Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Author	Mildred D. Taylor
Language	English
Publisher	Scholastic
Publication date	1976
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-590-98207-9
Followed by	Let the Circle Be Unbroken

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a 1976 children's novel written by Mildred D. Taylor. It tells the story of a land-owning African American family living in a rural area of Mississippi during the 1930s, and how they subsequently cope with mounting white oppression and racism in order to keep their land. It was made into a TV movie in 1978, starring Lark Ruffin as Cassie.

Many of the events and themes are adult in nature, but the book is told in the first person narrative, as viewed through the eyes and ears of Cassie Logan, a fourth-grade girl. Cassie, at this young age, discovers the dangers of racism.

The novel won the 1977 Newbery Medal and is considered by some to be among the greatest children's novels of all time. Its sequel, Let the Circle Be Unbroken, was released in 1981.

Main Characters

Stacey Logan, at 12 years old, is on the brink of adulthood. Stacey is loyal to his friends, and takes responsibility for his actions even if he didn't do it. His dawning awareness of racism leads him to make difficult choices, like pushing away his white friend Jeremy. In the end, he proves his bravery and loyalty by risking danger and by attempting to help his estranged friend, TJ. He also uses his ingenuity to protest against injustice. For example, it is his idea to build a trench in the rain-filled road to stall the white children's school bus. He can be very bossy.

At age seven, Christoper-John Logan is a short, over weight boy who is the quietest Logan sibling. He is always cheerful but frequently reminds the other children that they are breaking their parents' rules. Despite his misgivings, he usually ends up following his other siblings to avoid being left behind.

Clayton Chester Logan, nicknamed "Little Man", age six, is a smart boy with a highly developed sense of right and wrong. Able to read before he started school, he partakes in his older siblings' adventures and in doing so learns a great deal about the racist South.

David "Papa" Logan

A tall, handsome man, David 'Papa' Logan is Big Ma's youngest son. He works from the end of planting until Christmas on the railroad in order to pay for his land. He was raised on the same farm on which his family now lives. Ready to stand up for himself and his family, he does what he "gotta do" to survive and respect himself. He risks his life to institute a boycott against the Wallaces, store owners who burned a black man to death. His leg is broken and he is shot at in retribution for the boycott. He also comes close to losing his land when the bank, influenced by Mr. Granger, calls in the note on it in. He is willing to use his shotgun to protect T.J. but ultimately uses his ingenuity to stop the lynch mob and save T.J.'s life, He is a sensible strong heatred man.

Mary "Mama" Logan

A thirty-three year old woman from the Delta, Mary 'Mama' Logan, went to high school and was sent to the Crandon Teacher School by her tenant-farmer father. Her father died during her final year in teacher school, and she married Papa when she was nineteen. She has taught at the Great Faith school for fourteen years, and has four children of her own. Her strong pride in her race and her sense of justice lead her to paste over the inside covers of the schoolbooks, where the "very poor" condition of the book is listed next to the race of the black students. This outspokenness (and T.J.'s troublemaking) results in her being fired by the white school board. Though she tries to keep stories of the violence and injustice around them from her children, she ultimately cannot shield them from the truth.

Caroline "Big Ma" Logan

Caroline 'Big Ma' Logan, Papa's mother, is a woman in her sixties. She holds the deed to the Logan land, which was bought by her late husband, Paul Edward. She married him when she was eighteen, and they raised their four children, only two of whom survived, on the four hundred acres of land that he bought between 1887 and 1918. Big Ma is the voice of history in the book and tells stories about the past to Cassie. Her love of the land leads her to sign it over to her two sons to protect it from Harlan Granger. She has medical knowledge and is often called upon to tend those injured by white violence, including the Berrys. She is very religious and is a source of comfort to Cassie who shares a room and bed with her.

Hammer Logan

Hammer Logan is Big Ma's second youngest son and her only living son other than Papa. He lives in Chicago and drives a Packard like Mr. Granger does. He visits the Logans during the Christmas season and brings gifts. He has a strong temper and wants to attack Charlie Simms after his bad treatment of Cassie. Ultimately, he quells his temper and must sell his Packard in order to protect the land, bringing the money to his brother by hand and leaving before his presence can fuel more tensions.

Mr. Morrison

Mr. L.T. Morrison is an extremely big and strong older man whom Papa brings home from the railroad. Mr. Morrison got in a fight with some white men and was fired from his job at the railroad. He helps to protect the Logans, watching outside their house at night, and stays with the family even after he injured the Wallaces when they attacked Papa. His own family was brutally murdered by a lynch mob during Reconstruction and he says that the Logans are like family to him.

