Roll Of Thunder Here Me Cry
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Character List
Cassie Logan: Ten years old, Cassie is the first-person narrator of the novel. She is the second oldest and only girl in her family. Cassie is intelligent, outspoken, and self-confident, even when those qualities threaten to get her in trouble for speaking her mind in a white-dominated world or simply with her teacher at school. She spends most of her time with her three brothers, who are her confidants and playmates, and worships her father. Over the course of the novel, Cassie comes to experience racism directed at her and learns the real dangers of being black in the 1930s South. At the beginning of the novel, Cassie is outspoken, proud of herself and her race but unaware of the consequences of that outspokenness in her society. From various sources – her teacher, a prejudiced white girl and her cruel father, a prejudiced store owner – she experiences racism directly. She also is witness to the real violence and injustice of the South – becoming aware of lynchings, of white powers curtailment of her father and mothers freedoms, and of the severe punishments meted out to blacks accused of wrongdoing, even when they are fourteen-year-old friends of hers, like TJ. Cassie grows up over the course of the year, learning some sad truths and experiencing the strength and love of her family.
Stacey Logan: Twelve years old at the start of the book and thirteen at the end, Stacey is on the brink of adulthood. As the oldest, he bosses his brothers and sister around and is the leader of their group, instigating schemes that could be dangerous. He is old enough to disobey his parents but not old enough to fully appreciate the consequences. His dawning awareness of racism leads him to make difficult choices, like pushing away his white friend Jeremy. In the end, he proves his true bravery and loyalty by risking danger by attempting to help his estranged friend TJ. Stacey begins the book by learning he must distance himself from TJ – because of his cheating and his time spent at the Wallace store – and from Jeremy – because of the risk associated with being friends with white people. He also uses his ingenuity as a protest against white domination, as when he spearheads building a trench in the rain-filled road to stop – and ultimately break – the white schools bus. He witnesses his fathers attack by the Wallaces on the road back from Vicksburg and watches the attack on TJ, wanting to protect his friend but unable to help.
Christopher-John Logan: Age seven, hes a short, chubby little boy who is the quietest Logan sibling. Hes always cheerful but frequently reminds the other children that theyre breaking their parents rules and refusing to go along with them. Usually, he ends up following long on whatever misdeed — going to the Wallace store, walking TJ home — is happening so as not to be left behind.
Chester Clayton “Little Man” Logan: Little Man, age six, is a smart boy with a highly developed sense of right and wrong. Able to read before he started school, Little Man prides himself on cleanliness and cannot stand humiliation — as when he is punished by his teacher for refusing the “very poor” text books allotted for the black children or when he is splashed by mud by the white schools bus. He still sits on his fathers lap and partakes in his older siblings adventures, learning a great deal about the racist South at a young age.
David “Papa” Logan: A tall, handsome man, Papa is one of Big Mas two youngest – and only surviving – children. He works from the end of planting till Christmas time on the railroad in order to pay for his land. He was raised on the same farm on which his family now lives. Ready to stand up for himself and his family, he does what he “gotta do” to survive and respect himself. Papa allows Mr. Morrison to seek refuge at his house. He risks his life to institute a boycott against the Wallaces, store owners who burned a man to death. His leg is broken and he is shot at in retribution for the boycott. He also comes close to losing his land, which he promises will not be lost, when the bank, influenced by Mr. Granger, calls in the note on it. He is willing to use his shotgun to protect TJ but ultimately instead uses his ingenuity to light the cotton fields on fire – thus leading Granger to stop the lynch mob and save TJs life – even when that means losing a quarter of his own cotton. For him, family and the land must be protected at all costs.
Mary “Mama” Logan: Age thirty-three, a pretty lady from the Delta, Mama was sent to high school in Jackson and Crandon Teacher School by her tenant-farmer father. Her father died during her final year in teacher school, and she married Papa when she was nineteen. She has taught at the Great Faith school for fourteen years, and has four children of her own. “Shes born to teaching like the sun is born to shine.” Her strong pride in her race and sense of injustice leads her to paste over the inside covers of the schoolbooks, where the “very poor” condition of the book is listed next to the race of the black students, and to teach about the wrongs of slavery. This outspokenness results in her getting fired by the white school board. She also helps organize the boycott on the Wallace store. She silently makes due with less in the way of food and provisions when they must save money to protect the land. She is the voice of reason in the Logan home, protecting her husband from his temper. Though she tries to keep the stories of the violence and injustice around them from her children, she ultimately cannot shield them from the truth.
Caroline “Big Ma” Logan: Papas mother, a woman in her sixties, she holds the deed to the Logan land when the book begins. It was bought by her late husband, Paul Edward, who had been born into slavery two years before the Civil War. She married him when she was eighteen, after she met him when he was working as a carpenter in Vicksburg and her father brought her to town. They raised their six children — only two of whom survived — on the four hundred acres of land her husband bought between 1887 and 1918. Big Ma is the voice of history in the book, telling stories about the past to Cassie. Her love of the land leads her to sign it over to her two sons to protect it from Harlan Granger. She has medical knowledge and is often called upon to tend those injured by white violence, including the Berrys. She is very religious and is a source of comfort to Cassie who shares a room and bed with her. Ultimately, she cannot protect Cassie from racism, as when she must force Cassie to obey Mr. Simms and apologize to Lillian Jean in Strawberry. She helps support the family by working in their cotton fields.
Hammer Logan: Big