Louis Rotenstern is a jingoistic Fort Beulah tailor who tries to distance himself from his Polish Jewish ancestry by passionately supporting Windrip and attacking minority groups (including his fellow Jewish people). He suffers from the Windrip administration’s anti-Semitism anyway: an angry mob destroys his shop sign on election night, and later, Shad Ledue sends him to Trianon and gives one of his friends control over the tailor shop.
Get the entire It Can’t Happen Here LitChart as a printable PDF.
Louis Rotenstern Character Timeline in It Can’t Happen Here
The timeline below shows where the character Louis Rotenstern appears in It Can’t Happen Here. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
The dinner ends with a series of nationalistic songs. The singer, Louis Rotenstern , is a beloved local patriot who proudly denies his Polish, Jewish roots and campaigns...
(full context)
Chapter 7
...brings Foolish the dog to Father Perefixe’s home, where the Rev. Mr. Falck, Buck Titus, Louis Rotenstern , Dr. Greenhill, and R.C. Crowley have assembled. The men listen to the convention on...
(full context)
Chapter 11
...Nipper, and Emil Staubmeyer all giddily tell Doremus Jessup that Windrip will make them rich. Louis Rotenstern , Frank Tasbrough, Medary Cole, and R.C. Crowley also support Windrip, claiming that he’s not...
(full context)
Chapter 12
...and Francis Tasbrough following it in his car. Later that night, the parade burns down Louis Rotenstern ’s shop sign and beats up the town’s curly-haired jeweler Clarence Little. The following evening,...
(full context)
Chapter 17
...for hotels, stock trade commissions, and bribes to government inspectors. In Fort Beulah, the patriotic Louis Rotenstern gets to keep his shop as long as he charges Minute Men a fraction of...
(full context)
Chapter 25
...Jessup’s connections to Karl Pascal. Mary calls Ledue a murderer and threatens to kill him. Louis Rotenstern and Buck Titus come over to spend Christmas with the Jessups, but Aras Dilley visits...
(full context)
Chapter 31
...other prisoners—including two of his cellmates, Pascal and Henry Veeder, as well as Raymond Pridewell, Louis Rotenstern , Clarence Little, and Victor Loveland.
(full context)
