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Summary and Analysis of It Can't Happen Here: Based on the Book by Sinclair Lewis
So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of It Can’t Happen Here tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Sinclair Lewis’s book.
Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader.
This short summary and analysis of It Can’t Happen Here includes:
Historical context Chapter-by-chapter overviews Profiles of the main characters Detailed timeline of key events Themes and symbols Important quotes and analysis Fascinating trivia Glossary of terms Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work
About It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis:
Sinclair Lewis’s satirical novel It Can’t Happen Here documents the rise of a fascist government in the United States.
It follows a small town newspaper editor, Doremus Jessup, as he watches his country come out of economic depression only to embrace a smoke-and-mirrors presidential candidate who wraps himself in patriotic zeal. This charismatic demagogue and his cronies amass power and wealth as the rest of the population watches its rights and freedoms disappear.
There is censorship, the random violence of an unchecked paramilitary force, and the emergence of concentration camps. Jews, foreigners, and intellectuals are singled out for especially brutal treatment. Universities are taken over and books are burned.
As he watches the devastating toll exacted from his friends and family, the once easygoing Jessup is swept into an underground resistance movement in which he must ignore his moral compass. A revolution is launched, but the outcome is uncertain.
Lewis’s dystopian work asks: could it happen here and, if it does, how would it be stopped?
The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of fiction.
Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader.
This short summary and analysis of It Can’t Happen Here includes:
Historical context Chapter-by-chapter overviews Profiles of the main characters Detailed timeline of key events Themes and symbols Important quotes and analysis Fascinating trivia Glossary of terms Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work
About It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis:
Sinclair Lewis’s satirical novel It Can’t Happen Here documents the rise of a fascist government in the United States.
It follows a small town newspaper editor, Doremus Jessup, as he watches his country come out of economic depression only to embrace a smoke-and-mirrors presidential candidate who wraps himself in patriotic zeal. This charismatic demagogue and his cronies amass power and wealth as the rest of the population watches its rights and freedoms disappear.
There is censorship, the random violence of an unchecked paramilitary force, and the emergence of concentration camps. Jews, foreigners, and intellectuals are singled out for especially brutal treatment. Universities are taken over and books are burned.
As he watches the devastating toll exacted from his friends and family, the once easygoing Jessup is swept into an underground resistance movement in which he must ignore his moral compass. A revolution is launched, but the outcome is uncertain.
Lewis’s dystopian work asks: could it happen here and, if it does, how would it be stopped?
The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of fiction.
53 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 11, 2017
54 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 21, 2025
Very Helpful Synopsis
I haven't read the novel, yet, but own it. The book appears apropos for our current political situation. Looking forward to starting the novel. The only problem I see are the names of everyone. Very obscure. May be difficult to remember. However, this short book examines plots, character development and synopsis.
I haven't read the novel, yet, but own it. The book appears apropos for our current political situation. Looking forward to starting the novel. The only problem I see are the names of everyone. Very obscure. May be difficult to remember. However, this short book examines plots, character development and synopsis.
December 21, 2018
Good analysis
Clear and complete analysis of original book along with detailed comparison to today’s political situation in the United States if America.
Clear and complete analysis of original book along with detailed comparison to today’s political situation in the United States if America.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews