Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: Setting

This story takes place in urban Mississippi between the years 1933 and 1934. Slavery has passed but some people are still racist in this area. Most black families have to become tenant farmers or sharecroppers on land where they grow cotton because owning their own land meant that there would be a big hole in their pockets. The price of cotton has gone down and they have to pay the owner of the land a percentage of what they make. That means that the families are left without much money. Since families don’t make that much off of sharecropping, they usually grow food and make things to sell. They also have family members work away from home. Life during that time was not easy. They had to work hard and receive a small amount of money. They would also have to worry about the safety of themselves and others.

In the area that the Logan family lived in, the American legal system still didn’t work for people of color. If a white person were to harm a black man, they didn’t have to worry about prosecution. They would get away with anything that they did however cruel it may be, just because of the color of their skin. If a black man were to be accused of false minor charges, that would mean execution. If anyone of color were to complain or confront anyone and say that they disagreed with how something was dealt with and someone heard about it, they would be in big trouble. They could get physically harmed for something so minor. Things during that time period were not fair and people knew it. They were just too scared to do anything about it.

The story takes place at school some of the time. The county does not provide decent school supplies and they don't have a very good school to learn at. The books that are given to the kids are worn out terribly. They were given supplies that no one would want, but they accepted them because it was all they had. The kids didn't even had a school bus to come around to pick them up. That meant that they had to walk to and from school every morning and afternoon. That took two hours for each trip. They would have to walk though snow, sleet and rain. They had no other choice.