He recalls how his father pretended to be upper-class get himself into the presidential suite of the fanciest hotel. He drowns. At his great-grandfathers house, Woolly reminisces about the various parts of the house. Emmett and Duchess scuffle, and Emmett knocks Duchess out. It takes her 20 hours to get to New York. Are the characters in The Lincoln Highway black or white? Emmett feels sad and then angry. He yanks out the corpse and gets inside . Today, hed be looking around the house for other tools. The story is about 18-year-old Emmett Watson, who was incarcerated in a juvenile detention work camp. Unintended consequences: Emmett's story both begins . Elsewhere, Ulysses takes Billy and Emmett to a vagrant camp where they can stay for the night. He had then grabbed the shovel to wait for the right moment to knock Pastor John out. Late in your discussion, after youve had the chance to share a bottle of wine or a few cocktails, tell each other what you would do if you were suddenly given half a million dollars. At the library, he looks up the numbers tracking the population grown in Texas and California over the decades. In present day, Emmett goes to the public library. Amor Towles. Newly released from a work farm in 1950s Kansas, where he served 18 months for involuntary manslaughter, 18-year-old Emmett Watson hits the road with his little brother, Billy, following the death of their father and the foreclosure of their Nebraska farm. like. Early the next morning, Emmett, Billy, Duchess and Woolly head for the road. At this point, its not clear what Duchess is up to in asking for Ackerlys address, but by now his mischievous personality should indicate that he likely has something up his sleeve. Over fifteen years ago, three friends and I formed a reading group. Then, as Duchess tries to hack open the safe, Woolly takes a bunch of pills and kills himself. Given inflation, $50,000 in 1954 would be the equivalent of about $500,000 today. After that, for weeks on end, Sally had prayed that her father would marry Alice, so that hed have someone else to do his housework. Duchess sees that the box is labelled with his name. On the way to Professor Abernathes, Woolly had thought about how there are certain places that one was supposed to see when traveling, and he knew to be diligent about visiting all those places when he traveled. Pastor John initially strikes up a conversation in hopes that Billy will share any food he has with him. Woolly, Billy, and Sally on their last night together, is an homage to my old friend and a favorite of the Towles family. What does self-reliance mean to Emmett, to Duchess, and to Sally? In 1952, Duchess had just turned 16 and was living with his father at the Sunshine Hotel. Macie hadnt wanted him to enlist, but as time passed Ulysses had been unable to stand stares of everyone else who judged him for that decision. $ 14.95. When he returned, Woolly was dead. He thinks about the promise he made to Billy about counting to 10 before hitting someone. The Lincoln Highway Quiz Amor Towles This Study Guide consists of approximately 76 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Lincoln Highway. As Duchess tries to get to the money before it flies away, he drowns. Warden Williams reassures Emmett that everyone knows that what happened wasnt an indication of Emmetts character and that bad luck played a role in what happed. Duchess uses the opportunity to knock Emmett out. In July, his mother didnt seem to want to go see the fireworks. Afterwards, they open three bottles of Denniss wine to try the same trick suddenly, Dennis and Sarah walk in. At the risk of sounding condescending, (but that is not my intention), there are a couple of typos I would be happy to point out if youd like. He greets Billy as he enters the boxcar. That night, Duchess tells Woolly that if he had 50 grand, hed open up a place like Leonellos. Mr. I loved this 10-day road trip adventure set in 1954. Triumphantly, he gets ready to depart with the bag until he realizes the shovel is missing and . At that moment, he had felt abandoned by God and by fate. She's upset to learn from Duchess that Emmett plans on leaving. Woolly looks at him with genuine surprise, and Duchess laughs until he cries. This is filled with typos, mis-spellings and downright mistakes! Meanwhile, Duchess chats about Leonellos in East Harlem, where is father had been a matre d for sic months, describing the delights of having an Italian dinner there. