In this essay I will analyse the theme of discrimination in the novel roll of thunder hear my cry. The novel was written by Mildred D. Taylor in 1976. She was born in Mississippi but grew up in Ohio. The book is set in 1930 when black folks suffered and faced tough situations. For example share cropping, share cropping is when a family work on a landowners land for free but he gives them accommodation.This is discriminatory because only black people had to work on the land. In this book the Logan’s face tough situations such as being splashed by a minibus, automatically being last in a queue and receiving books once they have been used and destroyed.

The first time discrimination is shown in the novel is when Little Mans class have been given old destroyed books. This can be seen when the author writes “they give us these ole books when they didn’t want em no more.”This shows discrimination because they gave the black students the books when they weren’t needed. Also because they considered black people as a lower class.

The next time discrimination is shown is when we are told about Great Faith Elementary school, where Cassie and her brothers attend. The school is for black children and we quickly learn that schools are segregated in Mississippi,1930. “Great Faith” suggests that black people had a hard, depressing past because they need faith.

Another example of discrimination in the novel is when the Jefferson David school bus splashes Cassie and her brothers. This is discriminatory because every morning they splash the Logans to intimidate them and put them in a bad mood. Also because at that time there was a lot of racism and black folks were considered a second class citizen. They do this because it makes them fell big and powerful. In the novel this is shown when Taylor writes “Little man chest deep in water scooped up a handful of mud and in an uncontrollable rage.”

An act of discrimination is shown when Lillian Jean a white child tells Cassie to “step off the side walk.” Cassie has just come from a confrontation with Mr Barnett and after bumping into Lillian Jean she faces another confrontation. Cassie refused to apologise but Big Ma forces her to apologise as she knows what consequences Cassie would face for disobeying a white child.  Cassie has had a terrible day and Lillian Jean hasn’t made it any better. This shows discrimination because this young white girl is bossing about a child the same age as her just because of her colour.

The last act of discrimination is when Big Ma, Cassie and her brothers set of to strawberry market. Big Ma sets up her stall and asks Cassie to fill in her orders. Cassie gave Mr Barnett the orders and waited. A few minutes later a lady enters the store and pushes in the queue. Little Man gets really annoyed and yells at Mr Barnett. Mr Barnett replies and quotes “get your black self over their!” This is discriminatory because the shopkeeper has allowed a white person to push in the queue just because their white.

To conclude I think this book gives you an insight to how life was in the past. It paints a detailed picture of how black people were treated and how they handled it. I think Mildred D Taylor really achieved her goal with her book and I think it was really successful.