Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

                                         By Mildred D. Taylor

 

  I think this is a really important book for kids to read, especially if they are racist. it would really make a difference to their attitude if they started looking at the people they scorn as just that- people.

This book isn't bad. It stages the hard life of of being a girl in America but things are even worse when she is black. It's sad to hear that even the dark skinned children are bullied for just being of that race.

       

            Racism is a very strong topic in this book and in life. This book has a message. This isn't about how adventurous the story is. It's the sad story of people who aren't accepted because of their colour or race. People are people and it's upsetting really, especially for people that are of that ethnicity. You can't just judge people by what you see, you need to know them. 

      

             I really liked this book as it not only tells a story but helps you understand.  I think that it was good for me to read this because even though I am not a bit racist or approve of it, this book still helps you get a better insight. 

I would reccomend this book for children over eleven as it would be easier to get the message through to them. 

 

             The message the author is trying to get out is that every person , black or white should be treated the same. Nobody has a better say. Things can be hard when your black especially living in a country of mostly white people. I think that this message is clearly shown in the book, if you have read it you learn to treat people different from you the same amount of respect that you would like if you were in their place.

      

              My favourite character is Cassie Logan for her courage to stand up for herself and her family. 

If something racist is said to her she doesn't take it, i.e. 

At the town market: When the shop keeper works past them and doesn't take their order she tells him off even if it ends with her being barred, then when Lillian Jean is giving her trouble telling her to move onto the road just for accidentally bumping into her. When Cassie objects (again brave to object a white persons order) Lillian's father twists Cassie's arm and throws her onto the street telling her to apologize to " Miz Lillian Jean Simms". If Big Ma wasn't there Cassie would've given out a world of disgust but gotten beat for it. 

 Her bravery is important showing that if you shouldn't be ashamed of who you are or where you've come from. You can't change who you are so why put up with other peoples ignorance.

 

                                        By, Laura O' Keeffe.

Settings and Themes.

The setting for Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry is Mississippi in the 1930's during the great Depression. The themes of this book are good and evil, racism, family life and friendship.

Characters and Plot.

The main characters in Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry are Cassie her brothers Stacey, Christopher-John and Little Man. Their parents David and Mary Logan also feature and their grandmother Big Ma. Stacey's friend T.j is another main character as is Papa's friend Mr. Morrison. All of the characters I have mentioned are black. Some of the white characters in the book include the Wallace brothers, Lillian-Jean, her father and her brothers.

The story is told from Cassie's point of view. Cassie and her brothers are growing up with racism and they find it very unfair. Even when they walk to school the white children are racist towards them. The Logan children's mother is a teacher in their school and she teaches Stacey and T.j. Their father works on the railroad so they don't get to see him that often only on the holidays. One day Stacey and T.j had a test and T.j brought cheat notes in. He gave the notes to Stacey and he got caught by his mam. He then got a spanking. After that it was Christmas and Uncle Hammer came. Their father came home as well. There is a shop called the Wallace store that Cassie mentions and the children are not allowed to go to it because the owners are white and they treat the blacks kids badly. The Logan family start going up to Vicksburg to do the shopping. Some other people join them and they give their shopping lists to them. But one night on the way back from Vicksburg the Wallaces meet them on the road. The Wallace's had a gun but they did not shoot anyone. Mr. Logan or 'Papa' got his leg broken as his horse ran over it. With Papa's leg broken he can't go back to work so money is tight. Mrs. Logan also had no work as she got fired because T.j told someone that she was not teaching them properly and that she failed him on purpose. T.J and Stacey's friendship breaks down after T.j got Stacey's mother fired but T.j has made new friends and they're white. So money was extremely tight and Uncle Hammer had to sell some of his stuff to help meet the mortgage payments. But will it be enough? If you want to find out what happens next you will have to read the book yourself! You will be glad you did!!

Style of writing.

This book combines dialogue and narrative with Cassie ever present. We see what the world is like when you are growing up with racism. The Negros in this book have a southern accent. So do the white people but their accent is not as heavy as the Negros. At the start the book is slow paced but when events start to unfold the book is a real page turner. There is a few descriptive passages but not a lot.

My View.

This book is hard to like at the start but as the story progresses so do the incidents that we come across in the book. I would recommended it but in some parts of the book it is cruel and sad. There is an ending that you would never had expected. This book would get a 3 stars out of 5 from me.

By Emma Walsh.