Booth And Lincoln's Search For Identity In Topdog, By Henry David Thoreau

Booth and Lincoln both search for an identity in their assertions of power. Booth tries emulating his brother’s power by aspiring to “throw the cards” and master the hustle in an attempt to establish his identity, as the “topdog” with power. Maley and Michael LeMahieu discuss the significance of Booth’s self-naming, dubbing himself “3-Card” as he embarks on his endeavor to unseat Lincoln from the position of the “topdog.” However, LeMahieu emphasizes the importance of Lincoln’s struggle to determine “what is,” to separate himself from the legacy of the Abraham Lincoln, the man he is named after and the man he impersonates for an honest living, an identity Link relies on to procure the salary that provides him with control and keeps him in the position of the “topdog.” Maley mentions that “Lincoln always retains power and control” by earning “the salary they share and, more importantly for this relationship, he [still] has the skill to run a successful three-card monte hustle” (187). At the beginning of Topdog/Underdog, on the surface level of the play, Lincoln has completely abandoned the hustle, yielding the control he possessed in tricking others through

illusion, only to retain control in the brother’s relationship through yet another illusion. LeMahieu accurately posits that Parks introduces the theme of “the fake, the phony, or the impostor” with Lincoln’s impersonation job, regardless of the fact that Lincoln considers the gig an honest job (35). Even when it seems that Lincoln has denounced the hustle, his control still comes from being an imposter, relying on maintaining the “thuh illusion of thuh whole thing” for the “"folks [coming] in kill phony Honest Abe with the phony pistol" (Parks 49; 33). As LeMahieu states, Lincoln's “anxiety concerning his occupation is a symptom of his uncertainty concerning his identity, whether he is the real deal or whether he is, or has always been, an impostor” (37).
Lincoln is so fixated on finding his identity by asserting himself as the “topdog” and being “the real deal,” yet he ultimately resorts to using illusions to ensure his superiority. Lincoln’s control and power as the “topdog” relies on creating an illusion in the same manner that Coates depicts white supremacist relying on the illusions of the notion of hierarchical race and the American Dream to maintain their power. The moment that Lincoln refuses to continue to capitulate to the American Dream, gives up surviving off of an honest job, Lincoln immediately falls back into the mentality that exerting himself as the “topdog” requires employing illusions. After experiencing the intrinsic disappointment present in pursuing the unachievable American Dream, than losing his job and momentarily means of control, Lincoln finds empowered again just in reminiscing about hustling: “Shit, I was good. I was great […] I was the best anyone ever seen. Coast to coast. Everybody said so. And I never lost. Not once. Not one time. Not never. That’s how much them cards was mines. I was the be all end all” (Parks 55). Lincoln had abandoned the hustle thinking “there’s more to Link than that […] more to me than some cheap hustle,” looking to aim for the American Dream only to realize the impossibility of achieving this illusion through an honest job (56). In response to this realization, as Laura Dawkins suggests, Lincoln “assimilates into a hierarchical American society,” which he does in adopting the mentality that self-progress and power relies on employing illusions to hustle others (90).
Parks demonstrates Lincoln’s reliance on employing deception to maintain his control and power as the “topdog” by ultimately hustling Booth.

Coates states that the illusion of the American Dream creates white supremacy by requiring that blacks are “the essential bottom of the country” (106). This element of the American Dream demonstrates that this tool of control ultimately ensures power for those at the top of a hierarchy by oppressing others, keeping them within the confines of the lower positions. Lincoln’s use of illusion in Topdog/Underdog rests on the same fundamental basis; in order to maintain his position as the “topdog” Lincoln “asserts his topdog status by playing on his brother's desire to unseat him” by both conning Booth and consequently keeping him in the position of the underdog (LeMahieu

35).
Topdog/Underdog is essentially a play-length hustle Lincoln carries out on his mark, Booth. According to Maley, in a 3-card monte hustle, the “dealer controls the game’s result with one or both of its trademark sleight-of-hand moves;” therefore the hustle relies on the dealer’s skill creating an illusion through the sleight of hand (189). However, the hustle is more elaborate; as Maley states, that in 3-card monte, the “mark is most vulnerable when most confident” (190). Any expert dealers will throw a few rounds to “boost his mark’s confidence progressively higher” until the mark eventually raises the stakes” (191). The entirety of Topdog/Underdog follows Lincoln’s own hustle on Booth; Lincoln is driven by his greed for power and need to remain the “topdog” into manipulating Booth out of his five-hundred dollar inheritance.
Lincoln consistently seizes every opportune moment to bolster Booth’s ego and confidence till Booth stakes his inheritance. Whenever Lincoln appears to be a nurturing older brother trying to help out Booth and assist him in working towards gaining some sense of control over his life, Lincoln is ultimately manipulating the “underdog” and setting up this elaborate con. Lincoln is a master manipulator; he boosts Booth’s confidence by pretending to teach him the tricks of his trade while simultaneously seeming to relinquish some control by appearing vulnerable from job insecurity and the loss of his wife, Cookie. Lincoln expresses deep worry about losing his job, the means by which he holds control in the relationship in economic gain, and seemingly turns to Booth for assistance:
BOOTH: You was lucky with the cards.
LINCOLN: Lucky? Aint nothing lucky about cards. Cards aint luck. Cards is work. Cards is skill. Aint never nothing lucky about cards.
(Rest)
I don’t wanna lose my job.
BOOTH: Then you gotta jazz up yr act. Elaborate yr moves, you knw. You was always too stiff with it. You cant just sit there! Maybe, when they shot you, you know, lea up flail r arms than fall down and wiggle around and shit so they gotta shoot you more than once.
LINCOLN: Help me practice… (Parks 29-30)
Lincoln appears to slide out of the position as the “topdog” in control, turning to his younger brother for advice and support; typically, in their relationship, it is the “underdog” Booth who relies on Lincoln for guidance.