The Lincoln Highway Themes

Over the course of The Lincoln Highway, both Duchess (one of the young convicts) and Billy (the main character Emmett’s little brother) tend to interpret the events of the novel as a heroic story, but their motivations behind this tendency lead to vastly different impacts. Duchess invents and exaggerates stories to manipulate those around him. He presents himself as an adventurous hero to Billy to earn the boy’s trust and therefore Emmett’s; he…

The main characters of The Lincoln Highway are convicts of the juvenile work camp Salina, which claims to help boys atone for their crimes and repay their debt to society. The novel opens with a conversation between Emmett and Warden Williams of Salina, as Williams tells Emmett that he has paid his debt. Emmett disagrees, and his lingering guilt and need to atone later lead him to accept a beating from the brother and friends…

The Lincoln Highway centers around a cross-country road trip that characters like Billy romanticize as an adventure. The journey bears similarities to the legends about great expeditions in Billy’s favorite book, and Billy plots a course along the Lincoln Highway not only to follow the path of Billy and Emmett’s mother, but also to explore as much of the country as possible. Other characters share Billy’s impulse for adventure: Townhouse wants to join the…

The Lincoln Highway follows a large cast of characters, but its protagonist is Emmett, who struggles with pridefulness and an inability to accept help. Sister Agnes, one of the nuns who raised Duchess, asks Emmett to look out for Duchess and reminds him “we do not always get to choose to whom we should show our charity.” Emmett seems to take this to heart; rather than seeking revenge, he focuses his efforts…