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5. Duchess (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
Woolly stands in FAO Schwartz, a large New York toy store, happily admiring the dollhouse furniture. Sarah finds him and they reminisce about their childhoods. Woolly buys a stuffed bear for the baby Sarah is pregnant with, and Sarah asks Woolly to promise her that after this visit, he will return to Salina. Woolly agrees.
Duchess and Woolly share a similar immaturity based on their inability to be responsible for other people. However, Woolly differs from Duchess in that he genuinely cares for other people and would likely accept responsibility if he had the opportunity. This is evident when he agrees to finish his sentence at Salina because he loves Sarah and trusts her judgment.
Themes
