Read Banned Books: It Can't Happen Here
- Dan
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Read Banned Books
Read the books "the man" says are dangerous. Be a rebel! Read banned books! Think dangerous thoughts!
Previous entries in this series:
I've been interested in reading It Can't Happen Here since learning about the novel in high school over twenty years ago. I wondered why it wasn't taught alongside those other dystopian classics, 1984 and Animal Farm. Google came to the rescue with articles that provided some insight. Despite being incredibly popular in the 1930s and winning the Nobel Prize for literature, Sinclair Lewis fell out of favor with critics in the 50s and was supplanted in America's literary pantheon by Hemingway and Fitzgerald.
It Can't Happen Here was written between the world wars as Hitler rose to prominence in Germany and Mussolini in Italy. The story depicts the rise of a uniquely American form of fascism. The yarn is one part tongue-in-cheek satire, and in my estimation, ten parts cautionary tale. I challenge anyone to read the novel and not see parallels to present-day America. President Buzz Windrip and his lackeys seem remarkably similar to the current president and his administration. How the actions of ICE are evocative of those of The Minutemen is even more chilling. Perhaps most disturbing of all is how Windrip uses war against Mexico to distract the populace from domestic problems. That seems eerily reminiscent of what is happening regarding Venezuela. I would argue that it is happening here and has happened before.Consider the internment of Japanese American citizens during World War II.
It a Can't Happen Here is an overtly political story with a definite anti-fascist and anti-populist slant. It's also darkly funny, chock-full of memorable characters, and brilliantly paced. As recently as 2021, the novel faced banning in Texas. Reasons given were that it “might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex”. I can't think of a lamer reason to ban a book. This tale should cause discomfort, and I hazard to say, it's not intense enough to cause psychological distress. And honestly, maybe we all need a little fictional distress, yes, even teens, now and then, to remind us what's at stake and how dire circumstances could become.
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