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Land
Weather, especially thunder, often plays a symbolic role in the book, drawing attention during important scenes and events. For example, it’s raining heavily when the school bus forces the children to jump into a muddy gully—causing them to retaliate by digging a giant ditch for the bus during lunch. Mr. Morrison’s voice is also described as sounding like thunder, which is linked to the song he sings, “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,” a song that expresses defiance in the face of racism and oppression. Rain and thunder are also present when the Wallaces attack Papa and Mr. Morrison, and again towards the final confrontation of the book.
Weather Quotes in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
The Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry quotes below all refer to the symbol of Weather. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3
Quotes
By the end of October the rain had come, falling heavily upon the six-inch layer of dust which had had its own way for more than two months. At first the rain had merely splotched the dust, which seemed to be rejoicing in its own resiliency…but eventually the dust was forced to surrender to the mastery of the rain and it churned into a fine red mud that oozed between our toes and slopped against our ankles as we marched miserably to and from school.
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Chapter 7
Quotes
And in the fireplace itself, in a black pan set on a high wire rack, peanuts roasted over the hickory fire as the waning light of day swiftly deepened into a fine velvet night speckled with white forerunners of a coming snow, and the warm sound of husky voices and rising laughter mingled in tales of sorrow and happiness and days past but not forgotten.
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Get the entire Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry LitChart as a printable PDF.
Weather Symbol Timeline in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
The timeline below shows where the symbol Weather appears in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
The weather becomes rainier, making the walk to school muddier and tougher for the black children. The...
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One particularly rainy, miserable day, the children are walking to school, and they think that they hear the...
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...him. Cassie realizes that Jeremy never rides the bus either, no matter how bad the weather is.
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Chapter 9
On Thursday, when they’re supposed to return, it begins to storm heavily. The men haven’t returned as scheduled, and the entire family gets worried. Mama sends...
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...it, a truck drove up behind them. They didn’t hear the truck because of the rain, and then someone shot Papa, and the bullet grazed his temple. The shot scared the...
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Chapter 10
On the last day of the revival, a big storm starts brewing, but the Logans decide to attend the revival anyway. While they’re there, T.J....
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Chapter 11
...that begins with “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.” It’s another hot night with a storm approaching. Suddenly, Cassie hears tapping on the porch. She sneaks past Big Ma and creeps...
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Chapter 12
...begs him not to use his gun, and Papa gives her a strange look as lightning flashes in the distance. He tells her that he’ll do what he has to, and...
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...The land and the cotton are burning, and Big Ma and Mama assume that the lightning started the fire. Mama and Big Ma order the children to stay inside as they...
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