This novel, by Mildred D. Taylor features a black family that lived in Mississippi during the Great Depression. During this harsh time, the Logan family faced many struggles that threatened each individual family member and the land in which they owned. In addition to these threats, the children, Cassie, Stacey, Christopher-John, and Little Man encounter racism for the first time. Meanwhile, the adults of the house struggle to earn money in order to pay off the mortgage. Despite these difficult troubles, the Logan family manages to maintain a stable lifestyle that allows them to keep their beloved land.
Roll of Thunder: Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor is a captivating story filled with adventure, suspense, and the importance of family. It demonstrates the virtues of life through the perspectives of the children. In addition, the author uses various literary techniques to convey the theme and to elaborate on events that happen throughout the novel. Lastly, the story reflects upon a piece of America’s history and the author informs the reader about such a topic without any bias. Overall, Mildred D. Taylor composed a stupendous novel that captures the essence of life, uses literary techniques to convey the theme, and informs the reader of a part of America’s history.
Mildred D Taylor’s glorious novel portrays the virtuous wonders and adventure of life. This is shown by the children ad they explore the world around them. However they do this mischievously as they tend to wander into places they shouldn’t be. Despite this, the author shows that one has only one chance to live and that one should make the best of it. Also, the author describes the scenes of the story with enhanced detail, allowing the
reader’s mind to venture off on it’s own. While Mildred D. Taylor exemplifies the qualities of life, she also utilizes other literary techniques to highlight the theme.
Various literary techniques are used in the story to capture the essence of the theme. For instance, the author embraces symbolism in the scenery to bring out the theme. In this case, thunder is used to symbolize and foreshadow upcoming dangers. In addition to this, the author builds upon sentences with astounding details that make the story more vivid. It also influences more understanding of the text, which is essential for the reader to understand the theme. Taylor also reflects upon America’s history through her novel.
Part of America’s history is displayed through Taylor’s novel. It takes place during the Great Depression, which is a significant event in American history. Racism during the time is also portrayed in the story. In the book, Taylor provides the reader with true racism and how it affected the black sharecroppers of the time. There is no bias in any way when Mildred D. Taylor describes such events. Clearly part of the reason the author wrote this book is to show how this time period affected many families in harsh ways.
Overall, Mildred D. Taylor has composed great piece of writing that deserves thoughtful recognition. It conveys the virtues of life, incorporates many literary techniques to bring out the theme, and even reflects upon a dark, yet significant age in history. Because of this, on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest, the book would be rated an eight. The only negative aspects to this novel are that the ending is rather rushed and the story could have been extended further. To conclude, Roll of
Thunder: Hear My Cry is a great story that truly captures the essence of life during the Great Depression.