![]() ![]() Modern readers may find the novel an entertaining escape or a dire warning, depending on their own political context. The first of these sub-themes is that it’s possible for totalitarianism to take hold in America, in contrast to many characters who argue that it is not. He created exaggerated characters, like Edgeways and Gimmitch, to show the underlying authoritarian, nationalist groupthink that lurked behind the politics of his time. Important Quotes Essay Topics It Cant Happen Here Themes American Totalitarianism The primary theme of the book is American totalitarianism, which is broken into several sub-themes. never went down the same fascist route, Sinclair Lewis saw that it clearly could, and he wanted to warn his readers against it. ![]() Meanwhile, fascism was growing in Europe, with leaders like Hitler taking power in the hopes of “maintain the purity” of their nations. 'Senator Buzz Windrip, having used hot rhetoric, warm folksiness, and cold calculation to get into the White House, proceeds to bring in his own paramilitary storm troopers, seizes control of the government, and sets in motion his totalitarian program.' 'A cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, it is an. ![]() President Roosevelt’s New Deal program was popular, but still not fully implemented, and the populist governor Huey Long was planning to challenge him for the Democratic Nomination. The novel’s opening scene firmly anchors it in the specific political context of 1936, which modern readers must understand in order to grasp Sinclair Lewis’s motivation and message. ![]()
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