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3. Emmett
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
Woolly takes Billy upstairs and shows him his collection of discarded objects, which Woolly compares to Billy’s coin collection. Among these objects is a watch that belonged to Woolly’s grandfather, which Woolly gives to Billy. When Billy protests, Woolly insists the watch isn’t “too precious to be given away,” but “too precious for keeping.” The watch has been handed down for three generations, and Woolly wants to give it to Billy. Billy accepts. Their conversation is interrupted by a loud noise from downstairs.
Woolly and Billy approach life with a similar sense of wonder and curiosity for the stories it holds. Billy sees beauty in coins, and Woolly sees beauty in items that other people have deemed garbage. Woolly feels connected to Billy, and giving him the watch is a symbolic gesture that suggests Woolly sees Billy as family. Woolly’s refusal to keep the watch also hints that he does not see himself as a rightful caretaker for the heirloom.
Themes
