Dec 29, 2009

Abe Lincoln Grows Up | Themes and Characters

Because Abe Lincoln Grows Up is biographical rather than fictional, it lacks a true plot. There is no rising action leading to a climax that changes the lives of the people involved. Instead, Sandburg creates a realistic background— the frontier wilderness of Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois—and then populates it with historical figures. The major characters are Abe Lincoln; his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln; and his stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln.

Sandburg characterizes the young Abe Lincoln as mischievous with his friends and serious in his work and studies....