Innocence In Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry

In the book Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred Taylor, 9 year old Cassie Logan lives with her family in 1933 Mississippi. In chapter 5, they go into a town called Strawberry to sell goods at the market. While in town Cassie shows her innocence, or rather her unawareness.

The first example of Cassie’s innocence is when Cassie, Big Ma, T.J. and, Stacey first arrive. They are some of the first people to get there, and most spots are still empty. Cassie asks Big Ma; “Why don’t we move our wagon up there with them other wagons Big Ma?”. This shows innocence in Cassie. She doesn’t understand how black people are mistreated. By asking Big Ma to move the wagon up, she also doesn’t understand the consequences that could take place. Nobody ever taught her that because of your race you are treated differently. Also, nobody has ever told her that the white people are so set on believing that they are better. They always get priority over black people, in this instance, they get the better spot at the market.

The second moment in which Cassie’s innocence was displayed was when Cassie doesn’t understand you use a gun for protection from other

Cassie was being waited on by Mr. Barnett. Some white people came in, and by way of life, they were priority. More and more people started coming in, and cutting in front of her. Cassie shows innocence in this moment by nicely reminding Mr. Barnett that she was waiting. In her mind, this is fine to do. She’s being polite and perhaps he just forgot. But what she doesn’t understand is that being black results in different treatment. She also isn’t aware of how things will play out. She’s innocent by never having been exposed to this kind of moment. When white people see a black person stepping out of line, they make it their duty to put them back in their place. This happens here when Mr. Barnett kicks Cassie, T.J. and Stacey out of the