“Before us the narrow, sun-splotched road wound like a lazy red serpent dividing the high forest bank of quiet, old trees on the left from the cotton field, forested by giant green and purple stalks, on the right.”

Taylor describes the novel’s setting with vivid imagery. She juxtaposes the orderly cotton fields against the untamed forest, suggesting how the natural world contrasts with the social and economic systems implemented by humans in 1930’s Mississippi.

“Everyone gasped, for most of the students had never handled a book at all besides the family Bible.” 

This quotation underscores the Christian religiosity of Cassie’s community. It also shows the scarcity of resources allocated to Black students in the rural South during the Great Depression.

“Biting the hand that feeds you. That’s what you’re doing, Mary Logan, biting the hand that feeds you.

Cassie’s mother hides a page in the school textbooks because it shows that Black students only receive the books after their white counterparts have worn them out. A fellow Black teacher scolds her for altering the books. This situation reveals how members of the Black community learn not to risk challenging systemic white supremacy.

“Papa sat very quietly while the Laniers and the Averys talked, studying them with serious eyes. Finally, he took the pipe from his mouth and made a statement that seemed to the boys and me to be totally disconnected with the conversation. ‘In this family, we don’t shop at the Wallace store.’” 

After witnessing her mother’s act of defiance involving the school textbooks, Cassie sees her father take a stand against injustice. She does not initially understand how avoiding the Wallace store relates to the burning of a local Black family. David’s decision leads to a series of conflicts between the Wallace family and their enablers and the Black residents of Cassie’s community. As Cassie witnesses the effects of David’s words, she understands the reasoning behind his boycott.

“At first the rain had merely splotched the dust, which seemed to be rejoicing in its own resiliency and laughing at the heavy drops thudding against it; 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.” 

This quotation typifies Cassie’s poetic descriptions of the Mississippi landscape. She uses personification to show readers how dust eventually gives way to mud, and to suggest a parallel between the lowly dust and persons subject to constant abuse at the hands of those who practice “mastery.”

“‘Them’s white folks’ wagons, Cassie,’ Big Ma said gruffly, as if that explained everything. ‘Now, hush up and help me get this food out.’” 

Big Ma avoids selling her food near white vendors as a matter of course, but systems of racism that shape Cassie’s community escape her notice early in the novel. She has not internalized the written and unwritten rules that marginalize her family. 

“Well, you just get your little black self back over there and wait some more,’ he said in a low, tight voice.” 

Cassie’s painful introduction to the ways that racism directly affects her continues when she tries to buy supplies at the Barnett Mercantile. Mr. Barnett publicly rebukes her for expecting timely service. Cassie reacts with anger, but also confusion. Mr. Barnett’s racist dismissal of Cassie resonates later in the novel when T.J. faces persecution for allegedly murdering Mr. Barnett.

“Big Ma looked at me again, her voice cracking as she spoke. ‘Go on, child…apologize.’” 

Unlike Cassie, Big Ma understands well the expectations that her community places on Black women. Although it clearly pains her, Big Ma insists that Cassie apologize for disrespecting Lillian Jean. Big Ma’s generation must reluctantly school its children and grandchildren in racism or risk their families’ safety. 

“Baby, you had to grow up a little today. I wish…well, no matter what I wish. It happened and you have to accept the fact that in the world outside this house, things are not always as we would have them to be.”

Mary alludes to the fact that Cassie comes of age by learning about racism and the restrictions racists place on her behavior. Mary tries to help Cassie feel less alone in her disappointment by invoking the family’s home and using “we.” The wider world may have let Cassie down, but her family will continue to support her.

“White people may demand our respect, but what we give them is not respect but fear. What we give to our own people is far more important because it’s given freely.” 

Mary continues to help Cassie process the racism she encountered in Strawberry. She encourages Cassie to appreciate the difference between honors given under duress and those willingly offered. Recognizing this difference allows Mary to avoid punishment from systems of white supremacy without betraying her ideals.

“Baby, we have no choice of what color we’re born or who our parents are or whether we’re rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we’re here.” 

When Cassie discovers that white people—the Simms family, in particular—seek to control her actions, Mary acknowledges that reality. But she also reminds Cassie that many of her choices remain her own, available to handle as she sees fit. Mary wants Cassie to balance practicality and caution with freedom and joy.

“Then if you want something and it’s a good thing and you got it in the right way, you better hang on to it and don’t let nobody talk you out of it. You care what a lot of useless people say ‘bout you you’ll never get anywhere, ‘cause there’s a lotta folks don’t want you to make it.” 

Hammer’s advice to Stacey is more pointed than Mary’s advice to Cassie, but it contains similar ideas. Hammer urges Stacey to value his own perspective. The vehemence with which Hammer delivers his advice suggests that, in his own life, he has suffered from self-doubt. Hammer seems to have overcome that tendency and hopes that Stacey will, too. 

