"Jeremy Simms & TJ Avery are two relativly minor characters in the story ROTHMC. However, they both reinforce the themes." Discuss Aprox 1000 words
There are many important Themes in the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry. These themes include: racial prejudice, loyalty, honesty, friendship, personal integrity and respect for others. Although Jeremy Simms and TJ Avery are fairly minor people in the book, their characters are used to inforce and strengthen the themes of the novel.
We first meet TJ Avery when Cassie, Stacey, Little Man and Christopher-John are walking to school. Right from the very start we find out that none of them actually likes TJ, except for Stacey. The reader sees that he is a liar, a cheat and a coward. He is ashamed of being black and he lets the Logan family down in many ways throughout the novel.
One of the ways that he lets them down is when he gets Miz Logan fired. He went up to the store and told Kaleb Wallace that Miz Logan failed him on purpose and that she was destroying school property.
“...I got fired...Harlen Granger came to the school with Kaleb Wallace and one of the school board members. Somebody told them about those books I’d pasted over...but that was only an excuse.'; (Pg 151)
This highlights some of the themes by TJ’s total lack of loyalty and personal integrity.
One of TJ’s biggest mistakes in the book is befriending two white boys, R.W. and Melvin Simms (Jeremy’s brothers). He thinks they are his friends and he doesn’t know that they are just using him. By hanging around with these two he ends up getting himself in a lot of trouble. They talk him into stealing the ‘pearl-handled pistol’ from the Barnett’s store.
“R.W. broke the lock off the gun case with an axe and gave TJ the much-longed- for gun.';
But it goes terribly wrong and TJ wants out, R.W. and Melvin force him to stay.
“...R.W. whopped Mr Barnett solidly on the head from behind with the flat of the axe...Mrs Barnett dashed across the room and flailed into R.W....Trying to escape &n...
... middle of paper ...
...bsp;“‘Thanks Jeremy, it’s real nice’, Stacey said.
.....
As Jeremy reached the door, I cried After him, ‘Merry Christmas, Jeremy!’ He looked back and smiled shyly. ‘Merry Christmas to y’all too.’';
Although Jeremy would make a much better friend than Stacey, Mr Logan doesn’t want Stacey to get too friendly with Jeremy.
“‘...Right now you and Jeremy might get along fine but, in a few years he’ll think of himself as a man and you’ll still be a boy to him...’'; (Pg 129)
Its rather ironic really, Jeremy is a white boy who wants to be black and TJ is a black boy who wants to be white. Although they are both minor characters in the novel, they help to inforce the themes. Jeremy shows this by possesing all the good characteristics, while TJ reinforces the themes by being the complete opposite to Jeremy.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a movie based on the book by Mildred D. Taylor. It was released on June 2,1978 and has a runtime of an hour and 35 minutes. The target audience of this movie is mainly children and families, especially for those who have strong feelings about racism and injustice. In the movie, Cassie is the narrator and wants everyone to be treated fairly, even though she doesn’t yet understand the society that she lives in. Her brother, Stacey is gullible, but has a good heart and wants to do the right thing. The movie centers around the Logans, who are a determined family fighting for their rights. I believe the book is better than the movie because it describes all the events in much more detail than those pictured in the movie.
Although TJ is the oldest of the children in the novel he is a very
Taylor, Mildred D., and Jerry Pinkney. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. New York: Dial, 1976. Print.
First, Tom, formally known as Thomas Robinson was a black man who worked for a man named Link Deas. Tom was 25 years old, had three children and a wife named Helen. When he was 11 years old Tom’s left arm was caught in a cotton gin and he lost feeling in his left arm. Tom was accused of rape by a white woman named Mayella. Everyone hated him because it didn’t look good for a black man to be accused of raping a white woman. During his trial he had a white lawyer named Atticus, who did his best to prove that Tom was innocent and Mayella and her dad Bob Ewell were lying. Atticus says,”Did you resist her advances?, Mr.Finch, I tried to ‘thout bein ugly to her. I didn’t wanta push her or nothin.” stated Tom(Lee 195). Tom did not want to kiss her but he didn’t
When TJ gets a trial, the Logan children are very happy because they think he will not be killed. Mama and Papa disagree because the jury will be entirely white. Mr. Jaminson does and excellent job defending TJ. He had experiments, such as putting a black stocking over his hand and showing it to Mrs. Barnett. He also had strong evidence that TJ did not commit the crime. At the end, TJ was found guilty, mostly because of the jury’s prejudice.
In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, racism is a major theme. Atticus Finch, the narrator’s father, defends a negro, Tom Robinson, in the court of law against a white man, Bob Ewell. Robinson had reportedly raped a young white girl, Mayella Ewell. But according to Robinson he had gone to help Mayella, as he often did, with work around the house. As he starts helping Mayella, she tries to get Tom to kiss her and will not let him out of the house. Bob Ewell sees this and chases Tom out of the house and accuses him of raping his daughter. Atticus goes against almost everyone in Maycomb County’s opinion in defending Tom Robinson. Throughout the course of the novel, racism effects many characters such as Tom and Helen Robinson, Scout and Jem Finch, and Mayella and Bob Ewell. All these characters had there lives
The aspect of racism in their lives, is especially important because it causes these men to become filled with hate and drive them to lives of crime. For example in Black Boy, Richard and his friends have a gang fight against white kids. Another aspect of racism for him was the Ku Klux Klan, this can be seen when a man tells Richard after seeing a white propaganda sign that "Do you know what the Ku Kluxers do to colored people?" Then Richard responded "They kill us. They keep us from voting and getting good jobs." Racism also plays an important role in shaping Tommy's life. Although it is apparent throughout the film, the best example is when he meets McKinney, and he beats Tommy while shouting racist comments. Also, in Malcolm X, Malcolm grows up in a very racist environment and he experiences his dad, a Baptist preacher, being murdered. This can be seen when "My father's skull, on one side, was crushed in, I was told later. Negroes in Lansing have always whispered that he was attacked, and then laid across some tracks for streetcar to run over him. His body was almost cut in half."
Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry is set during the Great Depression, in the rural areas of Mississippi. The majority of the people in this community are sharecroppers, who are greatly dependent on plantation farming. The Logan family is fortunate because they have a piece of land of their own, so unlike other black sharecroppers they do not have to be dependent on the whites. However, due to the sharp decrease in the price of the cotton crop the family have to work hard to keep it in their hands, whilst also providing food in order for them to survive. The situation is further worsened because of the severity of racism and segregation in the society. The Logans are one of the few families who own land and this causes resentment from the whites whose beliefs are that black people are inferior and the whites must maintain their supremacy. David Logan and Uncle Hammer both believe that prejudice must be stopped, yet the ways in which they fight against it differ greatly. Papa prefers to act non-violently and to work within the system. He does so by concentrating on paying off the mortgage of the land so that his family will be on an equal par with the whites and have self-respect. He modifies his behaviour and considers things carefully in order not to jeopardise the land and the safety of his family. Hammer on the other hand has left Mississippi to get away from the prejudice, but once confronted with it again; he reacts violently and impulsively. Being a single person he puts his sense of injustice before concern about repercussions against the family.
The lesson I learned from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was the importance of equality and having a strong family bond. Throughout this whole story, there were signs of inequality, but the main part was near the end (252-254). During this time, T.J, a friend of Stacey’s, got accused of robbing and assaulting a white family for guns. It was actually Melvin and R.W who did it, and T.J
Courage is having to stand up for people who are being treated unfairly or if they have different skin color. In Mildred Taylor’s book Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Stacey has to show courage by standing up for his friends and family. Stacey is a seventh grader at Great Faith Elementary School and is the oldest Logan kid. when Papa is gone he feels like he needs to be the man of the house and watch out for his younger siblings. Stacey had to show courage when he helped Little Man get back at the bus, takes the blame for the cheat notes, and took T.J. home when he was injured.
One of the most important events in the book was Tom Robinson’s trial, which was unfairly judged due to the fact that the jury could not see beyond the color of Tom’s skin. The put their own racist opinions ahead of what is right and just. One of the most important events in the novel circulated around racism. However, the most focused on point of Tom’s life was not the only point in his life where racism has been shown towards him. The Ewell’s are a major source of racism towards Tom. Whenever Mayella Ewell wanted Tom to help her, she was rude to him whereas Tom was very kind to her. Tom was even nice enough to refuse payment of his work for her since he saw that she was poor and realized she needed the money. For his kindness, Tom is returned with bitterness with the only reason for this being because of the color of his skin.
Spike Lee is brand name when it comes to the film industry. When you try to ask any group of people their opinion about this man, you will probably receive numerous positive responses from the film community as well as the African American community. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989) is a film that illustrates how racial conflict can become a reality while showing the repercussions that come with racial segregation. Spike Lee uses a number of tools to write and produce the film in order to ensure the message reaches his intended audience in the best way possible. The use of location, soundtrack, and dialogue is abundant in this film. Therefore, this film analysis paper is for Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989). It is a film in which racial segregation ignites riots in a neighborhood dominated by the black population. The heightened scene of this film analysis is where Spike Lee throws a trash can and it is from this that hell breaks loose and riots begin.
...n color. Even those that mean well reveal racism when they speak. A white man in the movie speaks nicely to John. However, he calls John, a fully grown man, boy. Even blacks display racism preferring lighter skin over dark skin.
From T.J.’s own words and actions and through the narrator’s observation, the reader learns that T.J. is smart and unique. It was T.J.’s idea to build a roof garden, and he figures out how to build it. He knew how to speak to other people, persuading them to do what he wanted them to do. For example, he informed the other boys to find sand and carry it up to the roof. The narrator stated, “T.J. was smart enough to start in one corner of the building, heaping up the carried earth two or three feel thick, so that we had an immediate result to look at…” He did not want to plant grass, but the other boys kept on telling him how great it would be to play on it and to have picnics. T.J. still wanted to plant crops, but he was smart to give in. “He always knew when to give in” the narrator in the story states. He knew how to motivate the other boys and knew when to compromise. When the building owners came up and asked what they were doing, T.J. then suggest...
By using figures such as Louis Armstrong, Abraham Lincoln, and Harriet Tubman, the author deals to provide a relevance to the readers. Some characters within the novel are old enough to remember slavery and their presence lets Nathaniel be influenced by their experiences. The author introduced us Jericho who was half-white; yet, his own father treated him as a slave. The history of his family and other African Americans pushes the narrator to develop a perspective of being disliked because of his race. The incorporation of slavery in his ancestor by the author revives history and its effects on the narrator. The novel deals with the 1960’s as well as connecting to the past through Sweetie’s letter to the president. We are introduced to issues such as the War on Poverty and student revolts, along with African American concerns. In addition, Forrest’s indulgence of various historical events are purposed to evoke the moods of darkness and fear. The detailed episodes of the Great Flood, Middle Passage, and the migration of African-Americans, along with the vision of a black Mary under a tree more ancient than Eden, invokes the conscious acknowledgement of the suffering of the black race from centuries ago. The author injects such episodes into Nathaniel’s stream of consciousness to suggest the continuity