Lincoln in the Bardo: Chapter 69 Summary & Analysis

When Vollman steps into Lincoln once again, he discovers that the man is trying “to formulate a goodbye, in some sort of positive spirit, not wishing to enact that final departure in gloom, in case it might be felt, somehow, by the lad (even as he told himself that the lad was now past all feeling).” Feeling this way, Lincoln remains in the white stone home, waiting for “some comforting notion to arise,” but no such idea emerges. In an effort to spark some thought that might help improve his mood, he projects his thoughts to the external world, thinking about “his life out there, and the encouragement of his future prospects, and the high regard in which he [is] held,” but he finds that “no comfort [is] forthcoming, but on the contrary: he [is] not, it seem[s] well thought of, or succeeding in much of anything at all.”