Brian Lin April 2nd, 2010

Language Arts

Ms. McKinnon

The Land – First Draft

“You ain’t never had to live on nobody’s place but your own and long as I live and the family

survives, you’ll never have to. That’s important.” –page 7, Papa said this to Cassie near the

beginning of the novel, telling Cassie about how important owning the land is to the whole family.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a story of the Logan family, African-American farmers living in

Mississippi in the 1930s, during the economy depression. They battled racism to keep their land and

stay together as a family. The land that was bought by Paul Edward was the reason why the Logans

had different capabilities than other black families. In Logans’ point of view, the land is the most

important aspect in their life.

The family owns four hundred acres of land. Half of the land is mortgaged, which means the

family had to borrow money from the bank to buy the land and now they have to make payments

every month to the bank. Not until all the mortgage is paid back, will the Logans own the land free

and clear. From the land, the Logans receive privileges; other black families give more respect as

well. Everything has a story behind it; no exception for the land that belongs to the Logan family.

The land first belonged to the Granger family. At that time, the Grangers had nothing but land; they

had no money, even for paying taxes. Soon, they needed to sell the land to pay taxes and survive.

Before the Logan family had a chance, a Northerner, Mr. Hollenbeck bought the whole two

thousand acres of land. The land the Logan’s owned was the four hundred acres bought from Mr.

Hollenbeck. Now, the Logans still owe the mortgage of the last two hundred acres. That’s how the

story began; it’s also the time when the land began to be more valuable as time goes on.
 The Logan family had a better life because of the land; the land also brought conflicts between

them and their neighbors as well. Since they were the only black family that owned land, they

gained respect from other black families. Other black families were only sharecroppers. They didn’t

have any other way to earn money, but the Logans could farm also work as well. From the extra

money, the kids received a better education. There were advantages also disadvantages brought by

the land. Mr. Granger continuously threatened the Logans, because he wanted the land back. As the

Logans were the only black family that owned property, the nightmen also put more attention on

the Logan family. At the end of the story, the land helped T.J. survive as he was beaten up by the

nightmen, because they thought T.J. was the one who killed Mr. Barnett. Papa, in the meanwhile,

burned the farm, to grab the attentions of people that were beating up T.J., so he would be safe

from the nightmen. After the fire, the Logans had to work harder than before to have the burnt part

of the land back.

Owning land drew a line between the Logan family and other black families in the novel. From

the land, the Logans had more source of money. The kids could help to farm after school, Mama

was a teacher, which earned a fair amount of salary, and Papa worked on the railroad. The

sharecroppers only earn money by sharecropping. To be a sharecropper, they only had enough

money to live, but Logans could shop at Vicksburg. They didn’t need to shop at the Wallaces store.

Because of racial issues, Papa wouldn’t allow the kids in the Wallaces store.

There’s not much that can actually affect your life as much as the land would affect the Logans’

the life. Ever since Mama was fired from school and Papa lost his job from the railroad; farming

became the only way the Logan family earned money. If they lost the land, they would have a

tougher life than other black families. Because they shopped at Vicksburg, it created a bad

neighborhood relationship with other land owners. So the land owners wouldn’t let them sharecrop
on their land.

If the Logans’ life were a puzzle, the land would be the biggest piece of tile in the puzzle. By all

means, the Logans’ life wouldn’t be complete without the land. Everything started with buying a

piece of land owned by the Granger family. Now, the land is a primary member of Logans’ life. The

land held the family together, but also made their life harder sometimes. The Logan kids learned

how the land can extremely affect their life, now it was their turn to help the family survive. The

main themes are: the importance of family, the importance of owning land, and the importance of

self-respect and the respect of others.