In 1935, as fascism was spreading its influence over Europe and populists like Huey Long in Louisiana were busy championing the “common man” while criticizing Roosevelt and his New Deal, the great Sinclair Lewis published a dystopian novel. It told the story of Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, an authoritarian candidate who emerged from obscurity and won the presidency.
Elected on a platform of drastic fiscal and social reforms, he bought votes by promising $5,000 to every citizen upon victory. He emphasized the usual themes of the radical right: God, the flag, the family. Then, following the 1933 Hitler manual to the letter, Windrip became the ultimate dictator, overthrowing Congress and relying on paramilitary militias to enforce the rule of his single party.
Sinclair Lewis, a Nobel Prize winner in literature, was a keen observer of American conformism and narrow-mindedness. In his novels like Main Street and Babbitt, he exposed the hidden human pettiness behind the postcard facade of small towns, as well as the slavish obligation to support a lifestyle dictated by big corporations. Considering that these works are over a century old, it is clear that Lewis was a visionary, capable of uncovering the inherent hypocrisy and propensity for social Darwinism in the American identity.
Context: The article discusses a novel by Sinclair Lewis that predicted the rise of a fascist dictator in the United States. The novel reflected the political climate of the time and raised concerns about the direction of American society.
Fact Check: Sinclair Lewis did not win the Nobel Prize in Literature for his works Main Street and Babbitt. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930 for his overall body of work.
