Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
by: Mildred D. Taylor
"Then if you want something and it's a good thing and you got it in the right way, you better hang on to it. You care what a lot of useless people say 'bout you you'll never want you to make it. You understand what I'm telling you?"
The Logan family experiences first hand the struggles to survive. With a sense of dignity and pereverance, Cassie's family refuses to let the white community get the best of them.
"But there are other things, Cassie, that if I'd let be, they'd eat away at me and destroy me in the end. And it's the same with you, baby. There are things you can't back down on, things you gotta take a stand on. But it's up to you to decide what them things are. You have to demand respect in this world, ain't nobody gonna hand it to you. How you carry yourself, what you stand for- that's how you gain respect. But, little one, ain't nobody's respect worth more than your own. You understand that?"
Cassie's Dad teaches her essential elements of survival. He teaches her the need to believe in one self and what one satnds for. He does not advocate getting things the easy way, but rather he encourages her to 'play fair', unlike the whites. Through this, Cassie learns to respect herself, her opinions, choices, and actions. It is not until she respects herself that she is able to demand respect from others.
"I askes him once why he had to go away, why the land was so important. He took my hand and said in his quiet way: "Look out there, Cassie girl. All that belongs to you. You ain't never had to live on somebody's place but your own as long as I live and the family survives, you'll never have to. That's important. You may not underatnd that now, but one day you will. Then you'll see."
The Logan family, admist threats and demands, hold their heads high. Their heritage gives them a sense of pride. This heritage is intertwined with the land that they live on. There land represents their struggle to survive. Their land reveals their family's struggles yet also their success. As a family they are committed to their land and each other. They will survive.
Taylor, Mildred. Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. New York: Puffin Books, 1976.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings