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2. Billy
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Lincoln Highway, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Stories, Truth, and Lies
Debts and Atonement
Maturity and Responsibility
Adventure
Pride vs. Humility
Summary
Analysis
Emmett makes plans to meet Billy and Sally later in the morning, then he takes the train to Harlem to retrieve the Studebaker. When he reaches the garage, Townhouse informs Emmett that the Studebaker was seen outside Ackerly’s house when he was attacked. Ackerly survived, but Townhouse notes that repainting the car was a good idea. Emmett expresses his gratitude, but the men at the garage refuse to take his money, since they owe Townhouse for keeping their operation a secret after he was arrested driving one of their cars.
Either Duchess didn’t consider that parking Emmett’s car outside a crime scene could have severe consequences for his friend, or he didn’t care about those potential consequences. Both options confirm that Duchess is selfish and irresponsible to a dangerous degree. The relationship between Townhouse and his friends at the garage also offers a more reasonable version of debts and loyalty than Duchess believes in.
Themes
Emmett explains to Townhouse his plan to renovate houses in California. Townhouse says that he intends to join the army. Emmett is surprised that Townhouse would go back to wearing a uniform and following orders, but Townhouse remarks that any job he could find as a Black man would lead to that result. In the army, he can become an officer and see the world. They bid each other farewell, and Emmett is sure he’ll meet Townhouse again.
Emmett’s adventures have taught him more about the world, but he still can’t fully grasp the effects that racist institutions have on Townhouse and other Black Americans until Townhouse explains it to him. Townhouse’s desire to gain status and see the world mirrors the way Sally thinks about adventure, which suggests that adventure channeled into specific goals can be productive and liberating.
Themes
Emmett meets Billy and Sally, intending to pick up Billy and head for California, but Sally tells Emmett that her truck has broken down and she needs to go with them. Emmett welcomes her into the car, and she tells him that the sheriff asked her if Emmett had had any guests when the cowboy was attacked, since the sheriff suspected the attack was in response to Emmett’s fight with the cowboy and Jake Snyder. Though Sally lied to the sheriff and said Emmett didn’t have guests, Emmett realizes Duchess must have been behind the attack, taking care of Emmett’s “unfinished business.” Emmett recalls Fitzy FitzWilliams describing Duchess’s “unfinished business” with Mr. Hewett and tells the others they need to find Duchess and Woolly. Billy shows Emmett his map of the Lincoln Highway, where Woolly marked his address in the Adirondacks.
Emmett has spent the whole story rejecting Sally’s help, but the fact that she ignored his rejections and continued to go out of her way for him is what allows him to piece together Duchess’s plan to take revenge on his father. Had Sally not sought Emmett out in New York and told him about the sheriff, Emmett wouldn’t have realized the Duchess is on a quest to resolve unfinished business. In response to this revelation, Billy brings out his map of the Lincoln Highway, which signifies that the characters’ adventure is not yet over.
Themes
