The Lincoln Highway Characters

Emmett Watson

An 18-year-old boy who has grown up on a failing farm in Nebraska, Emmett was sentenced to Salina, a juvenile detention center, after accidentally killing a boy in his town. Emmett is both honorable and conscientious, taking care of his younger brother Billy and making diligent plans for their future in California. He seeks a steady future of carpentry work and flipping properties in an area where there is high population growth.

Billy Watson

Emmett’s younger brother, Billy is both meticulous and earnest. He has a sharp eye for detail and numbers, and is greatly attached to the idea of following the same path west that their mother took when she left eight years ago. However, he is still a young child, and his naivete is both a strength and a weakness.

Duchess

The son of a washed-up Shakespearean actor and vaudeville performer, Duchess was bunkmates at Salina with Emmett, Woolly, and Townhouse. He is charismatic and confident, easily talking himself out of and into situations such. A troublemaker who was abandoned by his father at an orphanage, Duchess is also seeking to get his due from his father and others who wronged him.

Woolly Wolcott

A grandson to one of the oldest and richest families in New York, Woolly grew up privileged and wealthy. Woolly is watched closely by Duchess for his drug habit and his absent-mindedness, which often leads him into trouble. He is sweet and good-natured, but he has trouble understanding social conventions and rules. Kicked out of three boarding schools, Woolly ended up in Salina for stealing a firetruck that he thought must have been forgotten by its owners.

Sally

Sally is the daughter of Mr. Ransom, the owner of the farm just beside the Watsons’. She has no patience for nonsense, and keeps to a strict schedule looking after her father’s household (including, for the past year, Billy). While she was formerly romantically involved with Emmett, she is more determined to subvert social expectations based on her gender when she pursues the Watsons to New York.

Sarah Wolcott

One of Woolly’s two sisters, Sarah is one of Woolly’s greatest defenders and his closest family member. However, her husband, Dennis, is angry and exasperated at Woolly’s behavior, going so far as to declare him mentally unfit for his trust fund.

Ulysses

A veteran of World War II who returned to find his wife absent, Ulysses is a Black man who saves Billy from getting thrown off the train by Pastor John. Billy excitedly compares Ulysses to the Greek hero Odysseus, who also went to war and wandered for ten years before successfully reuniting with his wife and son. Ulysses is still in the middle of his wandering, but Billy gives him hope that he may be reunited with his wife and child again.

Pastor John

A so-called Christian pastor who preys on Billy’s silver coin collection, Pastor John is stopped from striking Billy by Ulysses and subsequently kicked off the train. He, surprisingly enough, survives and manages to end up in New York anyway. He tracks down Ulysses and Billy and attempts another attack.