Chances Are . . .

As one of three central protagonists, Lincoln is a round and dynamic character whose journey is defined by the conflict between his various inherited identities. Specifically, he is caught between the pragmatic, domineering temperament of his father, W. A. “Dub-Yay” Moser, and the sentimental, freedom-seeking values of his mother, Trudy. A successful commercial real estate broker, Lincoln embodies a conventional, Republican, results-oriented version of masculinity, but his return to the Chilmark house for a reunion with his college friends forces him to confront the aspects of himself that he has long suppressed. The house, a direct inheritance from his mother, symbolizes a version of his past self that stands in opposition to the conventional life that he has built with his wife, Anita. His internal struggle is reflected in his indecision over whether to sell the house, for although his family desperately needs the money in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, he fears that he is betraying his late mother’s legacy: the one aspect of her life that remained free of her domineering husband’s toxic influence. As Lincoln grapples with the foundational influences that shaped him, it is clear that even as an older man, he still perpetually measures himself against his father’s rigid worldview—even as he attempts to resist it.