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In Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, why are the last few days of school before Christmas difficult for Cassie?

The last days before Christmas are hard for Cassie because her father has not come home yet. 


Papa’s brother Uncle Hammer arrived before Papa for Christmas.  Papa was off working for the railroad, so he could usually only come home for the holidays and crops.  The family owns their land, which makes them luckier than many African-American families, but they also have to pay the taxes on so much land.  That is expensive.  There is a debt on half the land, so Papa goes to work when he can. 



It was good rich land, much of it still virgin forest, and there was no debt on half of it. But there was a mortgage on the two hundred acres bought in 1918 and there were taxes on the full four hundred, and for the past three years there had not been enough money from the cotton to pay both and live on too. (Ch. 1) 



The year is 1933, in the middle of the Great Depression, and Papa is in Louisiana “laying track” instead of with his family.  Cassie really misses her father.  In those days, communication was not as easy as it is now.  She was not sure exactly when he would arrive.  She kept waiting for him. 



The last days of school before Christmas seemed interminable.  Each night I fell asleep with the hope that the morning would bring Papa, and each morning when he wasn’t there I trudged to school consoling myself that he would be home when I returned. (Ch. 7) 



One of the reasons Cassie really wants her father to come home is so she can talk to him about the incident with Lillian Jean, the white girl who treated her so terribly in town.  Lillian Jean continues to “flounce” past her, and Cassie is not sure what to do or how to handle the racist interactions.  She wants her father’s advice.  Papa finally arrives the day before Christmas.

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