Suddenly, T.J. runs out of the room and continues past the Logans without greeting them. Cassie asks one of the other boys where Stacey is, and it turns out that Stacey was whipped by Mama because he was caught with cheat notes. The notes belonged to T.J., but because Stacey wouldn’t rat him out, he took the beating.
Cassie goes back to bed. Big Ma and Mama stay up for a while in order to protect the family—Big Ma even takes out her rifle. Stacey also volunteers to help, and Cassie stays up because she’s worried. The entire family cares about each other’s wellbeing. Cao, Diana. "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Chapter 3." LitCharts.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Summary and Analysis of Chapters 5-6. Before dawn on a Saturday, Cassie and Stacey depart with Big Ma in the wagon for the market in Strawberry where they will sell butter, milk, and eggs. They have never been allowed to go before, but this time TJ is going along to buy things for his mother, so Big Ma decides to ...
L.T. Morrison. Papa brings Mr. Morrison to live with the Logans while he’s working on the railroad. Mr. Morrison offers protection because of his huge stature—he’s tall and strong, but quiet and shy with the family, though… read analysis of L.T. Morrison. Get the entire Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry LitChart as a printable PDF.
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Cassie and Stacey go to Strawberry with Big Ma to sell butter, milk, and eggs. They have never been allowed to go before, but this time TJ is going...
I think Cassie is afraid that Ma and Big Ma would be angry at them.
Mama and Big Ma are happy about the bus incident because they know how unfair it had been for the bus to drive the Logan children out of the road. This is just one more example of how tightly knit the Logan family is, and how much they support each other.
Big Ma and Mama stay up for a while in order to protect the family—Big Ma even takes out her rifle. Stacey also volunteers to help, and Cassie stays up because she’s worried. The entire family cares about each other’s wellbeing.
Little Man is especially upset because he’s so meticulous and clean, but Mama explains that the county doesn’t provide much ...
It’s hard for Jeremy and Stacey to be friends, no matter how hard Jeremy might try, because there are too many surrounding factors that force them apart —like society’s racism in general. However, Cassie sees that Jeremy doesn’t necessarily take advantage of his privilege when he recognizes that it’s hurting others, and she respects that.
Cassie sneaks into the boys’ room so that she can eavesdrop on the conversation with them. They hear that the “night men” are riding. One of the men Mr. Avery mentions is the white school’s bus driver, which convinces Cassie that the night men are coming after the Logans.
Jeremy Simms sees the Logans coming and tries to greet them, but Stacey takes his anger out on him. Jeremy stammers that he likes the Logans , but they all ignore him. Cassie realizes that Jeremy never rides the bus either, no matter how bad the weather is.
As they put the wagon in the barn at home, Stacey tells Cassie not to blame Big Ma because she had to act as she did. Cassie insists that Big Ma is a grownup like Mr. Simms. Their conversation stops short when they spot what appears to be Mr. Granger's Packard in their barn. They run in the house where they see their Uncle Hammer. The car belongs to him.
She is disappointed when she sees Strawberry because it is a small, shabby place. Racism in Strawberry is more apparent and more acceptable than it is in Cassie's smaller town. In Strawberry, Big Ma is not a supreme power but instead must bow to the will of a powerful white man, no matter how much she might disagree with him.
When Cassie accuses Stacey of acting like a know-it-all since going to Louisiana with Papa the previous year (after he explains to her that maybe Big Mama didn't have a choice but to obey Mr. Simms) she demonstrates the difference in the degrees they have become aware of the realities of race in the South. The incident in Strawberry and Mama's subsequent explanation of the reasons for Big Ma's actions is the proccess by which Cassie learns a lesson that Stacey has learned a year ago.
Mama tells Cassie the story of slaves who were brought over from Africa, like Big Ma's great-grandparents. White people preached that people from Africa were not human so that they could make them slaves. They taught the slaves Christianity to make them obedient but even so people like Big Ma's father Papa Luke ran away three times. After the Civil War, when Papa Luke and Big Ma's mother Mama Rachel were freed, people continued to believe that blacks were not equal to whites. People like Mr. Simms hold on to that belief to make themselves feel important. Mama says that what black people give white people is fear, not respect. Cassie may call Lillian Jean "Miss" because she has to but she calls the black girls at her church "Miss" because she respects them.