===T.J. Avery===(A.K.A BITCH!!!) An emaciated-looking, thirteen-year-old boy, T.J. Avery is foolish but provides a source of information about racial incidents for the Logan children. He is repeating the seventh grade, cheats on tests, gets Mama fired, and hangs out at the Wallace store which ultimately loses him Stacey's friendship. He gets most of the Logans in trouble. His "friendship" with the older, white Simms brothers leads him to commit a crime and nearly causes him to be lynched.

Jeremy Simms

Jeremy Simms is a shy white boy. He walks to school with the Logans until he has to turn on the street to his school. Jeremy nevers takes the bus because it always splashes the black kids walking to school. He doesn't like segregation. He also has a sister who pinches him and slaps him for walking with the Logans and his father whips him for doing anything with the Logans, but Jeremy still meets up with them every day. He even stays in treehouses to get away from his mean older siblings and his father.

Plot summary

Template:Spoiler The book begins with Cassie and her brothers, Stacey, Christopher-John, and Little Man---whose real name is actually Clayton Chester---walking to school. Cassie talks about the land the family lives on. It once belonged to Harlan Granger, but they sold a thousand acres of it to cover their taxes during Reconstruction. Their grandfather bought two hundred acres of it in 1887, then another two hundred acres in 1918.

After several minutes of walking, T.J. Avery and his brother, Claude, join them. The Avery family sharecrops on the Granger Plantation. Later on, the white children's sleek school bus comes by. Everyone gets out of its way in time except Little Man, who's clothes become coated with red dust kicked up by the bus.

Then, Jeremy Simms arrives on the scene. Jeremy is a white boy with an older sister, Lillian Jean, two older brothers, R.W. and Melvin, and probably two or three younger siblings. Jeremy, Lillian Jean and the other white children go to the fancy Jefferson Davis School, while the black children go to the rundown Great Faith Elementary and Secondary School.

During the day, Cassie and Little Man are both whipped for refusing to take their books, worn-out castoffs from the neighboring white school. Miss Crocker goes to see their gentle and very loving mother, Mary Logan, who is a teacher at their school and is also Stacey and T.J.'s teacher. On Saturday their father, David Logan, comes home from the railroad in Louisiana and brings with him Mr. L.T. Morrison. He leaves the next day after church to catch a train.

The next week, it rains constantly. After Cassie, Little Man, Christopher-John, and Stacey are splashed with mud by the school bus once again, they dig a lagoon during lunch, and after school the bus crashes through it. During the night, night men--similar to the Ku Klux Klan--come to the Logan family's home, but it is the wrong home so they leave, and afterward tar and feather Mr. Sam Tatum.

The next day of school, T.J. shows Stacey a copy of cheating notes. During the test, he gives them to Stacey when he sees Mrs. Logan coming. Mrs. Logan finds them, accuses Stacey, and whips him. T.J. runs to the Wallace Store---which the Logans forbid their children ever to visit---on the Grangers' land, and Stacey and the others follow him. Mr. Morrison finds them and takes them away just as Stacey fights T.J. He even reminds them they are not supposed to be there for any reason.

Stacey tells his mother, though they did not get whipped immediately. The next day, Mrs. Logan recruits people to boycott the Wallace Store because they are the cause of most of the trouble between the blacks and the whites.

On the second Saturday of December, Big Ma, Cassie's grandmother, takes Stacey, Cassie, and T.J. to Strawberry, a nearby town, and does some selling. After lunch, they go into Mr. Jamison's office. Mr. Jamison is their white lawyer and he was the one who sold their grandpa the last 200 acres. Mr. Jamison is one of the few white men in the town who treats black people with kindness and fairness. Only Big Ma goes inside his office. T.J. takes Cassie and Stacey to the Barnett Mercantile to buy some things that T.J. needs.

Mr. Barnett serves T.J. at the mercantile store. A white adult customer comes in and Mr. Barnett interrupts his business with T.J. to serve the white person. Then, a young white girl comes in and Mr. Barnett again stops serving T.J. to serve her. Cassie politely reminds Mr. Barnett that they have been waiting patiently for about an hour. He responds by telling her harshly just to wait some more. Cassie gets angry and yells at Mr. Barnett. Stacey tells her to be quiet before she starts a squabble. Mr. Barnett kicks them out of the store and Cassie is still shouting when she leaves.

