
- ^ Flanagan 1940.
- ^ "Act One Radio Drama – October 31, 2004". KPFA. 2004-11-01. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
- ^ Etheridge, Tim (2016-03-28). "Berkeley Rep Announces 2016–17 Season Opener: Sinclair Lewis' Classic Novel It Can't Happen Here" (PDF) (press release). Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-18. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
- ISBN 978-0299151942.
- ^ ""It Can't Happen Here" May Happen Very Soon". Santa Cruz Sentinel from Santa Cruz, California. February 20, 1936.
- ^ "The Film Daily". archive.org. February 4, 1936.
- ISBN 978-0816071517. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
- ^ David Mikies "Hollywood’s Creepy Love Affair With Adolf Hitler, in Explosive New Detail", Tablet, 10 June 2013
- ISBN 978-1438110011. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
- ^ "Next Chaplin Film Will Be Fascist Blow". Madera Tribune. 16 December 1938.
- ^ "The Dictator". The New Yorker. January 28, 1939.
- ^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. June 2, 1939. p. 10. Retrieved 20 March 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Entertainment vs. Propaganda". Shamokin News-Dispatch from Shamokin, Pennsylvania. July 13, 1939.
- ^ "Film Company Criticized for Dropping "it Can't Happen Here". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 6, 1939.
- ^ Simpson.
- ^ "California Historical Society: It Can't Happen Here – Executive Order 9066 Revisited". California Historical Society. 2017-01-05. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
- ^ Crandell, Ben (January 10, 2017). "Frank talk about Dweezil Zappa's Culture Room show". southflorida.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
- ^ Courrier, Kevin (March 10, 2013). "American Composer: Frank Zappa's Understanding America". www.criticsatlarge.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
- ^ a b Mitgang, Herbert (20 May 1973). "Babbitt in the White House". The New York Times.
- ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
- ^ Paulson, Michael (2016-09-25). "A Play Timed to Trump's Candidacy Asks What If". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
Some, like Berkeley Rep, explicitly aim to prompt discussion about Donald J. Trump
- ^ Stewart, Jules (2016-10-09). "The 1935 novel that predicted the rise of Donald Trump". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
- ^ Malcolm Harris. "It really can happen here: The novel that foreshadowed Donald Trump’s authoritarian appeal". Salon, September 29, 2015.
- ^ Lozada, Carlos (June 9, 2016). "How does Donald Trump stack up against American literature's fictional dictators? Pretty well, actually". The Washington Post.
- ^ Weisberg, Jacob (March 2016). "An Eclectic Extremist: Donald Trump's distinctly American authoritarianism draws equally from the wacko right and wacko left". Slate.
- ^ Selter, Brian (January 28, 2017). "Amazon's best-seller list takes a dystopian turn in Trump era". CNN Money. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
- ^ Lewis, Sinclair (January 20, 2017). It Can't Happen Here. Penguin Modern Classics. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
- ^ "Can It Happen Here? Authoritarianism in America". Kirkus Reviews. November 28, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
- ^ "It Could Happen Here". iHeartRadio.
- ISBN 978-1479808038.)
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Bibliography
- Boulard, Garry (1998). Huey Long Invades New Orleans: The Siege of a City, 1934–36.
- Flanagan, Hallie (1940). Arena: The Story of the Federal Theatre. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce.
- Lingeman, Richard R. (2005). Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street. St. Paul, Minn: Borealis Books. ISBN 978-0873515412.
- Perry, Keith (2004). The Kingfish in Fiction: Huey P. Long and the Modern American Novel.
- Simpson, MJ. "Kenneth Johnson interview". MJSimpson.co.uk. Archived from the original on October 27, 2007. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
Further reading
- Afflerbach, Ian (2019). "Sinclair Lewis and the Liberals Who Never Learn: Reading Politics in It Can't Happen Here". Studies in the Novel. 51 (4): 523–545. S2CID 214026212.
- Bateman, Jodey. "Book Review: It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis". motherbird.com. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
- "California Reads Curriculum Guide – It Can't Happen Here" (PDF). California Humanities.
- Jones, Macy Donyce (November 12, 2017). Precarious Democracy: "It Can't Happen Here" as the Federal Theatre's Site of Mass Resistance. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College. Doctoral Dissertation.
- Keohane, Joe (December 18, 2005). "Public Enemy". Boston Globe. "Sinclair Lewis's 1935 novel 'It Can't Happen Here' envisioned an America in thrall to a homespun fascist dictator. Newly reissued, it's as unsettling a read as ever."
External links
- It Can't Happen Here at Faded Page (Canada)
- Lewis, Sinclair. It Can't Happen Here. gutenberg.net.au.