Faith Hernandez Mrs. Dear 3rd Period English 15 April 2024. Cassie Logan’s Struggle Against Racism. Mildred D. Taylor’s novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, focuses on racial tensions during the 1930s. These tensions significantly impact the narrator and main character, Cassie Logan. Cassie is strong-willed, and when she first encounters racism, she remains adamant in her belief that White people are not superior to Blacks. This firmness in her belief leads to trouble for Cassie down the road. The impact of racism on Cassie’s life is apparent through her interactions, actions, and thoughts. Cassie interacts with numerous Whites throughout the novel, and racial tensions typically dominate these interactions. This is evident when she is in the …show more content…
Cassie’s indignation toward Mr. Barnett’s actions is most likely a result of her somewhat sheltered upbringing; she is not afraid to share her frustration regarding the injustice, the way she is used to expressing herself at home. On pages 122 and 123, Cassie takes revenge against Lillian Jean, forcing her to apologize for the Strawberry incident and other offenses committed by the Simmses. As is shown throughout the novel, the Logan family has strong beliefs and often strong tempers. Cassie exhibits both of these traits as she beats up Lillian Jean, and it was not only a stand for herself, but for her beliefs in racial equality. Mr. Jamison is the Logans’ lawyer and is also a friend of theirs. “I liked Mr. Jamison and didn’t mind admitting it. He came to see us several times a year, mainly on business, and although the boys and I were somewhat shy of him, we were always glad to see him” (73). Mr. Jamison is a consistent part of the Logans’ lives; Cassie mentions that he visits their house multiple times a year. Despite this consistency, Cassie is reluctant to be around him. She is used to negative interactions with White people, so …show more content…
Cassie tries to convince Mama that White people are not superior, and although Mama voices her agreement, Cassie continually repeats herself (86-88). Cassie most likely feels highly insecure about her identity due to constant racism aimed at her, and she may be looking for a sort of reassurance from Mama. “But soon, against my will, the vision of ghostly headlights soaked into my mind and an uncontrollable trembling racked my body. And it remained until the dawn, when I fell into a restless sleep” (45). Cassie’s experience watching the Night Riders visit her house exemplifies the deep-rooted fear that White people would be placed in Black communities. As she is exposed to more racism, that fear is likely to grow, unless she continues to fight back and stand up for her rights and the rights of others. “All the questions had been answered, yet we feared, and we sat silently listening to the rain, soft now upon the roof, and watching the door behind which Papa lay, and wished for morning” (146). When Papa is attacked, Cassie feels almost hopeless, and she can do nothing but stare at the door. This feeling of hopelessness
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a movie based on the book by Mildred D. Taylor. It was released on June 2,1978 and has a runtime of an hour and 35 minutes. The target audience of this movie is mainly children and families, especially for those who have strong feelings about racism and injustice. In the movie, Cassie is the narrator and wants everyone to be treated fairly, even though she doesn’t yet understand the society that she lives in. Her brother, Stacey is gullible, but has a good heart and wants to do the right thing. The movie centers around the Logans, who are a determined family fighting for their rights. I believe the book is better than the movie because it describes all the events in much more detail than those pictured in the movie.
In chapter 5 -7 of the book Roll Of Thunder Hear Me Cry there is a lot of drama and problems being caused that are causing many opportunities to show why the theme of the book could be peace is better than revenge. In chapter 5 mama and cassie go to strawberry so mama could go to the store but cassie went and when she did that she was asking for problems. They go into a store and she gets kicked out but when she leaves she has a surprise waiting on her lilien jean and her dad were there. They instantly cause drama by pushing cassie into the road
One story that the Author told that really struck a chord with me was when she went to the diner and was yelled at for just standing in front of the diner. You hear stories from like this from the past often, but it gives it a different perspective when it’s a young girl. If I was put in this situation, I would personally have a breakdown. I would want to lash out in anger and frustration, but the consequences of lashing out against a white person during this time period were very large. I have lived in predominantly white areas for most of my life, and I have not experienced any overt racism like the author
It takes courage to stand up for your convictions, especially if you know there will be consequences. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a novel by Mildred D. Taylor tells the story of a young girl named Cassie Logan. Cassie is a girl in 1933 who stands up for the rights of her family and friends. She proves her courage by standing up for her brother, Little Man, getting revenge on the bus full of white children, and standing up against Lillian Jean Simms. Cassie follows through with her convictions, knowing there may be consequences.
Anne Moody (born Essie Mae) was a very private person, and her withheld feelings often led to mental breakdowns. Throughout her childhood she is a timid, poor little girl who is afraid to even ask her mother questions about what is going on around her. Through most of her childhood experiences she learns the social significance of race and gender on her own because her mother avoids confronting the issue because she feels society cannot be changed. The first time Anne is really confronted with the issue of racial differences is when she makes friends with some white neighbors and goes to the movies with them. When arriving at the movies she learns that she cannot sit in the regular seats with the other white children. ?After the m...
“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 family and their land, they stand strong with pride and dignity, willing to do whatever it takes to keep what is most important to their eyes. However, matters only get more and more complex when a lynch mob is determined to lynch Mr. David Logan, Mr. Morrison, and Mr. Jamison along with T.J. the night of the immense incident. Since the story is told through the eyes of a little girl, Cassie reveals all her pain as well as her perspective and point of view of life. As one can see, Mildred Taylor applied the conflict to the story ever so professionally. She did a phenomenal job using a variety of techniques to make many themes fit perfectly within the story; she additionally applied the theme to the conflicts. In addition, the story was recounted through the eyes of the main character, Cassie, which will soon lose her innocence. Cassie’s point of view had a great impact on the marvelous story.