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles is a coming-of-age story of four juvenile delinquents on a road trip, as well as the people they meet. Throughout the novel, an array of stories are recalledstories drawn from Professor Abernathes. Emmett will have none of it. Also the additional explanations in grey alerted me to basic facts of the plot, whys, and hows. When it was his turn to recite the Gettysburg Address, he remembers how the whole family had chimed in happily when he forgot the words. I assumed it was laudanum, an opiate. Ulysses tells him about ending up in Iowa on foot when the boxcar hed been traveling in was stopped. He knows that population growth is crucial to his plan of ensuring the profits of possible rental properties. Outside, Emmett smashes a windowpane to get back into the house. Hi Jenelle, the chapters in the book count down from 10 so I am mirroring the chapters in the book. He tells Pastor John to leave Billy alone and demands that Pastor John exit the moving train, saying that he rides alone. Kaitlin also told them that shed called Sarahs place and Woolly had answered, but hung up on her. A while ago, Emmetts father, Charles Charlie William Watson, took out a second mortgage on the farm. It also shows us how Ulysses has a soft spot for Billy (perhaps out of some sadness having to do with being apart from his own child) so hes willing to break his own rules for him. The next morning, Emmett sees that Duchess and Woolly drove off in the Cadillac. Duchess asks him where his father is, but Fitzy claims he doesnt know. In Chapters 6 and 5, they all make their way to New York. Fitzy lied in a statement to corroborate Harry's lie. That afternoon, theyd found a perfect spot, and he listened to his mother laugh at his fathers stories, and it had seemed to Emmett that the three of them would be attending Sewards Fourth of July celebration for the rest of their lives. Duchess spent a few years in an orphanage, being raised by nuns, after his father abandoned him there for two years when he was 8. The hotel clerk (after asking for compensation) then directs Emmett to Anchor where Fitzy FitzWilliams can be found. Emmett is angry with Duchess but he thinks about how before they left, Billy had asked Emmett to promise that whenever you feel like hitting someone in anger, first youll count to ten. Duchess tries to calm him down, saying that he needs time to get into the safe so that Emmett and Billy will have the money for their dream house. Emmett is shocked to see Daniel Duchess Hewett and Wallace Woolly Martin, two guys he knows from Salina, walking up to them. Billy has another idea: taking the continent-spanning Lincoln Highway to find their mother in San Francisco the last place she mailed a postcard from after she disappeared eight years ago. He says that the train will soon slow down and that Billy needs to get off then. However, Townhouse is reluctant to hit Duchess at first, and he tells them to shut up. The City of New York is a thousand cities rolled into one. The Lincoln Highway is a joyride. However, he quickly decides that thered be no point to it. The latter is 3.390 miles long, and it's the U.S.'s very first. It references an earlier conversation that Billy and Emmett had (in chapter 8) about how long you have to know someone to be their friend. Encounters along the way serve to prompt and provoke our male protagonists into developing a moral compass, their reactions placing them on a spectrum of fabular archetypes (Billy even carries with him . Pastor John assumes that its because Billy has never seen a black man before, but the next chapter makes clear that Billy recognizes the name Ulysses as one of the heroes from his book. Odd choice. The moving train makes it difficult to cross the gap between the cars. When the old man tells Duchess that his father only recently vacated the room on Monday, Duchess understands that his father mustve left after learning Duchess had escaped from Salina. He then sees hes next to a freshly dug grave with a casket at the bottom. Woollys sister, Sarah, observes to Emmett: If you take a trait that by all appearances is a merita trait that is praised by pastors and poets, a trait that we have come to admire in our friends and hope to foster in our childrenand you give it to some poor soul in abundance, it will almost certainly prove an obstacle to their happiness. Do you think this is true? To what degree does the style shape your sense of the characters personalities? Emmett soon shows up at Townhouses place. Just brings attention to the fact that this is amateur work rather than professional. Its worth noting that Woolly is described as being somewhat child-like, easily fascinated by things and also easily distracted by or led away by things that interest him. In my opinion, Woolly suffered from arrested development (psychological development that is not complete) when he was around the age of 7 yrs old due to the tragic death of his Father which occurred at that time. When Townhouse later returned, the guards were waiting, and Ackerly punished Townhouse severely. Woolly's sister, Sarah, observes to Emmett: "If you take a trait that by all appearances is a merita trait that is praised by pastors and poets, a trait that we have come to admire in our friends and hope to foster in our childrenand you give it to some poor soul in abundance, it will almost certainly prove an obstacle to their happiness." Dennis is horrified to see that they emptied four bottles of his fancy wine (Chteau Margaux 28). Woolly comes from a very wealthy background and they have decided they are going to travel to the family vacation home in the Adirondacks and take $150,000 out of the . Jimmy was a troublemaker who had goaded Emmett into punching him. The tone of each characters chapters differs from the tone of the other characters chapters. Duchess warns Emmett that hes willing to shoot him if hes left with no other choice. He offers to drive them back in the morning, but