Elise Traynor (or “The Traynor Girl”) Character Analysis in Lincoln in the Bardo

A fourteen-year-old girl who cannot leave the Bardo. While she was still alive, Elise wanted nothing more than to have a baby, but she never got the chance to get pregnant, since she died so young. When she arrived in the Bardo, then, she couldn’t bring herself to leave, focusing intensely on her wish to fulfill her dreams of becoming a mother. However, young people aren’t meant to “tarry” in the Bardo, and so a hellish tendril emerged from the ground and fastened Elise to the iron fence that marks the boundary of where the Bardo-dwellers can roam. Since then, Elise has been unable to leave, and the tendrils have had a terrible effect on her. Indeed, she constantly manifests as dreadful and macabre objects. In addition, her linguistic abilities have deteriorated, though she has also learned a number of vulgar words that now pepper her sentences. Vollman, Bevins, and the Reverend feel guilty for not helping the girl when they still could, since they were too busy focusing on themselves and the effort required to stay in the Bardo. When Willie arrives, the three friends take him to see Elise, hoping her situation will show him that he must leave. At the end of the novel, Vollman redeems his cowardice by using the matterlightblooming phenomenon—which occurs when a person leaves the Bardo—to free Elise from her constraints.

Elise Traynor (or “The Traynor Girl”) Quotes in Lincoln in the Bardo

The Lincoln in the Bardo quotes below are all either spoken by Elise Traynor (or “The Traynor Girl”) or refer to Elise Traynor (or “The Traynor Girl”). 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:

).

I want ed so much to hold a dear Babe.

I know very wel I do not look as prety as I onseh. And over time, I admit, I have come to know serten words I did not formerly

Fuk cok shit reem ravage assfuk

[…] I did not get any. Thing.

Was gone too soon

To get

Only forteen.

Yrs of aje

Plese do come again sir it has been a pleasure to make your

But fuk yr anshient frends (do not bring them agin) who kome to ogle and mok me and ask me to swindle no that is not the werd slender slander that wich I am doing. Wich is no more than what they are doing. Is it not so? What I am doing, if I only cary on fathefully, will, I am sure, bring about that longed-for return to

Green grass kind looks.

Related Characters: Elise Traynor (or “The Traynor Girl”) (speaker), Hans Vollman, Roger Bevins III, The Reverend Everly Thomas, Willie Lincoln

Related Symbols: The Iron Fence

Page Number and Citation: 38

Explanation and Analysis:

Elise Traynor (or “The Traynor Girl”) Quotes in Lincoln in the Bardo

The Lincoln in the Bardo quotes below are all either spoken by Elise Traynor (or “The Traynor Girl”) or refer to Elise Traynor (or “The Traynor Girl”). 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:

).

I want ed so much to hold a dear Babe.

I know very wel I do not look as prety as I onseh. And over time, I admit, I have come to know serten words I did not formerly

Fuk cok shit reem ravage assfuk

[…] I did not get any. Thing.

Was gone too soon

To get

Only forteen.

Yrs of aje

Plese do come again sir it has been a pleasure to make your

But fuk yr anshient frends (do not bring them agin) who kome to ogle and mok me and ask me to swindle no that is not the werd slender slander that wich I am doing. Wich is no more than what they are doing. Is it not so? What I am doing, if I only cary on fathefully, will, I am sure, bring about that longed-for return to

Green grass kind looks.

Related Characters: Elise Traynor (or “The Traynor Girl”) (speaker), Hans Vollman, Roger Bevins III, The Reverend Everly Thomas, Willie Lincoln

Related Symbols: The Iron Fence

Page Number and Citation: 38

Explanation and Analysis:

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Elise Traynor (or “The Traynor Girl”) Character Analysis

Elise Traynor (or “The Traynor Girl”) Quotes in Lincoln in the Bardo

Elise Traynor (or “The Traynor Girl”) Quotes in Lincoln in the Bardo

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