Anne Moody's story is one of success filled with setbacks and depression. Her life had a great importance because without her, and many others, involvement in the civil rights movement it would have not occurred with such power and force. An issue that is suppressing so many people needs to be addressed with strength, dedication, and determination, all qualities that Anne Moody strived in. With her exhaustion illustrated at the end of her book, the reader understands her doubt of all of her hard work. Yet the reader has an outside perspective and knows that Anne tells a story of success. It is all her struggles and depression that makes her story that much more powerful and ending with the greatest results of Civil Rights and Voting Rights for her and all African Americans.
Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry is set during the Great Depression, in the rural areas of Mississippi. The majority of the people in this community are sharecroppers, who are greatly dependent on plantation farming. The Logan family is fortunate because they have a piece of land of their own, so unlike other black sharecroppers they do not have to be dependent on the whites. However, due to the sharp decrease in the price of the cotton crop the family have to work hard to keep it in their hands, whilst also providing food in order for them to survive. The situation is further worsened because of the severity of racism and segregation in the society. The Logans are one of the few families who own land and this causes resentment from the whites whose beliefs are that black people are inferior and the whites must maintain their supremacy. David Logan and Uncle Hammer both believe that prejudice must be stopped, yet the ways in which they fight against it differ greatly. Papa prefers to act non-violently and to work within the system. He does so by concentrating on paying off the mortgage of the land so that his family will be on an equal par with the whites and have self-respect. He modifies his behaviour and considers things carefully in order not to jeopardise the land and the safety of his family. Hammer on the other hand has left Mississippi to get away from the prejudice, but once confronted with it again; he reacts violently and impulsively. Being a single person he puts his sense of injustice before concern about repercussions against the family.
Mildred D. Taylor uses symbolism in Roll of thunder hear my cry a lot to bring out the main idea of racism, show character’s motivation and also to show setting which gives the reader a chance to feel like they are in the story. This is shown on page 205 and 206.
Have you ever been mistreated for being just you? Back in the 1930’s there was a Black household named the Logans, who all worked hard in order to pay taxes, their loan to the bank and to just survive daily life. This household faces many obstacles every day, but they never stop being a family and trying to protect what is theirs. “You ain’t never had to live on nobody’s place but your own and as I live and the family survives, you’ll never have to,” Papa tells Cassie (Taylor 7). Students in middle school should read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor because it teaches life lessons, demonstrates hardships Blacks faced and is inspirational.
In this book, it shows examples of racial strife includes segregation, physical attacks and emotional abuse. The Logan family was treated indescribably. The book starts showing racial strife when the children of the black family has to go to a different school than the white children for that very reason. This book shows the way racism from the 1930’s and how much it’s changed compared to today. If we treated African Americans the same way starting in the 1930’s we wouldn’t have had so much commotion that we have today. In “Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry” the blacks were so segregated that they had to go to different schools, and they didn’t even have a bus to walk to schools which took an hour there and back.
To the modern white women who grew up in comfort and did not have to work until she graduated from high school, the life of Anne Moody reads as shocking, and almost too bad to be true. Indeed, white women of the modern age have grown accustomed to a certain standard of living that lies lightyears away from the experience of growing up black in the rural south. Anne Moody mystifies the reader in her gripping and beautifully written memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi, while paralleling her own life to the evolution of the Civil Rights movement. This is done throughout major turning points in the author’s life, and a detailed explanation of what had to be endured in the name of equality.
Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry. & nbsp; An important idea in the novel "Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry" written by Mildred D Taylor is racism.  ; This idea is important because it tells us how life was in the 1930s for a little black girl who matures with racial conflict around her. & nbsp; "Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry" is about a young, black girl, Cassie Logan, who tries to understand with her family, why the blacks are different to the whites. Cassie, the narrator, leads us through all the disaster and trouble that her and her family have been through in relation to the white folks in Mississippi. & nbsp; The first example that shows racial conflict between the blacks and whites is the Jefferson Davis School bus, which is full of white children. Blacks do not have a bus so Cassie and her brothers have to walk to school. However, each morning the children would be threatened by this bus, "a bus bore down on him spewing clouds of red dust like a huge yellow dragon breathing fire". This is surely because of racism. The whites in the bus seem to find it amusing with "laughing with faces" to see the black children run for their lives. & nbsp; Another example is the incident Cassie takes a trip to Strawberry to the market. There she is made to apologize to Lillian Jean Simms (a white girl) for bumping into her. Cassie does not like to get pushed around and she stands up for herself. She says, "I ain't nasty, and if you're so afraid of getting bumped, walk down there yourself" to Lillian Jean after she is told to "get down in the road".&nbs would do what they are told, but Cassie is strong and stubborn, and she refuses until her Big Ma tells her to apologize. & nbsp; Overall, life in the 1930s for the black people was very difficult as they were pressured and pushed around as if they were animals. With the temper, that Cassie has, she finds life unfair and still does not seem to understand "the way of things" between the black and white people until T.J (a black boy whom she does not like but was her brother's best friend) is going to be hanged for a crime he did not commit. Even though Cassie has now matured, she will still stay strong & nbsp;
The lesson I learned from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was the importance of equality and having a strong family bond. Throughout this whole story, there were signs of inequality, but the main part was near the end (252-254). During this time, T.J, a friend of Stacey’s, got accused of robbing and assaulting a white family for guns. It was actually Melvin and R.W who did it, and T.J
... It should be understood that Morrison's novel is filled with many characters and many examples of racism and sexism and the foundations for such beliefs in the black community. Every character is the victim or aggressor of racism or sexism in all its forms. Morrison succeeds in shedding light on the racism and sexism the black community had to endure on top of racism and sexism outside of the community. She shows that racism and sexism affect everyone's preconceived notions regarding race and gender and how powerful and prevalent the notions are.