Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry Injustice

How does Mildred Taylor explore the theme of racial injustice during Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and how does this correspond to the reality in Southern-US during that time?

This essay will inquire into how Mildred Taylor uses language and context to create a fictional narrative of the 1930s which develops the concept of racism throughout. Roll of Thunder, Hear my cry is the winner of the 1977 Newberry medal; written by Mildred Taylor it represents racial injustice being portrayed by multiple characters. The novel follows the black community 's struggle for equality during the 1930s in the Southern USA. It was once decreed by Abraham Lincoln, ‘those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves. ' However, years of being

Those more economically blessed often consider themselves to be unfit to mingle with lower-class citizens, and so they compensate for this by associating with those in the same financial situation as themselves. As the Granger family owned a large plantation, and were extremely wealthy before the war deemed their confederate money worthless, Harlan Granger is, ‘crazy 'bout anythin ' that was before that war and he wantin ' his land to be every bit like it was then.’ This is perhaps a repercussion of living his whole life with money, it created a monster. Somebody who thinks that they own everything, living or not, somebody who has no regard for the general populace and instead spends every moment thinking about how to improve his own life. The quotation also incorporates Southern colloquial language, which are used throughout the book in an effort to allow the readers to relate to the characters and identify with their situations even better. After L.T. Morrison brings a note from Harlan about the bank claiming their debt, Papa asserts, ‘He 's got a need to show us where we stand in the scheme of things. He 's got a powerful need to do that.’ This is effective as Papa uses repetition of the phrase, ‘he’s got a need’ however; during the second repetition, he adds the word ‘powerful’ as if to use hyperbole. By exaggerating his point, Papa ensures that his audience understands the

During the 1880s a law was ordained restricting the consort between the black and white communities respectively. Known as the ‘Jim Crow Law’ it meant that those of African American descent were made to ride in compartmentalized train carriages. It was said to encourage ‘separate but equal’ spaces; it soon became blindingly obvious that they were anything but equal. During the following 30 years segregation began applying to nearly everything, and the black community lost almost every right they had ever gained. Caucasians and African-Americans were hardly permitted to see each other, and with every new law passed by the Supreme Court, the likelihood that the abuse would ever end became scarce. By the time the novel is set, even schools and public restrooms were segregated. This was accompanied by the reforming of the KKK who are described as the sinister ‘Night Men’ in this novel. The KKK were an extremist organisation who believed in white supremacism and therefore often killed or severely injured black people who they believed had performed a significant misdeed. As is demonstrated by Mildred Taylor. Jeremy and his siblings attend 'Jefferson Davis County School ' and most of the pupils there take the school bus. Whereas, the Logan Family must walk to school; often barefooted and risking the hatred of Mr. Grimes, the bus driver, who attempts to cloak the Logan 's in mud. Cassie also stresses that some pupils withdraw from the 'Great Faith Elementary and Secondary