Lincoln in the Bardo characters

Appears from the start

The eleven-year-old son of Abraham and Mary Lincoln, recently dead from illness and placed in a borrowed crypt at Oak Hill Cemetery. Confused by his sudden separation from his family, he remains near his body and expects his father to return for him.

Also known as The President

Appears from the start

The president of the United States and Willie's grieving father. Burdened by the Civil War and public criticism as well as private loss, he comes alone to the cemetery at night and enters the crypt where his son's body lies.

First appears in chapter 10

A former printer lingering in the cemetery after a beam struck and killed him. He had only recently married a much younger woman and died before their marriage could be consummated. Refusing to accept that he is dead, he calls his coffin a sick-box and hopes to resume the life that was interrupted.

First appears in chapter 10

A young man who cut his wrists after being rejected by the man he loved, then regretted the act as he died. In the cemetery his form carries multiple eyes, noses, and hands, reflecting his renewed hunger for every sensation of life. He is Vollman's closest companion.

First appears in chapter 15

A clergyman who remembers reaching a place of judgment after death and hearing that he was condemned. He fled back to the cemetery rather than face that sentence. Unlike most of the spirits, he understands that they have died, though fear keeps him from saying so plainly.

First appears in chapter 45

An enslaved Black man buried in the cemetery, watchful toward both the white spirits around him and the living people whose world continues beyond the gates. He understands bondage as an immediate reality rather than an abstraction in the nation's war.

First appears in chapter 55

A young girl whose long refusal to leave the cemetery has distorted her into a frightening, powerful presence. She demonstrates the danger facing children who remain attached to their bodies instead of moving on.

First appears in chapter 55

A poor woman buried with members of her family after lives marked by insecurity and want. She belongs to the cemetery's large, quarrelsome community of spirits drawn into the effort to help Willie.

First appears in chapter 75

A Black woman among the cemetery's dead whose earthly life was shaped by sexual violence and enforced silence. Her presence exposes experiences that the more privileged spirits often fail to understand.

First appears in chapter 75

A former military officer whose speech retains the racism and entitlement of his life. His contempt for the cemetery's Black spirits makes him a hostile presence within the restless crowd.

Appears from the start

Willie's mother and the First Lady, overwhelmed by her son's death while also subject to public scrutiny of the presidential household. Accounts of her grief form part of the living world's fragmented record surrounding the night in the cemetery.