Roadwork - Stephen King (1981) - Summary at Celsius 233

Roadwork by Richard Bachman (a pseudonym for Stephen King) was published in 1981. The novel follows Barton George Dawes, a grieving man whose home and workplace are threatened by the construction of a new highway. As he spirals into despair, his growing resentment leads to an explosive and tragic stand against progress, reflecting deep themes of loss, resistance, and self-destruction.

Plot Summary

Barton George Dawes had been living on borrowed time, but only he seemed to know it. The house he had shared with his wife for twenty years, the one filled with the silent ghosts of their dead son and their eroding marriage, was set to be demolished to make way for the 784 extension. His job at the Blue Ribbon Laundry, a place he had given half his life to, was also in the path of destruction. The world was moving forward, tearing through the past with cold efficiency. But Bart Dawes was not a man who moved forward.

The letters had come. Official notices, legal documents, the dead language of bureaucracy informing him that the home he had fought to keep standing would soon be nothing but rubble. His co-workers made peace with the relocation of the laundry, accepting change the way most people do – with a sigh and a shrug. But Bart had no such resignation in him. There was something inside him, something furious and wounded, that refused to surrender.

He started losing things. His patience, his focus, his ability to function in a world that expected him to simply move on. His wife, Mary, tried to talk sense into him, but they had been speaking different languages for years. She wanted to sell the house and start fresh somewhere else. He wanted to stay, even if it meant staying alone.

One day, walking aimlessly through the city, he found himself standing outside a gun shop. He didn’t think much about stepping inside. It just happened, like slipping on ice. He bought a .44 Magnum and a Weatherby rifle. The shop owner, Harry, made small talk, asked about his nonexistent cousin who supposedly needed the guns for a hunting trip. Bart smiled, nodded, played along. Somewhere inside, something clicked into place – a circuit breaker flipping off before the lights of rational thought could come back on.

Mary left him not long after. She couldn’t watch him unravel, couldn’t stay in a house that was no longer a home. She packed her bags and walked out, leaving behind a man who had already been living like a ghost. The silence she left in her wake felt natural, like the world confirming what he had already known – he was alone in this fight.

He met Olivia Brenner in a laundromat. She was young, drifting through life on a cloud of drugs and bad decisions. He paid for her laundry, took her out for coffee, let her stay in a motel when she had nowhere else to go. He didn’t love her, not in any way that mattered, but she was something to hold onto. They spent nights together, his hands tracing over the track marks on her arms, her voice filling the spaces Mary used to occupy. It was temporary. Everything was.

The city pressed forward with its plans, and the laundry’s relocation moved ahead without him. His boss, Stephan Ordner, pushed him to finalize the transition, to fall in line and accept what was inevitable. But Bart had already made his choice, even if he hadn’t admitted it out loud. The Blue Ribbon Laundry was not going to be relocated. It was going to burn.

He set the fire late at night, watching from a safe distance as the flames turned the building to ash. It was supposed to be cathartic, but as he stood in the cold night air, listening to the distant wail of sirens, all he felt was emptiness. The fire hadn’t stopped the highway, hadn’t frozen time, hadn’t brought back the past. It had only taken something else from him.

The days stretched into something unrecognizable. He drank more. He spent more time with Olivia, but she was slipping away too, vanishing into her own slow-motion destruction. When she was arrested on a drug charge, he bailed her out, but there was nothing left to salvage. She left town soon after.

With nothing left to tether him, he turned his attention to the house. He reinforced the walls, gathered his guns, and waited. The eviction notice had come. The demolition crew was coming. The world was coming for what was his.

When the police arrived, the house stood defiant against the backdrop of a world that had already moved on. Inside, Bart loaded his rifle, his revolver, feeling the weight of them in his hands. The standoff was brief but intense. Tear gas filled the air, cameras rolled as reporters captured the last stand of a man who refused to move. And then, in a final act of defiance, he set off the explosives he had rigged inside the house.

The blast tore through the quiet suburban street, a last violent protest against progress. Smoke and debris filled the air, and when it cleared, there was nothing left of Barton Dawes. The city moved forward, as it always had, as it always would.

Eighteen months later, the highway was completed ahead of schedule. The news cycle moved on. People forgot, except for those who had watched the footage that night – the house exploding, the flames swallowing everything, the way a man can disappear into nothing.

Bart Dawes had tried to stop time. But time had never cared.

Main Characters

Barton George Dawes – A middle-aged man struggling with unresolved grief after the death of his son. His refusal to accept the forced relocation of his home and workplace fuels his descent into a destructive rebellion.
Mary Dawes – Bart’s wife, who tries to maintain stability in their lives but grows increasingly distant as Bart’s behavior becomes more erratic.
Olivia Brenner – A young hitchhiker and drug user whom Bart befriends. She represents a fleeting connection to life and youth, though their relationship is ultimately doomed.
Stephan Ordner – Bart’s corporate superior, who pressures him to move forward with the relocation of the laundry plant, embodying the bureaucratic forces Bart resists.
Salvatore “Sal” Magliore – A shady gun dealer who sells weapons to Bart. Though he is a criminal, he acts with more pragmatism and logic than Bart.

Theme

Grief and Denial – Bart’s refusal to move symbolizes his inability to let go of the past, particularly his son’s death. His actions are less about stopping the highway and more about resisting time itself.
The Destruction of the American Dream – The novel critiques the idea that stability and homeownership provide lasting security, showing how progress can erase personal history without remorse.
Isolation and Alienation – Bart increasingly isolates himself from his wife, co-workers, and society, believing that no one understands his pain or his cause.
Self-Destruction and Rebellion – Bart’s choices, from buying guns to sabotaging his job, reflect a suicidal defiance rather than a genuine plan to stop the highway.
Government and Corporate Indifference – The highway project and the corporate takeover of the laundry symbolize an impersonal system that disregards individual lives.

Writing Style and Tone

Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, employs a raw and introspective style in Roadwork, relying heavily on internal monologue to immerse readers in Bart’s unraveling psyche. The prose is sharp, filled with bleak realism and biting sarcasm, reflecting Bart’s bitterness and frustration.

The tone is deeply melancholic, laced with an undercurrent of simmering rage. King masterfully builds tension, making the reader feel both sympathy and unease as Bart’s thoughts turn increasingly irrational. Unlike King’s more supernatural works, Roadwork is a slow-burning psychological study, driven by despair rather than horror.

We hope this summary has sparked your interest and would appreciate you following Celsius 233 on social media:

There’s a treasure trove of other fascinating book summaries waiting for you. Check out our collection of stories that inspire, thrill, and provoke thought, just like this one by checking out the Book Shelf or the Library

Remember, while our summaries capture the essence, they can never replace the full experience of reading the book. If this summary intrigued you, consider diving into the complete story – buy the book and immerse yourself in the author’s original work.

If you want to request a book summary, click here.

When Saurabh is not working/watching football/reading books/traveling, you can reach him via Twitter/X, LinkedIn, or Threads

Restart reading!