Mississippi Bridge and
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Both books are a metaphor of the racism that afflicted the entire nation, especially the southern states. These historical fiction books grew out of stories the author heard her father tell throughout her childhood, about actual events, and the characters Stacey and David are based on her father.
Roll of Thunder covers a time span of one year, 1933, and shows racial bigotry in the deep south through the eyes of 9-year-old Cassie Logan. We become acquainted with the Logans, their neighbors and friends, through richly detailed characterizations. The series of tragic events that take place during this year in Cassie�s life represent the private struggles that paved the way for the civil rights movement of the 60�s.
One reviewer observes that �this powerful story causes readers to reflect on horrible injustices and to question their own values and actions.� (Livingston) We feel the emotions of fear, mistrust, resentment, and hatred that have grown from years of oppression and humiliation. The black protagonists live parallel but separate lives from the white people of the community. Only two white characters in the story are able to penetrate the barrier and earn a degree of trust among their black neighbors � an attorney who dealt fairly with Cassie�s grandfather when they were young men, and Jeremy Simms, a boy who attempts to befriend the Logan children.
Mississippi Bridge paints a picture of racism in rural Mississippi on a much smaller canvas, �telescoping the injustices faced by blacks on a daily basis into one afternoon.� (DeWind) Because the book is shorter, the characters who are central to the conflict in the story are more fully developed than the bystanders.
The book is about one event that encapsulates the racism of the south, but this time it is seen through the eyes of Jeremy Simms, a white ten-year-old boy. The Logan children accompany their grandmother, Big Ma, to the Wallace store, where she boards the bus to go visit her sick sister. With more passengers than there are seats on the bus, the driver makes all the black passengers disembark. Although this book is much shorter than Roll of Thunder, the humiliation and tragedy that ensue evoke an equally powerful emotional reaction to the injustices of racism.
DeWind, Anna. 1990. Mississippi Bridge (Book). School Library Journal 36 (11): 119-120. In Academic Search Premier [database online]. Available from http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=10578543&db=aph. Accessed 22 June 2004.
Livingston, Nancy, and Catherine Kurkjian. 2003. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Book). Reading Teacher 57 (1): 101-102. In Academic Search Premier [database online]. Available from http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=10804163&db=aph. Accessed 22 June 2004.
School of Library and Information Studies
TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY