We are taken into each chapter with the date and location listed first, establishing part of the setting. The first chapter details the siege underway that has “the Confederate army, under the command of General Robert E. Lee…pinned inside the city [Petersburg, Virginia] for more than 250 days by Union forces under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant” (O’Reilly, Dugard 4). Grant believes that if Lee’s army is allowed to escape south to the Carolinas “a reunified United States of America” (4) will never be realized; “America will continue to be divided into a North and a South, a United States of America and a Confederate States of America” (4). Lee’s men are starving inside the city and getting more desperate by the day so he “plans to
…show more content…
In the sentence, “The dream finally ends as day breaks” (O’Reilly, Dugard 12), the authors are referring to an actual dream that Lincoln had seemingly predicting his own death, a well-documented phenomenon. And when the Confederate armies hold on Richmond, Virginia crumbles, the president says, “It seems to me that I have been dreaming this horrid dream for four years, and now the nightmare is gone” (25). The thirty-six star flag of “postwar America” was referred to as “the flag of Abraham Lincoln’s dreams” (39), and the narrator reminds us that “Lincoln believes in dreams, in dreams and in nightmares” (110). The recurring symbol appears in dialogue Lincoln has with Mary; “I had a dream the other night, which has haunted me since” (113) and again when the two disagree on the choice of the play they will be attending that fateful night when the narrator says, “Lincoln would never dream of contradicting Mary’s wishes” (154), making their decision in Mary’s favor to attend Ford’s Theater production of “Our American Cousin.” During their carriage ride to the venue “Lincoln has stayed in the moment, never allowing himself to dream of the future” (175) and after the assassination the attending physician’s thoughts about the fatal injury; the damage to a brilliant mind, “And this brain is also the reservoir of Lincoln’s nightmares” (229). It might also be considered the story as a whole is in direct reference to this symbol. The …show more content…
Lincoln continuously carries this foreshadowing through remarks about dreams and intuitive feelings he has been having through statements like: “I have the impression that I shall not last long after it is over” (100). On April 14, 1865, the day of the assassination, while describing Lincoln’s demeanor the narrator says “But today it is as if Lincoln subconsciously knows what is about to happen” (146). And Lincoln himself says to his bodyguard while walking down Pennsylvania Avenue “I believe there are men who want to take my life. And I have no doubt they will do it”
In the sentence, “The dream finally ends as day breaks” (O’Reilly, Dugard 12), the authors are referring to an actual dream that Lincoln had seemingly predicting his own death, a well-documented phenomenon. And when the Confederate armies hold on Richmond, Virginia crumbles, the president says, “It seems to me that I have been dreaming this horrid dream for four years, and now the nightmare is gone” (25). The thirty-six star flag of “postwar America” was referred to as “the flag of Abraham Lincoln’s dreams” (39), and the narrator reminds us that “Lincoln believes in dreams, in dreams and in nightmares” (110). The recurring symbol appears in dialogue Lincoln has with Mary; “I had a dream the other night, which has haunted me since” (113) and again when the two disagree on the choice of the play they will be attending that fateful night when the narrator says, “Lincoln would never dream of contradicting Mary’s wishes” (154), making their decision in Mary’s favor to attend Ford’s Theater production of “Our American Cousin.” During their carriage ride to the venue “Lincoln has stayed in the moment, never allowing himself to dream of the future” (175) and after the assassination the attending physician’s thoughts about the fatal injury; the damage to a brilliant mind, “And this brain is also the reservoir of Lincoln’s nightmares” (229). It might also be considered the story as a whole is in direct reference to this symbol. The …show more content…
Lincoln continuously carries this foreshadowing through remarks about dreams and intuitive feelings he has been having through statements like: “I have the impression that I shall not last long after it is over” (100). On April 14, 1865, the day of the assassination, while describing Lincoln’s demeanor the narrator says “But today it is as if Lincoln subconsciously knows what is about to happen” (146). And Lincoln himself says to his bodyguard while walking down Pennsylvania Avenue “I believe there are men who want to take my life. And I have no doubt they will do it”