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4. Emmett (2)
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
Duchess leaves Emmett at Ma Belle’s and drives into the city with Woolly and Billy. Woolly points out the Empire State Building and Billy requests they visit, since the building is where the author of his book of heroes, Professor Abacus Abernathe, works. Duchess agrees, since he expects Professor Abernathe to be fictional, but the boys find Professor Abernathe’s office inside. Abernathe, an old man, is in the office, and he agrees to converse with Billy when Billy explains how much he loves Abernathe’s book. Abernathe signs Billy’s copy of the book and asks why Billy hasn’t yet filled in the chapter labeled “You.” When Billy says that he doesn’t know where to start, Abernathe gives Billy a journal to write his story in.
Billy views the world through an overly idealistic lens, but his belief in Professor Abernathe pays off when he meets the author in person. The fact that Billy, the idealist, is correct instead of Duchess, the cynic, suggests that approaching the world with trust and wonder can grant opportunities for the world to validate that perspective. Abernathe’s gift to Billy transforms Billy from simply a consumer of stories to a writer of them, giving him more agency within the realm of stories and within his own life, as he becomes the author of his own story.
Themes
Duchess ushers Billy out of the office, but Billy pauses to ask Abernathe if heroes “return in time.” He tells the professor about Ulysses, and Abernathe listens to the story with great appreciation. He assures Billy that heroes do return, and he asks Billy to introduce him to Ulysses.
Billy’s belief in Ulysses revitalized Ulysses and restored his belief in himself. Now, this same belief revitalizes Abernathe and restores his belief in heroes. Billy’s love of stories (and his eagerness to share them) inspires the people around him to see themselves and the world in new ways.
Themes
