Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

I recently read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, a Newberry Award-winning historical fiction novel written by Mildred D. Taylor. It is a story about the Logans, an African-American family living in the rural South during the 1930s. They face many prejudices and struggle to fight against them, while still protecting the family from harm.

The book starts out with an introduction by the author. Taylor talks about her father’s ability to tell wonderful stories, and I thought it was very touching. It seemed a great way to introduce the readers to the feeling of family that is developed throughout the story.

This was a great read. It read almost like an adult book, and I often forgot I was reading a children’s book. One reason for this is because of the difficult language and structure. The author often makes use of imagery in describing the setting. For example, “the narrow, sun-splotched road wound like a lazy red serpent dividing the high forest bank of quiet, old trees on the left from the cotton field, forested by giant green-and purple stalks, on the right” (6). I can just picture this beautiful scenery in my mind. She also uses beautiful words to tell the story. For example, she talks about how “Papa and Uncle Hammer and Big Ma and Mr. Morrison and Mama lent [the children] their memories” (147). I love the idea of stories being a lending of memories. It seems to fit so well.

One of my favorite characters was Little Man. His character is really well developed, and he offers great comic relief. Little Man reminds me a little bit of May Bell in Bridge to Terabithia for that reason. He has such a cute name, and every time he was mentioned, I could almost hear his voice and follow his actions. I loved how he was described as loving to be clean and not wanting to get his clothes dirty. What six-year old boy is like that?

I also liked Jeremy’s character. He was a white boy about the age of the main character, Cassie’s, older brother. Throughout the book he is about the only white person who treats the family fairly. I thought it was interesting that he and the Logan children were very awkward and uncomfortable around each other. This seemed to emphasize the sameness between the two races, which is a very important concept.

When the students at the all African-American school were given the second-hand books from the county, the author’s inclusion of the chart was extremely powerful. The books had been used by white students until they were in “very poor” condition, at which time the black students got them. The author could have just described this, but she went a step further in including a reproduction of the actual chart showing the date, the condition of the book, and the race of the student. That inclusion of a “real” chart really drove home the point of what was occurring.

The overarching theme of this book seemed to be hope. Whenever the family was faced with a difficult and dangerous situation, some family member made some comment about how it wasn’t time to worry yet, or to just have faith. Even though they were faced with losing their land or extremely dangerous situations like death, the family never gave up their fight for what they believed in. Independence seemed to be another huge theme. Because their family owns their own land and does not have to tenant farm other people’s land, they feel and are perceived as more independent than others since they do not depend on others for their livelihood.