Murder Road

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-11

Chapters 12-23

Chapters 24-34

Chapters 35-45

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Being Pretty

April’s prettiness comes up at several points, and in several ways, throughout the novel. This motif explores the advantages and disadvantages of being pretty, and the ways in which April has learned to use or downplay her looks throughout her life. This motif illustrates the theme of Finding Connection in Common Experience: As April learns how to use her looks to get what she needs while avoiding attention and keeping herself safe, she also comes to understand that she shares this experience with many other women who have learned to how to navigate patriarchal expectations around their bodies.

April is the first person to mention her looks and the way that, early on, she learned to be a “pretty girl who was an expert in moving through life unnoticed when she wanted to” (41). It served her well when she was young and discovered that “I was tall and pretty enough that if I put on makeup and did my hair, I could appear older and work behind the counter at Dairy Queen” (91). Throughout her life, she specifically cultivated that prettiness, specifically “high school yearbook kind of pretty, not the kind of beautiful that made men crazy” (5). It is important to her, as she and her mother are fugitives, that she be “Pretty, pleasant, mostly forgettable” (17). She even falls into this behavior when she and Eddie go to Hunter Beach and she plays the part of the “pretty, unassuming newlywed” (111).

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Although being pretty and “mostly forgettable” has been key to April’s survival, Rose points out the disadvantages—as she says, “people think pretty girls get the best of everything, but in my opinion they get the worst of it” (63). She also believes that April’s looks will work against her in Coldlake Falls, confiding, “You’re too pretty for this place. […] You have nice hair and a nice face, that body. People aren’t going to like you” (63). Quentin’s reaction to April seems to support the truth of Rose’s statement when he says, “Pretty, but not too pretty, correct? The way you dress manages to show off your legs without being too showy. You don’t talk too much or too little. You don’t push. You pretend to be agreeable and obedient, and then you do whatever you want” (303).

The Fixer

Throughout the novel, April sees herself as someone who takes care of things, a “fixer,” first with her mother, then on her own, and finally in her relationship with Eddie. This motif supports the theme of Overcoming Past Trauma as April strives to leave past habits behind and establish her new life as April Carter. According to April, she took over the management of her and her mother’s lives early on: “By twelve, I was basically an adult, looking out for my mother and me” (16). She continued to do so until she was 18 and her mother was arrested—and then continued to try to fix things, using half of their savings to try and get her released.

In her relationship with Eddie, April falls into this same pattern. While it shows her commitment to the relationship, it also indicates that she believes that any problems in their relationship are her fault. When Eddie discovers the truth about her father’s murder, and that she has still been keeping secrets from him, April slips into fixer mode again: “I couldn’t fix everything with Eddie and build the life I wanted so badly. Not until I fixed what was happening on Atticus Line” (229). She feels that the root of the problem lies in the Atticus Line murders, and the list of problems she needs to fix expands to include a decades-old string of unsolved murders. She is so sure of herself that when she tells Eddie, “I’m going to fix everything,” and he replies, “You can’t,” she responds, “you haven’t seen me try” (247). In this case, she fails to fix things on her own, and this failure helps her grow, as it leads her to realize that it’s okay to need help. As she and Eddie work to fix the problem together, their relationship of mutual trust deepens. The recognition that she can depend on Eddie and doesn’t have to be the sole “fixer” illustrates her success in Overcoming Past Trauma.

1990s Pop Culture

Murder Road takes place in 1995, and 1990s pop culture references serve as a motif to establish the historical setting and to illustrate the pervasive acceptance of violence against women in this era. As April describes the random places she has lived, she sees them all as one kind of place:

The TV was almost always on, with someone sitting in front of it. Late-night movies, Sesame Street, reruns of The Rockford Files, reruns of Knight Rider, Baywatch, The X-Files, and more recently, the O. J. Simpson trial in all of its endless droning” (17).

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Beatrice Snell brings up the trial as well, which took place over 10 months in 1995 and was ongoing during the time of the novel. Beatrice’s insistence that O. J. was framed echoes a popular conspiracy theory at the time. Like the image of Princess Diana in Rose’s home, these references to the Simpson trial suggest that violence against women was woven into the fabric of American life in the 1990s. Beatrice’s willingness to see Simpson as the victim, rather than the perpetrator, is ironic in light of her fierce advocacy on behalf of the Atticus Line victims.

St. James also uses these references to draw attention to the genres from which she is pulling. When April looks for something to read in Rose’s house, she finds Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews. This novel, originally published in 1979 and first adapted to film in 1987, was a staple horror novel of the 1980s and 1990s. In it, a family’s children are confined to the attic of their house, where they develop romantic and sexual relationships, echoing the incestuous relationship that produced them. The novel spawned multiple sequels and was infamous as a work of neo-Gothic horror. By referencing it, St. James pulls the horror genre into prominence. St. James references the horror genre again when Eddie, April, and Beatrice pick Gracie up from the movie theater, where she has watched Delores Claiborne. Although Stephen King published the novel in 1992, it was quickly adapted into film and released in 1995. In it, Delores confesses to murdering her abusive husband, echoing April’s father’s murder and referencing one of the most famous horror novelists of all time. Beyond offering specificity of setting and genre, these references paint a picture of American culture in the 1990s as awash in misogynistic violence.