A memorable journey along ‘The Lincoln Highway’

Good fiction overwhelms you with a mixed soup of emotions, some of which you can relate as almost happening to yourself, and others that you can empathize with. The Lincoln Highway brings together ordinary-seeming characters in a real setting, which revolves around the places in and around the titular highway, and creates out of it a grand narrative within which small stories of its character interact beautifully.

Main protagonists are two brothers: the elder, Emmet, who has just finished his sentence at juvenile prison, and the younger, Billy, who is full of curiosity and possesses an intellect honed by his insatiable love for reading and sharp observation. Their father had died of cancer, leaving behind huge debt owing to his failure in an agriculture venture, which led to the foreclosure of their property. With only his car, his loving brother and a mixture of ambition, courage and self-confidence, Emmet plans to ride with Billy Westward along the highway for a fresh start in California. But, if everything goes according to plan in fiction, there would not be a book of more than 100,000 words and if there was one, it would probably be very boring.

Two of the closest friends of Emmet while he was in the prison, Duchess and Wolly, break out of the prison and come to meet him. They join along for the ride, with their own grand plan and purposes. Along the ride, besides the beautiful outer landscape of the surrounding, complex inner world of these diverse characters opens up before the reader. Other than these main characters, there are other supporting ones, who have been portrayed with such richness that one cannot help but hunger for more details about their life and thoughts. Two female characters, who showcase deep inner strength and wisdom, provide variation and diversity of perspective. As we come to know these companions, they are likely to feel, at least partly, like ourselves or some family members or friends we know.

The book starts at the middle of the story, and as the plot moves forward and backward along the timeline, the differing childhood of characters reveals itself. Beyond their diversity of class, geography, and circumstance of their upbringing, there are some commonalities like a sense of loss and lack of belongingness. Readers can enjoy trying to understand the values, thoughts and actions of the characters in the light of their early years, including parenting or lack thereof and family circumstances. Then it would not be surprising to find someone, who never knew his mother and was raised by an absent father, turns out to be shortsighted and self-centered despite good intentions. Or that a sensitive, timid child, growing up in a rich household full of highly ambitious people, with expectation burdened upon him, grows up to be anxious. Also, little Billy’s character reminds us that children are full of wonder, curiosity and optimism that many seem to grow out of as they age. Actions that these characters take, shaped by the coincidence of their birth and childhood, determine how their journey moves forward and where they end up at the climax. In the journey of these characters, conflict of whether fate decides everything or free will is in charge is also palpable.

Different chapters of the book are written from the perspectives of different characters, allowing us to observe the unfolding of some major events from various points of view. When a character commits an act that seems irrational and irritating, gaining the actor’s inner perspective on the same not only makes the act appear more reasonable but also helps the reader develop general compassion—something fiction reading has been shown to foster. Even actions that seem selfish and cause disproportionate difficulty to others become understandable, if not entirely forgivable. 

Hero’s journey is a major theme that the book embraces. Billy immerses himself in a book titled “Compendium of Heroes, Adventurer’s and other intrepid travelers”, a fictional book within the fiction about the journey of heroes through the ages. It traces the lines of a self-sufficient hero going into the world to face the external demons and in the process of struggling to vanquish it, coming to know oneself better, meeting and beating the demons within, thus returning from the journey as a transformed person. This is a journey we can all relate to, be it in the stories we have read, movies we have watched or the life we have lived. 

Billy has a dream of being part of a similar adventure and writing about it himself. The journey he is making becomes an important part of his story, which incorporates the life of his brother, father and other side characters besides himself. And this is not unique in that regard. One of the messages that the book tries to impart is that each of our lives is a journey with so many ups and downs, unexpected twists and turns, love and loss worthy of great story.

At times, it may appear that the story has been stretched too long, going into avoidable tangents but that can be forgiven, given the writer’s willingness to touch many different themes and viewpoints. It even tackles deep moral and philosophical questions of life. The book is likely to take willing readers into a wide ranging emotional roller-coaster. Unable to contain, one may laugh out loud or moist their eyes with an outflow of feelings, whether for the characters or for someone that the lifelike characters remind. Reputed literary critics have said that fiction is best read by making yourself vulnerable, allowing the story to do whatever it wants with you. And for anyone wanting to make oneself vulnerable with the noble pursuit of reading, ‘The Lincoln Highway’ is a worthy choice.