Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry Stereotypes

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Merriam-Webster defines ‘stereotype’ as “a characterization”. Mildred D. Taylor explores characterizations as one of the fundamental themes in the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Uniquely, through characters such as Mr. Jamison and Jeremy, Taylor shows that stereotypes are nothing apart from a conception. Stereotypes are occasionally referred to as ‘-ism’s’, which is the suffix of each stereotype. Taylor uses the events in the book to symbolize what we observe today relating to the “human experience”. The insight regarding the “human experience” that adds to my understanding about my own life, history, and current events is the fact that humans should never label others or treat them differently, as we are all equal. Moreover, Taylor executes …show more content…

Jeremy is a very kind boy who doesn’t see the same barriers that his family does. Jeremy especially enjoys the company of Stacey and Cassie, who can’t seem to wrap her head around the idea of racism. Jeremy even goes so far as to “‘[make] [a flute] for [Stacey]’” even though the Logan children often give him the cold shoulder (Taylor 155). This shows that there is resilience behind people who want to make a change, as Jeremy’s father would assuredly get bent out of shape if he was cognizant of Jeremy’s behavior. Additionally, the weather was often unideal on the morning walk to school. Nevertheless, Jeremy “never rode the bus, no matter... the weather” because he was aware that all of the students who rode the bus were unkind to his friends (49). This is impactful because Jeremy was alone in his decision to keep the Logans company despite inevitable ridicule from his peers and family. Additionally, Jeremy told the Logan children that he “‘sleeps up… in [his] tree’” (230). To enumerate, Jeremy sleeps up in the trees at night, when a majority of the dreadful things happen. Jeremy is literally ‘above all of that’, literally‒as he is in his tree‒and figuratively, as he does not participate in‒and even condemns‒the racist activities. Ultimately, Jeremy sets a wonderful precedent for how people should act today. He has many rare qualities, like passion, respect, not seeing barriers, and the ability …show more content…

Jamison is an impactful character who shows self-sacrifice towards the Logans and the other African-American households in this setting. A quote from the poem “Stereotypes” displays common stereotypes in a wake-up-call sort of way, “Society is so quick to judge me, [even though] they… don’t know my first name” (PowerPoetry, 2013). This is an unfortunately common occurrence in today’s world, and is referenced in the book through Jim Lee Barnett, who told Cassie to “‘wait some more’” after he dropped TJ’s order for a gaggle of white people (Taylor 111). In contrast, Mr. Jamison has the opposite attitude towards the African-American characters. Before the children went to the Barnett store, Cassie remembers that “[Mr. Jamison] was the only white man [who]... addressed Mama and Big Ma as “Missus”” (107). By all means, this is a mere example of how Mr. Jamison respects them and how he does not discriminate because of a difference in race. Additionally, when Mr. Jamison first caught wind of the Logans’ plan to get families to shop in Vicksburg, he immediately volunteered to back the credit. He went out of his way to risk his dignity to help the families boycott the Wallace store, which was an infamously awful place to be. Most critically, Mr. Jamison stood up to the Simms’ and the Wallaces when they were about to kill the Averys. Consequently, Thurston Wallace threatened Mr. Jamison when he stood up to him “If you do [mess up the hanging of the Averys], we just

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