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Judge Carroll
Hans Vollman’s second wife. Significantly younger than Vollman, Anna is incredibly nervous on their wedding night—so nervous, in fact, that Vollman tells her they don’t need to make love. Eventually, though, Anna comes to love Vollman and suggests that they finally consummate their marriage. Unfortunately, Vollman dies the very next day. Although Vollman insists during his time in the Bardo that Anna is waiting for him to “recover,” Bevins reminds his friend at the end of the novel that Anna visited the cemetery several years ago and told Vollman’s grave that she has married another man, whom she loves deeply. Once Vollman finally admits that he remembers this, he finds himself suddenly ready to move on from the Bardo.
Anna Quotes in Lincoln in the Bardo
The Lincoln in the Bardo quotes below are all either spoken by Anna or refer to Anna . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1 Quotes
And that is how we lived. We became friends. Dear friends. That was all. And yet that was so much. We laughed together, made decisions about the household […]. To see her brighten when I came in, find her leaning into me as we discussed some household matter, improved my lot in many ways I cannot adequately explain. I had been happy, happy enough, but now I often found myself uttering a spontaneous prayer that went, simply: She is here, still here. It was as if a rushing river had routed itself through my house, which was pervaded now by a freshwater scent and the awareness of something lavish, natural, and breathtaking always moving nearby.
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Explanation and Analysis:
This passage appears at the beginning of Hans Vollman’s first monologue, when he describes his relationship to Anna, his second wife. He explains that he assured his young bride that they need not consummate their marriage, instead suggesting that they live together as affable companions. Anna so appreciates Hans’s kindness that they become “dear friends,” something that greatly enhances his life. Indeed, he delights in seeing her “brighten” when he enters the room, and they slowly but surely grow closer. In this way, Saunders shows that Vollman’s empathy—his refusal to force Anna into a romantic relationship—leads to a mutual sense Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit ea
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Anna Character Timeline in Lincoln in the Bardo
The timeline below shows where the character Anna appears in Lincoln in the Bardo. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
Continuing the story of his wedding night, Hans Vollman explains that he told Anna—his bride—that she should pretend to everyone that they consummated their marriage, though in truth they...
(full context)
After Anna left her note, Vollman explains, the couple spent a joyful night kissing and cuddling in...
(full context)
...marriage-bed?” After waxing poetic about what it would be like to finally have sex with Anna, he says that he and his wife will have to wait until his “recovery” is...
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...sick-box and create “little duststorms.” He even broke a vase sitting on his porch, though Anna and the physician didn’t notice, as they were too busy talking about his “injury.” As...
(full context)
Chapter 54-55
...world” and desires “the man-smell and the strong hold of a man,” while Bevins sees “Anna’s face” and comprehends his friend’s “reluctance to leave her behind.” Greatly renewed by this experience,...
(full context)
Chapter 102
Vollman denies Bevins’s words, but his friend pushes on, recounting Anna’s visit to the cemetery. She came, Bevins says, and thanked Vollman for putting her “on...
(full context)
Chapter 103
...his future forms: “A beaming fellow in a disordered bed, the morning after he and Anna would have consummated their marriage”; “A father of twin girls”; “A retired printer with bad...
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