Duchess says that Woolly is unhappy there after Warden Williams fired the nurse that used to supply Woolly with drugs. In that moment, a black man named Ulysses who knows Pastor John enters the boxcar. He initially doesnt to ask anyone for directions, but he thinks about how his father had been too proud to ask the other farmers nearby for advice (Self-reliance as folly, Emmett had thought). The battery is dead from being idle too long. He purchases three old newspapers. Emmetts father also got sick, and this year he passed away. Ma Belle tells him about how Duchesss father used to leave Duchess with them as he worked in the lounge downstairs. After hearing Pastor John yelp in pain (when Billy kicked him), he got up to move toward Pastor John, though not before he heard Stew get knocked out as well. It took him on a train that later arrived in New York. Hed found the $150,000. Townhouse greets him warmly. In present day, Emmett thinks that she cried during the fireworks because she was reminded of what joy could be, if only she were willing to leave her daily life behind. Tommy was friends with Bo Finlay, who shared his sentiments about race. After Ulysses was knocked out, he slowly regained his consciousness. "The Lincoln Highway" is the story of a cast of characters who find themselves out on the road with intertwined stories. In present day, Pastor John sees Ulysses slump over. She also tells Emmett the story of how Duchess wound up with them. This morning, Emmett had recalled that the Statler building was where Duchess had said all the big agencies were housed. The Bibliofile's review of The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. While many blurbs of this novel focus on Emmett Watson, the book is equally about his kid brother, Billy, and his friends. Determined not to make the same mistakes, he asks people for directions and makes his way to the Statler Building. I will definitely finish the book, as I like it, but your summary will help me bluff my way through book club. Woolly should have control over the money now that hes 18, but his brother in law had him declared temperamentally unfit in order to retain authority over it. Elsewhere, Abacus thinks about how Billy has reawakened his desire for adventure. In The Lincoln Highway the biggest connection, of course, is the character Wallace "Woolly" Martin, the nephew of Wallace Wolcott from Rules of Civility . Emmett works on cleaning up, and Sally joins him. The Lincoln Highway exists on this continuum, a tale of Americana in which the open road is an invitation to adventure, wisdom, and redemption. Billy then pulls out his big red book to show him the story of Ulysses. For a non-spoiler version of the plot synopsis, see The Bibliofile's review of The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. Emmett has big reasons to leave the state, and a plan. Inside, are four objects: a goatee, a golden earring, a small jar of blackface, and a (retractable) dagger. Woolly comes from a rich family, but ended up in a juvenile home for being a troublemaker, but also because of his family's cruelty and . Over in Hells Kitchen, Duchess heads to a dive bar called Anchor on W. 45th St. Bernie had tipped him off that Fitzy and his father had often met there at 8 pm each night. Ask the Author. Pastor John grabs a shovel to steady himself so he can run after Billy, but instead another man approaches after hearing the commotion. He follows the cowboy hat guy. That night, Woolly and Duchess stay in a motor lodge called Howard Johnsons (HoJos) roughly 50 miles west of Chicago. Theyve promised to return by June 18. He talks about The Three Musketeers, and they talk about what he would do with $50,000. Back at Sarah's place, Emmett eventually shows up. Sheriff Peterson comments on how Emmett doesnt appear to have fought back with Jake at all. In the city, Emmett tries to track down Duchesss father, and he struggles to navigate the busy city. He then says he leaves to Emmett two legacies, one great, one small, both a form of sacrilege. Sheriff Peterson offers to drive Emmett back in his Studebaker and to let him clean up at his house before dropping him off. Maurice looks dejected. Sally joins them (platonically) so she can start a new life out there as well. He wants to start in media res (in the middle of the story), and he considers what the best starting point would be. Duchess tells Billy that hes been to hundreds of cities because her father was a traveling actor. Duchess is certain that Emmett is saying no only because he made the proposition in front of Billy. More questions about The Lincoln Highway. That night, Billy opens up his big red book, considering where to start his story. Emmett claims he is interested in hiring Harrison Hewett, and Mr. McGinley directs him to Mr. Cohen, an agent at another agency (Mr. Morton had explained that they all work cooperatively and take commissions from each other for referrals). (And the teachings of Jesus Christ can free you through atonement for guilt or forgiveness for others). Back in 1933, Charlie had moved to Nebraska from Boston to be a farmer, but never had much luck with the weather nor skill at farming or business. 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