The Use of Imagery in Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry: A Literary Analysis

by Christopher Sherwood

You’ve probably heard things in stories like “The door creaked open” or “The lightning crashed!”. That is a technique that authors use called Imagery. Imagery is defined as language that appeals to the five senses, or when an author describes things in a way that the reader can imagine what it would taste, look, smell, sound, or feel like. “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” is set in Mississippi in 1933, and is about a black family, the Logan’s, and certain events that happen in the racist environment. In chapter three of the historical fiction narrative “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” by Mildred D. Taylor, the Logan children get fed up with what the Jefferson Davis school bus is doing to them when they are walking, so they crash the bus. Later that day, the children are warned that the “night men” are going to be riding that night, and the children wonder if they found out what they did. Sure enough, the night men show up at the children’s house, but do nothing before they leave. My essay will show how in this chapter of “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry”, the author uses imagery through the events listed above to create moods.

In chapter three of “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry”, Mildred Taylor uses imagery to create a sad and gloomy mood. An example of this imagery is when Mildred Taylor describes the setting of one of the Logan children’s walks at the end of October. She describes it by saying, “ By the end of October the rain had come, falling heavily upon the six-inch layer of dust… 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” (p42). This creates a gloomy mood becomes it replicates how the children were walking miserably to school and how the weather was poor. Sometimes, weather and setting affects how people feel, and by explaining and describing the poor weather and setting, Mildred D. Taylor creates a poor, gloomy, and somewhat sad mood. Ultimately, the imagery by Mildred Taylor that was used in this scene, helped form a sad and gloomy mood in the reader’s mind.

Also, in chapter three of “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry”, Mildred Taylor establishes in the reader’s mind, a tense, suspenseful, and dangerous mood, in the end of chapter three. During the night, when the “night men” are riding, Mildred Taylor uses imagery in this event to help form a tense, suspenseful, and dangerous mood. When Cassie sees the caravans outside, it is described by saying, “The lead car swung into the muddy driveway and a shadowy figure outlined by the headlights of the car behind him stepped out. The man walked slowly up the drive. I stopped breathing” (p67). This creates a tense and suspenseful mood because it creates suspense for what’s going to happen with the caravans and Cassie, and also creates a dangerous mood since the reader might think that Cassie and her family are in danger. The night men, or caravans, are thought to have relat some relation with the Berry’s burning, so to have them pull up to the Logans’ house, creates fear and worry in the reader. Conclusively, the imagery created in this spot of the chapter creates a tense, suspenseful, dangerous, and fearful, mood for the reader.

Through events in chapter three of “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry”, Mildred D. Taylor uses imagery to create multiple moods for the reader. The imagery throughout the story makes it more interesting for the reader and makes it a better novel overall.