Lincoln in the Bardo

A bardo is a Buddhist space between life and full death, where dead souls stay until they achieve enlightenment and move on in the cycle of reincarnation. Although Saunders’s version of the bardo does not strictly adhere to concept as laid out in The Tibetan Book of the Dead, it functions similarly. In the novel, ghosts become trapped in the bardo until they can acknowledge that they are dead and let go of the obsessions with their past lives that anchor them in the material world. In Saunders’s bardo ghosts from different historical periods and socioeconomic classes are forced together, recreating the melting pot American ideal—and showing how far the country has yet to go to achieve that ideal through the ghosts’ racist, sexist, and otherwise prejudiced treatment of each other.

Willie is buried in a white stone tomb, referred to as his white stone home. This white home directly alludes to the White House, the official residence of Willie’s father, President Lincoln. In the bardo, Willie becomes an influential figure, as ghosts who believe he has some greater connection to the world of the living line up to seek an audience with him and ask for favors—an image that echoes the role of the president in the US.