Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

A thunderstorm approaches. Mr. Morrison stands guard over the Logan home and sings a song that includes the novel’s title in its lyrics: “Roll of thunder hear my cry / Over the water bye and bye” (242). Cassie tries to sleep. She hears a tapping at her bedroom door and goes outside to the porch. Cassie feels surprised to see T.J. there. Stacey ushers Cassie and T.J. into his room. T.J. says that the Simms brothers hurt him and shows a bruised abdomen. He cries. At Stacey’s urging, T.J. explains his plight: the Simmses and T.J. broke into the Barnett Mercantile to steal the pistol T.J. coveted. Mr. Barnett and his wife caught them. One of the Simmses hit Mr. Barnett with an axe, possibly killing him, and shoved Mrs. Barnett into a stove. When T.J. threatened to tell people what happened, the Simmses beat him.

T.J. asks Stacey to help him go home. Cassie worries for Stacey, but he reassures her that he will be okay. Cassie insists on going with T.J. and Stacey, but then Little Man and Christopher-John awaken. All the Logan children walk T.J. home as the storm edges closer. After T.J. enters his house, the Logans see headlights approach T.J.’s house. The Logans hide in the forest. The Wallaces and Simmses pound on T.J.’s door. The white men break in and drag T.J. and his family outside. Kaleb Wallace accuses T.J. of theft. When T.J.’s mother tries to help him, the men toss her aside. The Logans panic but do not leave their hiding spot.

Mr. Jamison drives to T.J.’s home. He tells the Wallaces to let T.J. go with him and the sheriff, who arrives next. The sheriff says that Harlan Granger will not allow vigilante justice on his property. Kaleb Wallace suggests hanging T.J. at another location, along with Mr. Morrison and David Logan. Cassie gasps. Mr. Jamison blocks the men from taking T.J. to their cars. Stacey sends Cassie to warn David and Mr. Morrison. Little Man and Christopher John accompany her. The thunder grows louder.

Cassie’s parents have noticed their children’s absence and prepare to punish them. Cassie tells them about T.J.’s plight and the white men’s standoff with Mr. Jamison. David gets his gun. Mary implores David to stop the violence another way. He and Mr. Morrison go outside. Cassie and her younger brothers wait with Big Ma and Mary. Mary smells smoke. Cassie sees that the Logans’ cotton is on fire. Big Ma assumes lightning struck the field. Mary worries that the fire will spread out of control if it reaches nearby trees. She plans to fight the fire with Big Ma but warns the children not to leave the house. Cassie and her younger brothers stay home alone.

Jeremy Simms approaches the Logan house. He says that he smelled smoke from his treehouse and reveals that his father and brothers have been fighting the fire along with other men from town. Jeremy also saw David, Stacey, and Mr. Granger fighting the fire. The Logan children feel relieved. They hope for rain to put out the fire. Jeremy leaves. The rain begins to fall, and the Logans rejoice.

By dawn, the fire subsides, and the rain stops. Little Man and Cassie walk toward the field. They see Black and white adults—Mr. Granger, Cassie’s parents, the Wallaces—shoveling dirt on the remaining fire. Little Man sees Big Ma and Mary walking home. Cassie and Little Man race back to their porch and arrive just before Big Ma, Mary, and Stacey. Mary says that Mr. Morrison and David will return soon. She also says that the sheriff and Mr. Jamison have T.J. in custody. Cassie worries about the cotton crop, but Mary sends the children to bed.

Cassie sneaks from her bed to talk with Stacey. He tells her that the white men took T.J., but Mr. Jamison blocked their path and summoned Mr. Granger. Mr. Granger does not intervene except to tell the sheriff to act. The Simms brothers push Mr. Jamison’s car from their path. Before the white men can leave with T.J., Mr. Granger notices smoke from the burning field. He orders the white men to give T.J. to the sheriff and go fight the fire. David and Mr. Morrison return with Mr. Jamison close behind, interrupting Stacey’s story.

Mr. Jamison says that Mr. Barnett died from his injuries, but that T.J. will survive his beating. He warns David not to draw attention to himself or give anyone reason to think that lightning did not start the fire. Cassie feels confused. She suddenly realizes that David started the fire to save T.J. from hanging. Mr. Jamison leaves. Stacey asks David what will happen to T.J. David says that T.J. remains jailed and may be sentenced to labor. Stacey worries that T.J. may die, and David cannot tell him that T.J. will not. Stacey cries and runs into the woods.

Cassie cries in her bed. She thinks how she and her brothers will continue to spend time outside and will return to school in the fall. She feels sad that T.J. will not do those things again. Although Cassie dislikes T.J., she cries “for those things which had happened in the night and would not pass” (276). Cassie mourns her family’s land and T.J.’s ruined life.