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7. Duchess
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 drives contentedly, unaware that he is frustrating other drivers. He likes the simplicity of the placemat map, which doesn’t confuse him like most maps do. When the streets become confusing, Woolly pulls over and sits by a statue of Abraham Lincoln. His family is fervently patriotic and celebrates Independence Day each year with recitations of the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address. When it was Woolly’s turn to memorize the Gettysburg Address, he practiced for weeks but still couldn’t do it, so his sister Sarah recited it with him, prompting the rest of the family to join in.
Woolly’s ability to drive speaks to his capabilities as an adult, which his friends and family often overlook when they infantilize him. At the same time, he doesn’t notice other drivers’ reactions to him, which suggests he is sometimes unaware of the effect his actions have on other people. Woolly’s feelings for his family are complicated, but he has inherited their patriotism and associates Lincoln with safety.
Themes
As Woolly walks back to the Studebaker, he crosses paths with a man in a large hat and baggy jacket, who is feeding popcorn to squirrels. This delights Woolly, but his excitement fades when he returns to the car and sees a police officer leaving a ticket on Emmett’s car.
Woolly craves adventure, but his lack of foresight and self-awareness hinders his ability to pursue that desire in a way that is safe for himself and others. He barely has time to enjoy watching the man feed the squirrels before he finds himself in trouble.
Themes