Uncle Hammer and his Packard provides a marked parallel to Mr. Granger. On the surface level, Hammer provides a means for Cassie to see the possibilities available to black men beyond becoming farmers and workingmen like Papa and Mr. Morrison.
At the store, TJ shows Stacey and Cassie a pearl-handled revolver in a display case, which he says he wants badly. He gives his mother's list to Mr. Barnett, but Mr. Barnett stops waiting on him to take the orders of several white customers in a row, including a young white girl.
Before dawn on a Saturday, Cassie and Stacey depart with Big Ma in the wagon for the market in Strawberry where they will sell butter, milk, and eggs. They have never been allowed to go before, but this time TJ is going along to buy things for his mother, so Big Ma decides to take her grandchildren, too. When they get to Strawberry, Cassie is disappointed to see how small the town is. At first, she doesn't understand why Big Ma parks the wagon so far away from the entrance to the market, but Big Ma assures her that her regular customers will look for her and then tells her that the wagons near the entrance belong to white people.
He’s usually cheerful and doesn’t quarrel as much as the others, though he often gets swept into their plans. Big Ma. Big Ma, whose name is Caroline Logan, is the Logan children’s grandmother.
Little Willie Wiggins is one of Stacey’s classmates in his seventh grade class. He’s the one who informs the Logan children that T.J. is responsible for getting their mother fired from her teaching job.
Cassie, who attends fourth grade at a black school in the South, narrates the story in first person. Through her eyes, the reader sees the injustices of racism firsthand. Cassie has a short temper and… read analysis of Cassie Logan
Harlan Granger is a rich plantation owner who’s eager to get back land from the Logan household, which his ancestors had sold years ago to Big Ma and her husband. He’s greedy and malicious, constantly plotting ways to force the Logans to sell their land.
T.J. is Stacey’s friend, though none of the other Logan children like him very much. His family sharecrops on Granger land. T.J. causes trouble throughout the book, causing Mama to get fired from her… read analysis of T.J. Avery
Jeremy is a white boy who likes the Logan children and often walks with them to school, even though he’s beaten at home for associating with them.
Uncle Hammer. Papa’s brother, Hammer Logan, works in Chicago and earns a very decent living with his job. He’s able to afford a luxury car and dresses well. He has a short temper and reacts angrily to… read analysis of Uncle Hammer.
In the middle of the night, Cassie wakes to overhear the adults talking about the boycott of the Wallace store and of the need for someone to give the black community credit so they can shop in Vicksburg.
Lillian Jean confides her secrets to Cassie. Finally, Cassie beats her up, and when Lillian Jean threatens to tell her father, Cassie threatens to tell everyone all of her secrets. Cassie is satisfied. One day, Harlan Granger, Kaleb Wallace, and another member of the school board come to Mama's class.
The Logan's took out a loan from the local bank in order to buy their land. They make regular loan payments. However, since Harlan Granger is a powerful man, he can get the bank to demand full payment of the loan. Then, the Logans would need money, and they would have to let Granger buy the land.
He tells her to take action only if she must, and that she mustn't do anything that Lillian Jean and Jeremy's father would hear about. So, Cassie pretends for a month to be very nice to Lillian Jean.
Another tactic Granger uses to discourage the Logans is taking away Mama's teaching position.
Uncle Hammer is furious, and tells Stacey to let T. J. keep the coat. The day before Christmas, Papa returns from the railroads. That evening, everyone in the family, including L. T., gathers to tell stories. Eventually, L. T. tells the story of a previous Christmas, in 1876, when a gang of white men came to his house and killed his parents.
One day, Harlan Granger, Kaleb Wallace, and another member of the school board come to Mama's class. They find how she has altered the textbooks to hide the word "negri" and they find her teaching "inappropriate" things. She is fired.
The final message of the novel, perhaps, is that survival is possible, but that there are inevitable losses along the way. Previous section Chapters 9-10 Next section Analysis. Test your knowledge.
At first, it may seem that it was slightly criminal of Papa to fool the men by starting a fire. But, on the other hand, he burned his own land. Also, throughout the novel, the Logan family has indulged in small acts of civil disobedience, such as the sabotage of the bus.