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The Plague of Robins
In the 1930s, a new “public works” project is proposed in Medallion, Ohio: a road that will connect the black neighborhood of the Bottom with some of the surrounding white communities. While it’s not explicitly stated, Morrison implies that this project is a product of Roosevelt’s New Deal, implying an agreement between the federal government and more overtly racist government agencies of the state of Ohio. It’s not until the end of Sula that the “New River Road” is shown for what it really is. More than a decade after the road was proposed, it’s still not finished. Whenever the local authorities deny healthcare to the blacks in the Bottom, or charge extra rent, the stated reason is always the same: it’s a sacrifice, necessary for the completion of the road, which will benefit everyone—including the black people in the Bottom—equally. But when the residents of the Bottom march to the New River Road, they see the reality of it: a dirty pile of bricks that will never be finished. In all, the road is a tragic symbol of the deception and manipulation that American authorities have used to prolong black suffering.
The New River Road Quotes in Sula
The Sula quotes below all refer to the symbol of The New River Road. 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:
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1927
Quotes
"I built that road," he could say. How much better sundown would be than the end of a day in the restaurant, where a good day's work was marked by the number of dirty plates and the weight of the garbage bin. "I built that road." People would walk over his sweat for years. Perhaps a sledge hammer would come crashing down on his foot, and when people asked him how come he limped, he could say, "Got that building the New Road."
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1941
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It dazzled them, at first, and they were suddenly quiet. Their hooded eyes swept over the place where their hope had lain since 1927. There was the promise: leaf-dead. The teeth unrepaired, the coal credit cut off, the chest pains unattended, the school shoes unbought, the rush-stuffed mattresses, the broken toilets, the leaning porches, the slurred remarks and the staggering childish malevolence of their employers. All there in blazing sunlit ice rapidly becoming water.
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The New River Road Symbol Timeline in Sula
The timeline below shows where the symbol The New River Road appears in Sula. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
1927
...money to take a wife), but it was announced that a new road, the “ New River Road ” would be built, and Jude thought that he could get work there. (The narrator...
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...describe Jude Greene. Jude longs for a challenging physical job—he wants to work on the New River Road . He also craves the camaraderie of working alongside people who are like him. He...
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1941
...it’s the best news the town has heard since the announcement of work on the New River Road . A polite funeral is held for her, but secretly the townspeople are relieved that...
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At the same time that Sula dies, it’s announced that the builders of the New River Road —a project that which has been deadlocked for years—will finally accept black labor. This is...
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...his parade through the city down Main Street, toward what has been built of the New River Road , the road tunnel that will one day lead across the river. Together, he and...
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One by one, the people of the Bottom react to the sight of the New River Road in the same way. They pick up rocks and bricks, walk to the cliff where...
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