Injustice In Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Essay Example)

The novel “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” is about the Logans, an African American family in Mississippi in the 1930s. During that period of time, xenophobia was still a big issue in society. The family had to deal with racism and injustice on a daily just because of their race. In this essay, I will talk about how Mildred Taylor explores the theme of injustice with different aspects of society like the legal system, education, land ownership and finances in “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry”. She does that with the help of different literary techniques like metaphors, colloquial languages and sensory images to create an atmosphere that the reader can vividly imagine and empathize with.

In the novel, the legal system and laws display how African Americans aren’t protected from the injustice they had to deal with. We can clearly see this in the quote “When Henrietta went to the sheriff and told him what she’d seed, he called her a liar and sent her home. Now I hear tells that some of them men that done it been ‘round braggin’ bout it. Sayin’ they’d do it again if some other uppity *n slur* get out of line”. When John Henry Berry got lynched because he was accused of flirting with a white woman, someone tried to tell the sheriff, he sent her home and called her a liar instead of doing anything about the situation. An innocent man’s life has been taken by racist, white men who clearly had no remorse for their actions. Back in the 1930s, when racism was still alive and normalized, there were a lot of laws that suggested the act of injustice and white supremacy. Mildred Taylor uses a racial slur in the text to realistically refer to the languages that were used to degrade black people. This helps the reader feel how frustrated and helpless African Americans were living in a white-dominated society. The author wants the reader to see how the legal system shows a clear bias toward white people and doesn’t protect black people and their basic rights. Therefore, law enforcement highlights the injustice that was served to the black people.

Another way that we can explore the theme of injustice is through the educational system. Due to the “Jim Crow” law, segregation was forced upon black people to be “separate but equal”. But throughout the novel, we can definitely notice that whites and blacks were not equal at all. In chapter 1, the white Jefferson Davis County School is described as a “long white wooden building” with a “wide sports field” and an “expansive front lawn”. As opposed to the white school, the black Great Faith Elementary and Secondary School is portrayed as “consisting of four weather-beaten wooden houses on stilts of brick”. Injustice is heavily implied as there was a huge contrast between what the white schoolchildren and the black schoolchildren such as the Logans are receiving education-wise. The author uses imagery and powerful adjectives to create a sharp and vivid picture in the reader's mind to help them see the difference between the two schools and realize that the educational system is just another example of white supremacy. Injustice is made obvious once again when Mama got fired for teaching about slavery instead of stuff from the book because “all that’s in the book is not true”. Taylor wants us to see that the school board teaches black children a white-washed version of history and hides the ugly truth about the country’s past, refusing to inform them about their history. In short, the educational system contributes a lot to the theme of injustice throughout the chapter as it shows how black and white schoolchildren are unequal. 

As we get further into the novel, the theme of injustice is heavily emphasized through land ownership and finances. During a heated discussion between Harlan Granger, a rich white businessman, and Papa, the author mentioned“Everyone knew that fifty cents were the top price paid to any man, woman, or child, hired to work in Granger fields.”. The quote conveys how unfairly paid black people were in society. They work long hours and do cruelly intense labor for a little amount of money.  This makes it almost impossible for black people to pay their bills and debts. During the discussion, Granger said “But y’all kept playing Santa Claus and I’m gonna get it back-real easy” in a threatening tone. With the use of colloquial language, we can see how white people spoke to black people as if they are below them. Harlan Granger spoke to the Logans in a very arrogant manner and thought it was okay since black people were considered lower than whites and insignificant. The quote also suggests the fact that it was very easy for white people to steal property from black people. In the novel, the Logan land was where the Logans make most of their earnings, where the Logan children grew up and lived. Not to mention, Papa and the family worked so hard to pay the bills to keep the land. To Granger, the land is just another way for him to reassure his place in society, and to make him feel powerful. To sum up, the theme of injustice is deeply embedded in land ownership and financial matters in the novel. 

With the given pieces of evidence, we can conclude that Mildred Taylor portrayed the theme of injustice throughout “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” by analyzing the different facets of the society the Logans lived in and how it affects the lives African Americans. Through the novel, we learn that everyone is equal no matter their race, culture or beliefs. They are all human beings and it is wrong to make them feel as if they’re below others and inhumane. There is no superior race in the world and everyone deserves equal rights. We should all treat each other with respect and kindness no matter what.