After leaving Barnett Mercantile, Cassie accidentally bumps into Lillian Jean Simms. Lillian Jean orders her to apologize, then to get down on the ground. Cassie tries to run, but is pushed onto the road by Mr. Charlie Simms, Lillian Jean's father, and he orders her to apologize to Lillian Jean again, calling her "Miz" before she leaves with Big Ma, tears streaming down her cheeks.

When they get back home, they find that their Uncle Hammer Logan from Chicago, Illinois, is visiting them, in a nice Packard that looks like Mr. Granger's car. Cassie tells him what has happened to her that day and Hammer speeds away with Mr. Morrison, but the next day Cassie finds Hammer still alive and well. Before heading to church, Hammer gives Stacey an early Christmas present, a new wool coat. But when they arrive by car, T.J. cruelly teases him.

Papa comes home just in time for Christmas, and is staying home until spring. On Christmas night, Jeremy comes over to the Logans' and gives them some nuts and a hand-made flute for Stacey. Papa warns Stacey to be careful about being friends with Jeremy, saying that eventually he will change, because the Simms family are racists. The next day, Papa calls the children into the barn and whips them for visiting the Wallace Store.

Time passes and Papa starts to lead the boycott against the store. Mr. Jamison visits and Big Ma signs papers giving the land to Papa and Hammer. He also warns them to be careful, that they could lose their land if they continue their boycott of the store. Granger comes over, and asks for the land again, but Papa refuses. Hammer returns to Chicago and Papa continues to lead the boycott.

Then Cassie makes peace with Lillian Jean and becomes a friend and a servant by carrying Lillian Jean's books. But it is all a sneaky setup: Cassie then attacks Lillian Jean and makes her apologize for what happened back in Strawberry. She threatens to expose secrets that Lillian Jean has told her, if she tells anyone what Cassie has done to her.

Then, T.J. tells Mr. Wallace about Mrs. Logan and what she is doing to the books, teaching the class, and even the boycott. Mr. Granger then fires Mrs. Logan and Stacey blames T.J. though T.J. denies it. After all of his friends shun him, he takes up with Melvin and R.W. Simms.

School ends in March, and Papa, Mr. Morrison, and Stacey go up to Vicksburg again. While coming back, they are ambushed and brutally attacked by Mr. Wallace and his two brothers. Papa is shot in the head by a shotgun shell, and then the wagon they were riding on runs over his leg. Papa survives the bullet, though he bleeds badly, and his leg is broken. Mr. Morrison takes him home after breaking an arm and then the backs of two of the Wallace brothers.

While delivering tools to some of their friends the next day, Mr. Wallace stops them, but Mr. Morrison strongly moves his truck away and continues on. While church goes on during the week, the nearby bank forecloses the mortgage on the last two hundred acres of the Logans' land, but Hammer gives them money to pay it, having to sell his Packard to do this. On the last day of church revival, T.J. goes with R.W. and Melvin to the nearby mercantile, which is closed when they arrive. T.J. sneaks in and opens the door to the stock cover and black hooded white friend R.W. gives T.J. a pearl-handed pistol, and then he and Melvin rob the cash box. The store owner finds them and one of them fights for the money. One of the Simmses hits him with the flat end of an axe, causing him to die afterward, and the owner's wife is knocked unconscious. T.J. flees, but R.W. and Melvin beat him up, and he drives to the pool hall. T.J. manages to get home, but goes to the Logans' and asks for the children's help.

When they get home, the night men come over and drag the Averys out of their house. The Logans are able to hide in time. Jamison and the sheriff stop the night men, but Wallace threatens to take T.J. down to the Logans' and lynch him. Stacey tells his sister and brothers to go get Mr. Logan and Mr. Morrison. Cassie, Little Man, and Christopher-John rush home to tell Papa and Mr. Morrison what has happened. Papa and Mr. Morrison grab their shotguns and rush off to stop the lynching. After a while, a spark sets the Logans' cotton on fire, and after being put out by all the people of the county, even the night men, who stop the lynching to keep the fire from heading toward the forest.

Then the children learn that it was Papa who burned the cotton to stop the lynching, and that they have lost a quarter of their cotton. Afterward, Mr. Jamison tells them to keep this quiet, and also tells them that T.J. is safe in Strawberry in the sheriff's custody, but he could die for Jim Lee Barnett's death.

External links

• GradeSaver study guide with background on Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry