The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui portrays fascism as inherently violent. The same tactics of brutal gang violence deployed by Ui and his men against the workers of Chicago and against anyone who resists them are directly parallel to the violent tactics used by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. However, the play also suggests that violence and criminality go hand-in-hand with betrayal, presenting duplicity and paranoia as the hallmarks of a fascist inner circle. 



It is not by coincidence that Ui’s lieutenants are, to a man, deeply suspicious and quick to betray one another. They are not only actively engaging in a conspiracy together by blackmailing Dogsborough, but are also engaging in conspiracies against one another. At various points, Roma, Giri, and Givola all suggest to Ui that their fellow lieutenants cannot be trusted. They conspire against one another openly, bickering and arguing in such a way that they hurl unfounded accusations against one another in front of Ui as they vie for power. They operate in a zero-sum world: The logical consequence of their violence and fascism is that they will inevitably turn on one another.

As such, the play presents betrayal as endemic to fascism. This betrayal exists before the play begins: Ui fuels his rise by publicly playing up personal and political grievances to draw people to his side, telling them that they have been betrayed by politicians and institutions. Adolf Hitler did the same, popularizing the myth that the German army had been undermined by political elites and allies in World War I. The ideology itself is thus founded on grievance and a sense of betrayal, so it is inevitable that the characters should turn on each other since they are all prone to the same mode of thinking that drew them to fascism in the first place. They are simply redirecting their power and violence against internal rather than external targets. 

Ui is not immune to this obsession with betrayal, showing himself to be as violent and as paranoid as everyone else. He even betrays his most loyal lieutenant in the erroneous belief that doing so will keep him safe. Of all the lieutenants, Roma would never move against Ui, yet Ui betrays him because he cannot envision a world in which someone is sincere in their loyalty. Since Ui has built his entire worldview on grievance and betrayal, he cannot help but turn against his most loyal soldiers. 

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui presents fascism as a death drive. The ideology is corrosive, violent, and paranoid, condemning its adherents to inevitably turn on one another. However, this inevitability is separate from Brecht’s call to action. Fascism may be a death drive, he suggests, but this doomed ideology spreads violence and brutality in such a way that many others will be affected. As such, resistance even more essential, with Brecht urging the audience to intervene to prevent the rise of fascism before the inevitable betrayal leads to violence and death.