Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry And Maus Character Analysis

There are many admirable characters in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Maus. However, only one can win the MACA, or Most Admirable Character Award. I firmly believe that Cassie from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry should take home the prize. She stuck with her family no matter what and stood up for herself throughout the book.

In Roll of Thunder, the main character Cassie Logan was a 9-year-old black girl growing up in 1930’s Mississippi. This was a difficult time for black people, as racial segregation was still prominent in the region. Because of this, she suffered many humiliations growing up in this time period, but triumphed over them with an admirable struggle. One exponential reason that ties into her earning this award is that she stood

She wasn’t one to let someone disrespect her and get away with it. One such example is the Strawberry incident. In Strawberry, she was infuriated when the shopkeep, a white man by the name of Mr. Barnett, had ignored her order as he filled out many other white people’s orders. Cassie confronted Mr. Barnett peacefully at first, but he was not so nice as to return the favor with the same kindness. He responded with unnecessary harshness, to which Cassie felt humiliated and angry. She stood up for herself prominently by screaming at the man and had to be taken away by Stacey. Since she is a young and fiery, most of her retaliations are met with only further hatred. This doesn’t stop her from standing up, though. Another of her pop-ups were with Lillian Jean, a white girl who humiliated her in Strawberry. After pretending to be her friend for almost a month, Cassie enacted her revenge. She led Lillian Jean into a clearing in a forest, and threw ‘Miz Lillian Jean’s’ books to the ground. That act then prompted a fight, which Cassie won. She forced Lillian Jean to apologize for all of ways she had wronged Cassie and also made her never speak of the incident again. This is Cassie’s most influential rebellion, for she was able to benefit from the outburst. Even though she was generally shunned and resented for her retaliation, her standing up proved that

From a certain viewpoint, like Miz Crocker, she would be thought of as terribly rambunctious and argumentative. In a situation like the books, Miz Crocker had already accepted that blacks were inferior to whites, whereas Cassie had a different view. She was only rebellious in self-defense whenever her rights were infringed upon, and this is admirable. With the Strawberry incident, she was humiliated beyond belief over the name calling from Mr. Barnett. This caused the surge of her rebellious nature to retaliate, and so she did. Of course, for the time period her words meant nothing, but it is the thought of her uprising that counts. She should be viewed from her admirable actions, such as fighting for her freedom as a human being. To enunciate, Cassie was a very admirable person, showing strength and courage in not only herself, but also in her family. Even though there are quite a few admirable characters from both Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Maus, she should take the MACA. I can understand from certain points of view why she would be shunned for her actions, but if you look at why she did what she did, she showed the true feeling of freedom. I feel that many people can learn from Cassie’s successes and failures, and become a better person not only for themselves, but also for the good of the