Essay on Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

In Roll of Thunder,Hear my cry there are various events. The book and the movie though do not share the same similarities. As an example the movie might have the important events instead of the least important ones. The movie also didn't have the same placing of events like the book did. The book had a nice flow that can just help you understand the book more. The movie jumped around and did not follow the order of the book.

In the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor, one special Logan family, only driven by love, pride, and independence but through the mist they show another side… One foolish side. Their decisions in the novel lead them to numerous trouble and during the Great Depression one must be careful. Some of these decisions are Papa bringing Mr.Morrison home, Papa going to Vicksburg to boycott, and Uncle Hammer impersonating Mr.Granger.

“There was a sinking feeling in my stomach and I felt as if the world had turned itself upside down with me in it” (Page 129, Taylor). The author, Mildred Taylor, of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry has triumphed on writing the book while delivering the painful message of how African Americans were treated in the times of the Great Depression. Cassie has encountered many difficulties when having to accept the way she was treated outdoors along with all the other African-Americans in her society. In the opening, Cassie, along with her siblings, has to collaborate with the complications the bus has caused, and fearing the night men afterward for discovering what they have done. As greed, selfishness, and racism caused misfortune to the Logan

was a strong boy, so he should have stopped hitting his sister, even if he was only playing around, he

Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor tells the story of Cassie, who is learning about the conflict about blacks and whites. Set in 1930's Mississippi, the main character sees and begins to understand the separation between blacks and whites, and how the whites did awful things in order to get the blacks to listen to them. Then, many bad things happen, including Mama losing her job as a teacher, and Papa getting severely injured, while the plans with the boycott did not go as they originally were planned. At the climax of the story, T.J. goes off with RW and Melvin Simmes to break into a store where T.J.'s gun that he wanted was. They ended up getting caught. In the end, the night riders try to kill T.J. Avery, a close friend of the Logan children, and T.J. is sent to jail, awaiting a chain gang. Cassie learns that there will be many things she will have to do in life that she does not want to do, only in order to survive. Throughout the novel, both Mr. Ganger and Papa illustrate why are characters in the book by showing how the blacks were treated towards the whites and how most blacks felt towards whites because of this.

“Then TJ emerged, dragged from the house on his knees. His face was bloody and when he tried to speak he cried with pain, mumbling his words as if his jaw was broken.”(pg 252) In Mildred D. Taylor’s Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, a family of African Americans and their friend T.J. face many conflicts. The story is set during the 1930s, in the South. The reader learns about sacrifices that one makes to protect themselves and others.

Prejudice only exists because we want it to exist. Sometimes we fail to see what lies beneath the skin. In the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, the Logans, a black family living in the 1930’s, endure countless instances of cruel racism along with their community. The story is told from the point of view of Cassie, a naive black girl, who is only now learning the impact bigotry has on her race. She slowly discovers the horrors blacks face in Mississippi and the entire scope of the United States. Although freedom from the shackles of slavery was granted to them by means of “The Emancipation Proclamation” blacks are not truly able to experience independence as a result of the nightmen of the Ku Klux Klan. Most are nevertheless subjugated by exceedingly unfair judgment, lack of proper education and land ownership. The KKK deprive blacks of basic rights since they believe the blacks, Jews and anyone who is not a Christian Caucasian is inferior to them.

About two thirty that afternoon, up pulls Willie and he almost fell as he was getting out of his truck; one, because it had not come to a complete stop yet and two, because he was as drunk as a skunk and trying to do a two-step as soon as his boots hit the ground. He was toting a toy popgun and my Little Marcus’ eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as he squealed with delight when his uncle Willie picked him up and threw him into the air like he always did, especially when he was about drunk or in a good mood. However, this time he almost dropped Marcus and it severely pissed me off. It was all I could do not to give him a good cussing, but in order to once again, keep the peace I bit my tongue and avoided him until he left. I was hoping that everything would go smoothly, but that, too, was not about to happen.

‘We want that thieving, murdering nigger of y’all’s . ’ ‘St-Stacey,’ I stammered, feeling the same nauseous fear I had felt when the night men had passed and when Papa has come home shot and broken. ‘Wh-What are they gonna do?’ ” This quotation is extremely poignant and powerful, because you can sense that Cassie if fearing for her life, and she can’t comprehend what is going to happen.

Imagine living in a world where everyone was racist and looked at you with contempt just because you were African American. Well, Cassie Logan lived in a world like this. For Cassie Logan, life is extremely unfair, as is, for every other African American it the Mississippi. But the Logans are in an entirely different situation, they have their own land. They face a lot of obstacles while fighting for justice and equality for others and themselves.

If you want to write a book it is a good idea to have a goal or a purpose of writing your book. Luckily, Mildred Taylor has a very special purpose of writing Roll of Thunder, hear my cry. Here is one of her purposes. “My father was a master storyteller. He could tell a fine old story that made me hold my sides with rolling laughter and sent happy tears down my cheeks…” (Auth. Note). This example shows that she wanted to carry on her father’s stories. This second example also connects to her father’s stories, “He could tell stories of beauty and grace, stories of gentle dreams, and paint them as vividly as any picture with splashes of character and dialogue.” (Auth. Note). The indicated example displays that Taylor’s father can tell any kind of stories. Finally, here is the last example that I found really touching when I first read it. “My father died last week…But his voice of joy and laughter, his enduring strength, his principles and constant wisdom remain, a part of all

The highlight theme for the novel “Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry” is mainly about racism and although American gain their independence, racism still exist for almost everything. According to Williams (2012), “when it comes to America's racial past and present, lies and snake oil are sold in many colors.” The incident of the Berry’s burning from the text “Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry” is one of the examples that could be related to the conflict between an individual and a social force. According to the text the Berry’s family and Uncle Beacon was put on fire because they had been accused by the white mobs of flirting with a white woman. Taylor (1976), “They was waitin’ there for they gas when some white men come up messin’ with them—been drinkin’,

The novel Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry is written by Mildred D. Taylor. In the book, the story tells about a family in the state Mississippi on year 1933, named as the Logans, who were African-American sharecroppers, owned a small piece of farmland and planted cotton. Throughout the story, the Logan family had struggled through hard times, some rougher than others, such as racial injustices and boycotts. But the Logans never did completely lose hope; and it was because their relationship and support of each other and their relatives.

From what I have read in these first two chapter, it is clear that the blacks in the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry live during a time of Jim Crow laws and segregation. Blacks had very hard lives and were segregated in many ways here are some. First, school buildings were not equal. Some examples are, blacks had their own school because they were not allowed to go to school with the whites. Second, school supplies were not equal from whites to blacks. For example, blacks got all the old books that were old and worn from the whites. Third, transportation for blacks was unequal. One example, is blacks had to walk to school instead of riding the bus. Segregation in education was not fair for the blacks.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was a great book ,in my opinion. My personal favorite part was the end. I liked all of the action, the quick thinking, the working together. I was amazed at how Papa quickly thought to start a fire to, hopefully, bring everyone together to put it out. I loved how he risked all of his cotton to save a young boy who was about to die. I developed a strong dislike for T.J. ,and believe that Papa did to, but he still saved the boy who was once his child’s friend. I thought that T.J. was annoying and should have been more responsible about his choices. He should have realized that what he did could result in death. In the long run, i believe that Papa is truly an amazing person who is smart and a very quick thinker.