Chapter 29: Waiting for the Future – Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens on the day of the Fourth of July parade in Pottstown. The parade is delayed because the Empire Fire Company’s truck breaks down in front of the Antes House, and the Revolutionary-era costumes are in disrepair. Hal Leopold, the meticulous parade director, is furious that several parade marshals, including Gus Plitzka and Doc Roberts, are wearing red British coats instead of the Continental Army blue. He berates them and orders them to find blue coats. Doc Roberts, tired and nursing a bad foot, agrees to switch, but ultimately decides to remain in the red coat because the only available blue coat is too small.

Gus Plitzka is in serious trouble. He owes money to Philadelphia mobster Nig Rosen, and a debt collector named Henry Lit confronts him during the parade preparations. Lit threatens Plitzka’s family and the town’s water supply, giving Plitzka a deadline to pay. Panicked, Plitzka abandons the parade after it ends, leaving his red coat neatly folded. Doc Roberts stays behind, drinks heavily, and begins ranting about the downfall of America, his resentment toward immigrants, and his unrequited obsession with Chona, the daughter of the synagogue’s rabbi. In his drunken state, he decides to cut through an empty lot on Chicken Hill to shorten his walk home.

Meanwhile, Fatty and Big Soap are executing their plan to reroute the town’s water supply to the synagogue (the shul). They work in the dark, using the fireworks as cover. They drill into the main reservoir pipe, endure a powerful burst of water, and successfully connect the shul’s pipe to the city water line. After finishing, they realize the concrete manhole cover over the well is broken and must be replaced. Fatty sends Big Soap for a wheelbarrow and mortar, while he heads to his jook for planks.

Henry Lit, having fallen asleep, wakes to see a man in a red coat—whom he mistakes for Gus Plitzka—stagger into the empty lot. Lit follows, puts on brass knuckles, and strikes the man, breaking his jaw. The victim, Doc Roberts, falls backward into the open well and drowns. Lit flees, later reporting to Rosen that Plitzka fell into a pond. Fatty and Big Soap return, unaware of the body below. They wedge planks across the well and pour a new concrete cover, sealing Doc’s remains inside. The chapter ends with Fatty telling Big Soap they are “waiting for the future.”

Key Events

The parade is delayed twice: the fire truck breaks down, and then a horse bolts after a backfire.
Hal Leopold scolds Gus Plitzka and Doc Roberts for wearing red British coats.
Henry Lit, working for Nig Rosen, threatens Gus Plitzka over an unpaid debt.
Plitzka panics and leaves the parade early.
Doc Roberts gets drunk, delivers a rant about America and his obsession with Chona, and decides to walk home through Chicken Hill.
Fatty and Big Soap successfully tap into the reservoir pipe to bring city water to the shul.
Henry Lit mistakes the drunk Doc Roberts (wearing the red coat) for Plitzka and attacks him, breaking his jaw; Roberts falls into the well and dies.
Fatty and Big Soap unknowingly cover the well with a new concrete manhole cover, hiding the body.

Character Development

Doc Roberts: In this chapter, Doc’s drunken monologue reveals his deep-seated resentment of immigrants, his unrequited love for Chona, and his belief in a white, European-descended American identity. His decision to wear the red coat and walk through Chicken Hill directly leads to his death, showing how his prejudices blind him to danger.
Gus Plitzka: Once a confident, abrasive figure, Plitzka is now reduced to a desperate debtor. His fear of Rosen’s enforcer dominates his actions, and his callous treatment of others (like Doc) makes him an unsympathetic character. His eventual survival—at the cost of Doc’s life—is ironic.
Henry Lit: The mob enforcer is portrayed as a reluctant professional. He avoids unnecessary violence, feels tired, and regrets missing a card game. His mistake in attacking the wrong man highlights the chaos and miscommunication that drive the plot.
Fatty and Big Soap: The two men are focused, competent, and largely indifferent to the parade and its politics. Their work is pragmatic and effective, yet they become unwitting accomplices to a death. Big Soap’s line about hockey hints at a personal life beyond the job.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Mistaken Identity / The Red Coat: The red British coat becomes a fatal symbol. Doc wears it ironically, but it marks him as a target for Lit, who is looking for Plitzka. The coat embodies misunderstanding, false appearances, and how small choices can have devastating consequences.
Water and Control: The plot to reroute water symbolizes the struggle for resources and autonomy. The well, originally a community water source, is now manipulated by outsiders. The final image of Doc’s body submerged in the dry well (now flooded by the city pipe) suggests that the town’s old ways are being buried and replaced.
The Parade as Facade: The parade represents the town’s desire to present a unified, patriotic front. Yet behind the costumes and celebrations lie debts, threats, racism, and hidden schemes. The delay and chaos mirror the crumbling social order.
American Mythology: Doc’s drunken recitation of the Emma Lazarus poem (“Give me your tired, your poor…”) is bitterly ironic. He celebrates America’s promise while simultaneously denigrating the immigrants who embody it. The narrator explicitly critiques this “mythology of hope, freedom, equality, and justice” that is exploited by the wealthy and results in violence.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 29 is a turning point in the novel. It resolves the water-plot thread that has been building since earlier chapters and delivers a shocking, ironic death: Doc Roberts, a prominent white citizen and racist, is killed by a mob enforcer who mistakes him for his target. The chapter also ties together multiple storylines—the parade, the water sabotage, the debt collection—and sets the stage for the aftermath. The image of the two men unknowingly entombing a body in concrete foreshadows the secrets that will later haunt Chicken Hill. This chapter exemplifies McBride’s blend of dark comedy, social commentary, and tragedy.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Doc Roberts decide to wear the red British coat instead of finding a blue one? What does this choice reveal about his character?

Doc initially agrees to switch coats but later refuses because Gus’s blue coat is too small. His indifference—“Blue coat, red coat, who cares?”—shows his contempt for the parade’s symbolism and his disregard for community norms. More importantly, his stubbornness and laziness set him on a path to his death. The red coat becomes a marker of his otherness and his refusal to conform, which ultimately isolates him.

2. How does the author use irony in the attack on Doc Roberts?

The attack is layered with irony. Lit is looking for Gus Plitzka, but Doc is wearing the red coat (the same color Plitzka was wearing earlier) and staggering through the empty lot. Lit assumes it is Plitzka. Doc’s death is also ironic because he spent the evening mocking immigrants and proclaiming his love for America, yet he is killed by a Russian Jewish immigrant working for a mobster. The well, originally a source of water for the community, becomes his grave.

3. In the final passage, Fatty says they are “waiting for the future.” What does this phrase mean in context?

On the surface, Fatty means they are waiting for the concrete to set before leaving. Symbolically, it reflects the chapter’s theme of unintended consequences. The future they are waiting for will be shaped by the secret buried in the well. The phrase also echoes Doc’s earlier drunken boast about America’s future. The novel suggests that the future is uncertain, made not by grand ideals but by the actions of ordinary people who may or may not know what they have done.