Mildred D. Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry follows a black family called the Logans in Mississippi during The Great Depression. The Logans have four children who are quickly becoming exposed to the racism that surrounds them. The book is from the point of view of the only girl, Cassie. Cassie is stubborn and knows what’s right, so she has trouble ignoring the constant racist acts that she is exposed to. Cassie’s grandmother, Big Ma takes her and her eldest brother Stacey into Strawberry to sell goods from their farm. It’s a tough day for Cassie as she experiences extreme losses of innocence. In the beginning of the day, Cassie is surrounded by a comforting bubble of innocence that clearly pops by the end.
The whole day is an utter disappointment …show more content…
She doesn’t understand the social structure in Mississippi. Her parents kept her in protective bubble where she never learned about the cruel way the world works. She sees acts of racism and tries to fix them. Cassie, Stacey, and his best friend TJ go down to the store in Strawberry later that day. They place an order, but while the storekeeper Mr. Barnett starts to help them, a white customer comes in. To Cassie’s shock, “without a word of apology” to them “he proceeded to fill it” and ignore their order. This happens over and over “for near an hour” before Cassie decides she’s going to do something about it. She interrupts him while he is with a white customer and “Mr. Barnett does not look up” so Cassie assumes that he cannot hear her and “tugs on his shirt sleeve to get his attention.” Mr Barnett “recoils as if” she “had struck him.” Mr. Barnett is shocked that a black child would dare touch him. He makes racist comments and humiliates Cassie until Stacey comes forward to get her. Cassie expects him to agree with her, but instead he drags her outside. She feels betrayed because she doesn’t understand why Stacey would disagree with
The whole day is an utter disappointment …show more content…
She doesn’t understand the social structure in Mississippi. Her parents kept her in protective bubble where she never learned about the cruel way the world works. She sees acts of racism and tries to fix them. Cassie, Stacey, and his best friend TJ go down to the store in Strawberry later that day. They place an order, but while the storekeeper Mr. Barnett starts to help them, a white customer comes in. To Cassie’s shock, “without a word of apology” to them “he proceeded to fill it” and ignore their order. This happens over and over “for near an hour” before Cassie decides she’s going to do something about it. She interrupts him while he is with a white customer and “Mr. Barnett does not look up” so Cassie assumes that he cannot hear her and “tugs on his shirt sleeve to get his attention.” Mr Barnett “recoils as if” she “had struck him.” Mr. Barnett is shocked that a black child would dare touch him. He makes racist comments and humiliates Cassie until Stacey comes forward to get her. Cassie expects him to agree with her, but instead he drags her outside. She feels betrayed because she doesn’t understand why Stacey would disagree with