Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in It Can’t Happen Here, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
American Fascism
Liberalism and Tolerance
Morality and Resistance
Political Communication and Mass Media
Summary
Analysis
After the Informer finishes printing at 11 p.m., Dan Wilgus hides several pieces of eight-point movable type from the storeroom in his jacket. On his way out of the office, he meets Doc Itchitt. They complain about Doremus Jessup’s politics, trade a Minute Men salute, and say good night. Outside, Wilgus leaves the type in a bucket in an old car, and the drunk farmer Pete Vutong drives the car to Buck Titus’s house and empties the bucket into a ditch. The next morning, Titus retrieves the type, and that night, Wilgus uses it to print an anti-government article by “Spartan”—or Doremus Jessup—in Titus’s basement. This is how the New Underground operates in Fort Beulah, now that the Corpos have banned all unlicensed printing.
Doremus Jessup quits his job as a government propagandist to become an anti-government propagandist for the New Underground instead. He uses the same tools and skills as before—he just publishes the truth about the administration, instead of the government’s official positions. His transformation again shows how the media’s effect on society depends entirely on who controls it and whether it can operate freely. Indeed, the New Underground focuses on publishing uncensored news because it recognizes that Americans will never turn against Windrip until they learn the truth about his administration’s crimes.
Themes
Dan Wilgus has joined the New Underground less out of opposition to the government than out of frustration about Doc Itchitt taking over the Informer. The Fort Beulah cell is headquartered in Buck Titus’s basement, and it has about two dozen members, including Doremus Jessup, Buck Titus, Dan Wilgus, Lorinda Pike, Julian Falck, Dr. Marcus Olmsted, John Pollikop, Father Perefixe, Henry Veeder’s wife, Harry Kindermann, Mungo Kitterick, and Pete Vutong. Every week, representatives from the broader New Underground contact Jessup, who is busy running the press. Lorinda Pike sets the type, and Emma, Sissy, and Mary help bind pamphlets.
The New Underground not only allows Jessup and his fellow dissidents to publish the truth—it also gives them the sense of community, trust, and purpose that they need to survive under the Windrip regime. The government has harmed all of its members in some way, and they are banding together to seek justice. In contrast, most Americans have grown paranoid and withdrawn under the new government because they know that nearly any misstep could land them in the concentration camps.
Themes
The Fort Beulah New Underground publishes pamphlets by Jessup (“Spartan”) and Pike (“Anthony B. Susan”), in addition to Vermont Vigilance, which compiles banned news from other New Underground sects and overseas papers. Jessup quickly learns about the government’s unspeakable atrocities all over the country. For instance, Windrip shot two of his personal bodyguards, the entire congregation of a synagogue was murdered with gas, and a New Underground messenger was dropped in a well and forgotten. John Pollikop worries that such atrocities will continue, even if Trowbridge takes over. (Jessup replies by calling Pollikop a communist.)
When he worked at the Informer, Doremus Jessup often felt that the more newspapers he read, the less he knew about what was actually happening all around him. But now, while working for the New Underground, he confirms all of his worst fears about the government. Jessup now clearly sees why the government wants to censor the news: the public will turn against Windrip if it finds out about his crimes. Thus, merely publishing the truth is one of the most powerful steps that anyone can take to stop fascism.
Themes
Jessup struggles to translate the German news into English—it’s very pro-Windrip, and the language is extremely difficult. He also publishes some articles about labor issues from the communists’ otherwise useless New Masses. He receives dozens of other publications, hidden in tissues, catalogues, cigarette cartons, and more. And he feels like he’s at the forefront of history, even though he has to spend his days pretending to be a bored retiree. He occasionally finds time to read in his study, too.
Jessup’s job is to read global news—both credible and not—and then republish articles that are relevant to the struggle against Windrip. For instance, the German news will help his readers understand how Windrip is cooperating with other fascist regimes around the world, while the few useful articles from the New Masses will show them how Windrip’s policies are affecting ordinary people. This job fits Jessup’s political leanings very well because, rather than following one overarching, utopian ideology, he believes in combining many different perspectives to address real political problems.
Themes
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The unassuming fishmonger Whit Bibby helps distribute the New Underground pamphlets by taking them to Truman Webb’s farmhouse. Julian Falck and Dr. Olmsted also shelter refugees headed for the border in Webb’s house—where Webb’s grandfather also sheltered escaping slaves back in the 1850s. Buck Titus and John 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, and Commissioner Reek are running together.
While Jessup takes care of national and international news, the other members of the New Underground try to win over local people in Fort Beulah by investigating issues that are relevant to them. It’s little surprise that Ledue, Reek, and Tasbrough are using their power to rig the system and enrich themselves—after all, this is the entire purpose of Windrip’s government. Finally, Lewis once again connects the New Underground to the Underground Railroad in order to suggest that the struggle against fascism is part of the long American tradition of seeking freedom by resisting tyranny and oppression.
Themes
