The Lincoln Highway: 5. Ulysses Summary & Analysis

Ulysses asks Billy to read him the story of his namesake again, and Billy happily obliges. In turn, Billy asks Ulysses to tell him a story of his own life. Ulysses’s story takes place in the summer of 1952. In the story, as Ulysses rides through Iowa, he notices that the birds have disappeared and cars are speeding away from an approaching tornado. Ulysses tries to find shelter with a farmer and his family, but the farmer rejects Ulysses, saying simply, “I don’t know you,” and Ulysses accepts this. The farmer directs Ulysses to a church with a basement, but he doesn’t get there fast enough. He falls to the ground, realizing that he has been abandoned by God. That abandonment gives him the strength to take his fate into his own hands. Ulysses pulls a dead man from a coffin and takes shelter inside.