67 pages • 2 hours read
Bill O'Reilly, Martin DugardKilling Lincoln
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Ford’s Theatre
Ford’s Theatre is the location in which John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln. The theatre was a second home to Booth, and his knowledge of the theatre allowed him to move so expertly through the place while planning and carrying out the assassination. The theatre is symbolic in that Booth was a noted actor and the theatre was his life, meaning that killing Lincoln in the theatre played to his vanity and love of dramatics. The theatre is also a stage, and Booth conducted the assassination as if it were his greatest role and performance.
Our American Cousin
The play Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated, Our American Cousin, is the same play he saw when he began his career as president, thus bookmarking his presidency as the narrative indicates. Notably, it ended his presidency with his murder. The narrative paints the picture that the president didn’t want to go to the play, as if he knew he was doomed. Lincoln also invites half a dozen people to attend, with all of them refusing, again suggesting that there was some doom surrounding the play. Booth also used a specific scene and line of dialogue in the third act of the play as a cue for Lincoln’s death. The play, and the actors, suffered greatly after Lincoln’s assassination as Our American Cousin and its actors were forever linked unfavorably to Lincoln’s murder.
Dreams
Lincoln experiences many foreboding dreams in the narrative, including one major dream in which he sees his own funeral. The narrative begins with him having a bad dream, and it’s later revealed that this dream was of him witnessing people mourning at a funeral—his funeral. He reveals this dream to an understandably shaken Mary Todd Lincoln and their dinner guests. Throughout the narrative, Lincoln’s dreams seem to indicate that he will not escape his death. Though others tell him his dreams are just that, it’s also shown that everyone else is more concerned with Lincoln’s safety than he is. The narrative also mentions how dreams have a Biblical portent, thus highlighting the fatalistic nature of dreams.
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the South, and the seat of the Confederacy government under president Jefferson Davis. A such, Richmond represents the physical manifestation of the South’s rebellion, as well as the seat of power for its plans to disrupt the North and enact its plans of secession. For Booth and others, Richmond is a Zion-like city compared to the “evil” of Washington, D.C. For Lincoln and Grant, however, Richmond is key to winning the Civil War. Lincoln and his general know that if Richmond falls, the will of the South will fall with it. Both Grant and Lincoln await word of Richmond’s demise as the war ends, knowing this is the advantage they need. When Richmond falls and Davis flees, the South and its supporters are indeed demoralized, perhaps none more than Booth. The author also mentions that Richmond was perhaps a more American city then even Washington, D.C. Historically speaking, Richmond is where Patrick Henry gave his famous speech with Thomas Jefferson and George Washington in attendance.
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