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
Of everyone in the Fort Beulah New Underground, Mary Greenhill is the most determined and extreme. For instance, she and Buck Titus boldly distribute crumpled-up pamphlets around Burlington, and she hides leaflets inside drugstore magazines. Meanwhile, Lorinda Pike quits working at the Tavern and becomes Buck Titus’s live-in housekeeper instead, so that she can dedicate more time to the cause. This also gives her and Doremus Jessup time and 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 doesn’t mind running errands around town for her.
The New Underground’s most dedicated activists are women who fly under the radar by taking advantage of misogynistic stereotypes. Mary Jessup and Lorinda Pike both know that the government will presume them to be innocent and powerless, so they can organize for the New Underground in plain sight. Meanwhile, Doremus Jessup and Lorinda Pike do the opposite, using their New Underground activities as cover for their affair. It’s clear that they’ve never felt freer: even if they’re now living under a horrific dictatorship, they’re no longer holding back on politics or love out of fear.
Themes
One morning, Doremus Jessup lays next to Lorinda Pike in bed and fantasizes about the fabulous life of adventure and revolution they will lead together. Pike asks for a cigarette, then admits that she wants to cut off their affair—she thinks they should be dedicating more energy to the New Underground and less to each other. In fact, Mr. Dimick has formally asked her to open a new cell up at Beecher Falls, by the Canadian border. But Jessup knows that this was really her idea. She admits that she can’t love him until the world is free from its chains. She asks for a final kiss, because she will be leaving for Beecher Falls later today.
Jessup and Pike disagree about whether their relationship helps or hurts their activism. While Jessup becomes attached to the idea of a rebellious romance, Pike worries that they might be selfishly allowing their romance to eclipse their rebellion. She feels guilty for continuing to indulge her own freedom while so many Americans suffer under Windrip’s tyranny, so she decides to choose politics over love. Ultimately, she and Jessup both recognize that this sacrifice is necessary for the sake of their cause.
Themes