“These are things they need to hear, baby. It’s their history.” 

On Christmas night, the Logans’ conversation turns to the violence white men committed against Mr. Morrison’s family. Mary considers shielding the children from stories of violence, but David says that the children should listen. For Black children, especially, history brings pain but remains essential.

“Maybe one day whites and blacks can be real friends, but right now the country ain’t built that way. Now you could be right ‘bout Jeremy making a much finer friend than T.J. will ever be. The trouble is, down here in Mississippi, it costs too much to find out…So I think you’d better not try.” 

Through David Logan’s advice to his son, the novel makes a complex point about the relationships between Black and white people in the Jim Crow South. David suggests that friendships built within an unequal system cannot reliably transcend that system.

“There are things you can’t back down on, things you gotta take a stand on. But it’s up to you to decide what them things are.” 

David expresses confidence that Cassie can decide whether to retaliate against Lillian Jean for her behavior in Strawberry. By leaving the decision to Cassie, David buoys her self-confidence and helps his daughter mature.

“And she apologized. For herself and for her father. For her brothers and her mother. For Strawberry and Mississippi.”

Cassie relishes Lillian Jean’s apologies, pushing her antagonist to account for the racism of herself and others. This moment of catharsis repairs some of the pain and indignation Cassie feels about her attack in Strawberry.

“But—but that ain’t all Mr. Granger said. Said, too, we don’t give up this shoppin’ in Vicksburg, we can jus’ get off his land. Says he tired of us stirring up trouble against decent white folks.” 

After a successful start to their boycott of the Wallace store, the Logans experience a problem. Mr. Avery reveals that Mr. Granger has leveraged his power as a landowner to disrupt the boycott. Mr. Avery’s words show the vulnerability of Black sharecroppers to the whims of their landlords.

“Papa stood suddenly and grabbed Stacey upward. ‘You, boy, don’t you get so grown you go to talking ‘bout more than you know.’” 

After Stacey expresses scorn for the men who stop boycotting the Wallace store, David forcefully reminds Stacey of the risk that resistance entails. David wants Stacey to recognize his small degree of privilege as the son of a man who owns his own land and cannot easily be kicked off for acts of defiance.

“It seemed to me that since the Wallaces had attacked Papa and Mr. Morrison, the simplest thing to do would be to tell the sheriff and have them put in jail, but Mama said things didn’t work that way.” 

Cassie’s education in the way of the world does not stop after her encounter with the Simms family in Strawberry. Months later, she still feels surprised when her community fails to protect its Black citizens. 

“Brimming bowls of turnip greens and black-eyed peas with ham hocks, thick slices of last winter’s sugar-cured ham and strips of broiled ribs, crisply fried chicken and morsels of golden squirrel and rabbit, flaky buttermilk biscuits and crusty cornbread, fat slabs of sweet-potato pie and butter pound cakes, and so much more were all for the taking. No matter how low the pantry supplies, each family always managed to contribute something, and as the churchgoers made the rounds from table to table, hard times were forgotten at least for the day.” 

As the violence and danger in Cassie’s world ramp up, the church revival feast provides a respite. The feast also reminds readers that Cassie and her family live full lives. Though racism touches most aspects of their existence, it does not define who they are or sully all of their pleasures.

“Come through Strawberry with a fellow from up in Vicksburg. Things seemed worse than usual up there. It gets hot like this and folks get dissatisfied with life, they start looking ‘round for somebody to take it out on…” 

Uncle Hammer expresses concern for David and the rest of the Logan family. He cites the weather as a cause of violence, equating hot temperatures with hot tempers. Hammer’s words prove prescient, as T.J.’s near-lynching occurs mere days after he speaks to them.

“Roll of thunder hear my cry / Over the water bye and bye / Ole man comin’ down the line / Whip in hand to beat me down / But I ain’t gonna let him / Turn me ‘round.”

Mr. Morrison sings the song that gives the novel its title. The lyrics and Mr. Morrison’s life as the son of slaves indicate that the song may originate from a plantation. Its message of resistance resonates in the novel. Though racists employ violence to try and thwart the Logans, the family will not give up.

“And it came to me that this was one of those known and unknown things, something never to be spoken, not even to each other.” 

Cassie’s realization that David started the fire in his cotton field and that she cannot speak of that act shows how much she has matured over the course of the novel. David’s confidence in Cassie’s decision-making skills proves well-founded.

“In the afternoon when I awakened, or tomorrow or the next day, the boys and I would still be free to run the red road, to wander through the old forest and sprawl lazily on the banks of the pond. Come October, we would trudge to school as always, barefooted and grumbling, fighting the dust and the mud and the Jefferson Davis school bus. But T.J. never would again.” 

Cassie recognizes and appreciates the small freedoms she sometimes takes for granted in her life. T.J.’s near-lynching and arrest show her that violent, shattering acts of racism directly affect children close to her own age and can change their lives forever.