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Mikey Berkowick

Ponsen

English 8 ACC

Period: 5

December 6th, 2019

“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would

like to have.” In this very wise quote from Socrates, he is explaining that Greed results in cruelty,

a disregard for mankind, and self destruction. In the masterpiece of Mildred Taylor, ​Roll of

Thunder Hear my Cry, ​published in 1976, African-American Cassie Logan and her beloved

family are struggling through many atrocious problems, such as prejudice and racism, as well as

the excess complications of the great depression. The novel takes place in Rural Mississippi,

1933. This setting is a significant problem for Cassie and her kin, because in 1933, racism was at

its worst with groups like the KKK, racist and greedy slave owners/sharecropper owners, and

absurd ideas being considered common sense.(Especially in the Southern region, like

Mississippi). Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry, Crafted by Mildred Taylor, has the theme “Greed

results in cruelty and a disregard for mankind” buried throughout it in the actions of characters

such as Mr. Granger, the Wallace family and R.W. + Melvin Simms.

The theme Mildred Taylor shows all through out Roll of Thunder is “Greed results in a

disregard for mankind”. For example, Mama was fired by Mr. Granger who was being greedy

and trying to force the Logans into giving up the ownership of their land, “Mr Granger looked up

slyly. “There’s lots of ways of stopping you david.”... “In fact,” Mr. Granger said, putting down

his hat, “You are so smart I except you forget about teaching all together.”’ (176-184)’ Based on
this evidence, we can definitely come to the conclusion that Mama’s firing by Mr. Granger was

unjust. It was driven by pure greed. In his own words, he is trying to stop the Logans. He wants

the land. He is being greedy. Mr Granger already has more than some people could ever imagine,

and he still thinks he can just pick the Logan’s land right out of their hard-working palms by

firing Mama when she did not deserve it. It would be extremely unreasonable to not classify Mr.

Granger’s action as cruel. A second example would be when the wallaces did not care that

children under 21 come to their store and drink; they would just add the charges to their parents

(Sharecroppers) bill, “The older children are drinking regularly there now, even though they

don’t have any money to pay, and the Wallaces are simply adding the liquor charges to the

family bill. Just more money for them as they ruin our young people.” (151) What we learn from

this quote is that Mr. Wallace and his family believe that it is alright to let underage humans to

drink!! All for money. Money. That is all they care about. They are, to put in the words of mama,

RUINING ​their youth. The wallaces cruel actions are also adding to these underaged drinkers

hard-working parents’ bill. So the parents are charged for it, and the children drink. The wallaces

are so disregarding towards mankind that they don’t care. Anything to greedily obtain that

precious money. The last place Mildred hides her theme is in the Simms boys. “T.J. slipped

through the window and opened the door, and the Simmses entered, their faces masked with

stockings and their hands gloved. T.J, now afraid that they had something else in mind, wanted

to leave without the pistol, but R.W had insisted that he have it. R.W broke the lock of the gun

case with an axe and gave T.J. the gun.” (246)

What we learn from this is that the Simms boys stole from the Barnetts, disguised, but

Tj’s face was bare. You would definitely have to be very greedy to rob a store with no remorse,
correct? This is just the case with the Simms boys. However, they made no effort to disguise T.J.

This means that they don’t care if they get caught. They are disregarding him. They are being

cruel to him. He is now at risk of being hung because of them and their greed to rob the Barnett

store.

To conclude my previous thoughts, Mildred Taylor Litters the theme throughout the book

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry “Greed results in cruelty and a disregard for mankind”, in

characters such as Harlan Granger, the Wallaces, and R.W. + Melvin. For the reader who might

not recognize the significance of greed, you should take off your rose-colored glasses. Greed is a

vicious cycle. You have more than you need, you become greedy, lusting and obsessing for the

new best thing. Then this happens again, and again. Take Mr. Granger and the land for example.

Greed infects minds, yet people take it for granted. Worst of all, this problem is still of terrifying

significance today. Every day, palm oil is harvested for profit in all parts of the world, including

america. This is terrible for the environment, but it makes money. It’s cheap and convenient

Company after company destroys habitat after habitat. Many animal species are getting killed

off, such as the ohrangutang. All for money. You tell me. Is greed a significant problem that

must be eliminated, or should we simply turn the other cheek?

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