What role do stories play in the shaping of the different characters’ lives and personalities? Are these stories a productive or counterproductive force? What story-whether handed down to you from your parents or experienced in a novel or film-had a particularly strong influence on shaping you as a young person? Throughout the novel, an array of stories are recalled-stories drawn from Professor Abernathe’s Compendium, from the Vaudevillian world of Duchess’s father, from Shakespeare, cinema, and the Bible.What is it about Billy that makes this so? How would you describe Billy’s personality? While he is the youngest and least experienced character in the novel, one could argue that he has the greatest influence on other characters. Early in the novel, Emmett meets Sister Agnes, a nun who describes the faith of children, who look upon a miracle “with awe and wonder, yes, but without disbelief.” From the context, it’s fairly clear that Sister Agnes is referencing Billy in her remark.How do you think Emmett, Duchess, Woolly, and Sally’s various upbringings-particularly their relationships to their parents-have shaped them? How have their parents’ choices influenced their own desires and ambitions? When you were eighteen, which aspects of your parents’ lives did you hope to emulate, and which did you hope to cast aside?.
Below, I have posed some questions of the sort that might have surfaced in one of our discussions. Ever since, we have met in some New York City restaurant once a month in order to discuss a novel in detail. Over fifteen years ago, three friends and I formed a reading group. If you have come to this Guide because you have read The Lincoln Highway, I owe you my heartfelt thanks.
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