The Lincoln Highway: 5. Emmett Summary & Analysis

Emmett wakes in the railroad camp and goes into Manhattan, which he finds disorienting in its size and population. After taking the subway several stops in the wrong direction, he overcomes his pride and begins asking people around him for help on his way to Wall Street. He finds the building that houses the talent agency he is looking for, but the receptionists refuse to give him information since he is not a performer. An older man suggests Emmett lean into his appearance and pretend to be a rodeo manager, which successfully earns Emmett a meeting with a talent agent who knows Harrison Hewett. The agent gives Emmett the address of the hotel Duchess visited previously, and the concierge requests a bribe from Emmett to tell him where Duchess went.

The concierge directs Emmett to Fitzy FitzWilliams, who admits he directed Duchess to Mr. Hewett’s address in Syracuse. He mentions that Duchess intends to find his father after visiting a friend in Harlem, whom Emmett understands to be Townhouse. Fitzy fondly recalls Duchess’s mother, who died when Duchess was a child. The real reason behind Duchess’s nickname, Fitzy explains, is that Mr. Hewett used to present the infant Duchess in his shows as a Duchess of various foreign cities. Fitzy begins to cry and asks if Emmett knows why Duchess was sent to Salina.