Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor Book Analysis

The question arises that ‘roll of thunder, hear my cry’ was too painful for children to read, or so parents think. First, children should be aware of the type of hardships they might encounter in the real world, racism included alongside with the excruciating pain that follows it. Second, deeming the book inadequate for children denies them the knowledge of the precious lessons concealed inside of it. Lastly, children should learn real history and not the whitewashed version of it and this book gives them that chance. 

Adults tend to sugarcoat the realities of the world for children. Their excuse being that they are protecting said children, but sugarcoating does more harm than good. By exposing children/young adults to the ugly realities of the world early on, they learn to accept the things they cannot change and defy those that they can and understand when or how to defy them. Racism is one of the oldest most vicious tragedies inflected upon humans by fellow humans, denying children the knowledge of how to conquer such malicious virus might endanger them to even worse scenarios. Thus, introducing young adults to serious issues like racism should be one of the top priorities of parents, doing so by using a novel might be one of the most mellow and educational ways to start the conversation. Mildred D. Taylor is a pioneer and visionary for writing ‘roll of thunder; hear my cry’ for that specific age group, since it plants the seed of resistance in them early on so it can later help them blossom into strong revolutionary rebels that can mold the ugly truth into a beautiful reality.

Mildred Taylor’s book provides children with a unique reading experience since it gives them a sneak peek through the eyes of African Americans and the suffering, they endured living at such bigoted biased society and surviving through it all. It also teaches children valuable lessons about family bonds, unity as well as standing strong in the face of adversities (Livingston & Kurkjian, 2003), as seen in Mama’s precious words: “we have no choice of what color we’re born or who our parents are or whether we’re rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we’re here” (p. 129). The fact that the book is based on the author’s own family experience further proves this book as a necessity for young readers, specifically minority children as this piece of heritage can give them more than any other book. By giving children agency in her book and creating a place where African American voices can make a genuine change; the author passes down the torch of resistance to those who may follow, empowering young adults and proving to them that they can win their battles.

Children should be given the chance to own their narrative instead of acquiring a whitewashed pseudo version of history that would give them a false sense of identity. This chance was given to them by Mildred Taylor’s book, and it should not be taken away by adults. Taylor did not perpetuate negative stereotypes that have been associated with African Americans, but she gave out an authentic and realistic approach to the topic and deployed African Americans as active agents that are able to strategically resist racial biases in a deeply bigoted society. (Yoo, 2018). Adults deeming the book too painful wouldn’t be the first accusation towards the book, or the first-time people tried to ban children from acquiring it, but sadly accusations like these do not stem from anything but fear for the truth to surface, the need for African American roles to be stereotypical with no power or agency whatsoever and that is exactly what the book shows. In better words: “books like Roll of Thunder, hear my cry are banned, suppressed or otherwise censored, not because they are racially biased but because they point out this society’s inequalities.” (Muhammad, 1996)

In conclusion, parents’ uncertainties about ‘roll of thunder, hear my cry’ being inapt for children should not being taken into consideration. As it introduces them to the atrocious realities of racism in the world. It also Prepares them to confront racism and bigotry in the world and teaches them incredibly precious lessons and dismissing the book for having any ‘painfulness’ would rather be unfair. The book gives children a chance at a raw authentic view of history instead of a whitewashed version of it. Therefor, it would only be unfair to deny children such a gem.