Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Cassie finds Lillian Jean on the walk to school and offers to carry her books for her. T.J. and the other Logan children don’t understand what Cassie’s doing, but when Little Man threatens to tell Mama, Stacey stops him. He says that whatever’s going on is between Cassie and Lillian Jean and no one is going to tell anybody anything. T.J. tries to get Stacey to find out the answers to the next examination again, but Stacey tells him not to mention the test answers to him ever again.

One day after Uncle Hammer goes back North, Papa has a talk with Cassie in the forest. He explains that there are a lot of things she’ll have to do in life in order to survive, even though she won’t want to do them. Papa adds that her temper could get her into trouble. The only respect that matters, however, is the respect she has for herself. Papa then says that he’ll trust Cassie to make the right decision about Lillian Jean—but adds that if she makes the wrong one, she could get the family into a lot of trouble. Cassie promises that Mr. Simms will never find out about how she’ll handle things with Lillian Jean.

For the entire month, Cassie acts like Lillian Jean’s slave, carrying her books and absorbing the gossip Lillian Jean tells her. Then one day, after exams, Cassie decides it’s her chance to act. She goes to the crossroads to wait for Lillian Jean. T.J., meanwhile, has been caught cheating during the exams again, and Mama failed him. T.J. takes it out on the whole Logan family, saying that they think they’re better than they are. He heads to the Wallace store. Cassie tells the other Logan children to go on, since she has to wait for Lillian Jean.

When Lillian Jean gets there, Cassie takes her books and tells her that she has a surprise for Lillian Jean in the woods. Lillian Jean is delighted and follows Cassie to a clearing in the forest, where Cassie then throws down Lillian Jean’s books and stomps on them. Lillian Jean and Cassie fight, and Cassie makes sure not to make any marks on Lillian Jean’s face. Cassie forces Lillian Jean to apologize and tells her that if Lillian Jean tells anyone about this fight, Cassie will reveal all the secrets and gossip Lillian Jean told her over the last month. Lillian Jean seems shocked by the encounter, saying that Cassie had been such a nice little girl.

The next day, one of the Wallace brothers, Kaleb Wallace, and Mr. Granger show up at school to talk to the principal. Cassie sees them arrive through the window and tells her teacher that she has to go the bathroom. Instead, she sneaks over to Mama’s classroom, where she sees the white men observing Mama’s lesson on slavery. Mr. Granger says that what Mama’s teaching isn’t in the textbook—and Mama retorts that what’s in the textbook isn’t all true. Mr. Granger has Mama fired from her teaching job, saying that she thinks she’s smarter than the person who wrote the textbook. The children walk home with Mama after school that day, and Mama tells Papa, Mr. Morrison, and Big Ma what happened when they arrive.

Mama says that the real reason she was fired was because of the boycott—and she doesn’t know what they’ll do, since they needed that money. Papa says they’ll figure something out, and Mama nods and goes out to walk. Mr. Morrison offers to take a job, but Papa says that he’d rather Mr. Morrison stay around the house to keep an eye on things. Papa asks the children to be extra considerate around Mama for the next few days.

Little Willie Wiggins, one of Stacey’s classmates, tells the Logan children that T.J. was the one who told the Wallaces that Mama destroyed school property and taught things that weren’t in the textbook. T.J. denies this, but none of the kids believe him, and when T.J. returns to school, all the other students shun him. When T.J. finally realizes that the Logans are no longer his friends, he gets angry and shouts that he didn’t like them anyway—he has white friends who are better and who give him things.