Unity Theme Analysis

At the outset of Lincoln in the Bardo, characters from many different walks of life exist independently from one another in the Bardo, a liminal space between death and the afterlife. Even though each character is in the exact same situation, these characters don’t band together. Instead, they focus on themselves and their individual desires to remain in the Bardo. This dynamic changes when Willie Lincoln (the son of Abraham Lincoln) appears, as Hans Vollman, Roger Bevins III, and the Reverend Everly Thomas take an interest in encouraging the child to leave the Bardo, which is unfit for young souls. Working together with their fellow Bardo-dwellers, they do everything they can to convince Willie to leave. At one point, a large group of them even enter President Lincoln’s body and try to influence him to help them persuade the young boy, but their plan doesn’t work. However, though the Bardo-dwellers ultimately fail in their attempt to affect President Lincoln, each character is renewed and uplifted by the experience of having temporarily united as an undivided whole. In this way, Saunders suggests that unification is an intrinsically good and worthwhile aim—so much so, in fact, that it is rewarding even when it fails to bring about tangible change.

Although everyone in the Bardo occupies the same liminal realm, each soul thinks only of him- or herself. No one, it seems, ever stops to consider that they might have anything in common with another soul. To them, this kind of individualistic thinking is necessary if they want to remain in the Bardo. Roger Bevins III makes this clear when he says, “To stay, one must deeply and continuously dwell upon one’s primary reason for staying; even to the exclusion of all else.” This focus on the self naturally leads to a divided community—one that is unable to band together.

Saunders challenges this individualistic thinking when Vollman, Bevins, and the Reverend enter President Lincoln’s body and convince their fellow Bardo-dwellers to do the same. They do this because they hope to influence Lincoln, who is about to leave his son’s mausoleum. As he walks away, the Bardo-dwellers enter him and try to get him to return to Willie’s grave, hoping this will allow Willie to enter his body and see that Lincoln would want him to move on from the Bardo. In this moment, the true spirit of democracy comes to the forefront of the novel, as Lincoln suddenly houses “many wills, memories, complaints, desires, so much raw life-force.” In the same way that Lincoln is subject to a cacophony of conflicting viewpoints in the real world—where people both criticize and praise him for his handling of the Civil War—here he literally embodies the spirit of unity. Indeed, a typically divided mass suddenly comes together in this moment, united with a common goal: to convince Lincoln to turn around. As they try to do this, Saunders provides a representation of the democratic process itself, in which a diverse set of people seek to inform the decisions of an appointed official by uniting to express a common will. Moreover, this takes place in a moment when the democratic process has all but broken down in the real world, with the Civil War being the ultimate manifestation of division and disagreement. As such, Saunders juxtaposes the Bardo-dwellers’ spirit of unity with America’s political discord, thereby showing readers what true democracy might look like.

When they come together inside Lincoln’s body, the Bardo-dwellers are astonished by the effect the process has on them. As they endeavor to “harness” the “mass power” of their collective thoughts, they delight in their togetherness. “What a pleasure,” Bevins rejoices. “What a pleasure it was, being in there. Together. United in common purpose. In there together, yet also within one another, thereby receiving glimpses of one another’s minds, and glimpses, also, of Mr. Lincoln’s mind. How good it felt, doing this together!” As he thinks this, the entire group thinks the same, and feels the same kind of happiness. “My God, what a thing!” exclaims Vollman. “To find oneself thus expanded!” The word “expanded” in this sentence suggests that unity does more than simply help people achieve tangible goals by rallying behind a majority opinion—it also enriches and rewards those who participate in the act of coming together.

Unfortunately, the Bardo-dwellers are unable to influence Lincoln. Instead of turning around to visit his son’s grave once more, he actually speeds up, eager to leave the cemetery. As he does so, the souls exit his body, disappointed to have failed in their mission. At the same time, though, they find that the experience of uniting with one another has renewed them. “We found ourselves (like flowers from which placed rocks had just been removed) being restored somewhat to our natural fullness,” Bevins says. This sentiment suggests that solitary, individualistic thinking is taxing and inhibiting. Banding together with others, on the other hand, brings a soul to its “natural fullness.”

Although the Bardo-dwellers aren’t able to convince Lincoln to turn around, they still benefit from their collective effort. In this way, Saunders shows that the act of coming together is worthwhile even when doing so doesn’t result in a tangible victory. Unification puts people in the position to interact with one another in ways that ultimately “expand” their own lives, an idea easily applied to Lincoln’s effort to bring the nation together during the Civil War. By endeavoring to keep the South from seceding, the president strives for a national togetherness that will not only benefit the Union, but also individuals throughout the country.