From the moment we read Chapter 23 of Ragtime, in which Coalhouse Walker and his car are abused by firemen, we know that something is brewing inside Coalhouse as he searches for justice. Next, following from the opening moments of Chapter 24 to the dying moments of 26, we see Coalhouse's plight get darker and darker as he searches for fairness in vain.
To begin with, E. L. Doctorow crafts these the first two chapters following the incident with care and meticulousness. What many people miss reading these chapters is that there is a direct reference to what is about to happen, that being Coalhouse's attack on the Emerald Isle Engine Company at the beginning of Chapter 28 that will consume the course of the story from here on. In Chapter 24, the text directly states, "given subsequent events, it is important to mention that little is known about Coalhouse Walker Jr." In this quote, Doctorow sets his story aside and "breaks the fourth wall", actually speaking in a manner where he seems to be talking directly to us for the first time in the novel instead of speaking exclusively for the advancement of the story. Furthermore, there is yet another hint in the following paragraph: "It was widely reported when he was achieving his notoriety that Coalhouse Walker had never exhausted the peaceful and legal means of redress before taking matters into his own hands." There we have it, a direct sentence that Coalhouse will take extreme action in the near future of the book.
Doctorow also does a masterful job of setting up Coalhouse's revenge as Sarah dies, citing Coalhouse as crushed by his fiancee's death and even using his own wedding money to pay for the funeral. And then Doctorow completely departs from the situation at hand after talking about Coalhouse's story for six straight chapters. Chapter 27 focuses once more on the outside world, in particular, Houdini and his new obsessions following the death of his mother. And then at the very end, a giant explosion shakes the theatre where Houdini is performing, signifying Coalhouse's return to the story in a shocking and dramatic manner, as the plot takes its climatic twist.
