Skip to main content

How is TJ saved from the lynch mob in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry?

In Chapter 11, TJ struggles to get back home after a brutal beating at RW and Melvin's hands. However, TJ isn't home for long when a mob descends upon his house, and a group of men forcibly drag him and his family out of their home.


By all indications, the mob holds TJ responsible for the theft of the pearl-handed pistol from Jim Lee Barnett's store. To add to TJ's streak of bad luck, both RW and Melvin lie about seeing him with two other black men at Jim Lee's store. Of course, we know from the story that RW and Melvin tricked TJ into being an accomplice in the theft. Then, to protect themselves from scrutiny, both RW and Melvin join Kaleb and Thurston Wallace in brutalizing TJ and his family.


So, how is TJ saved from being lynched? First, when the mob begins to drag TJ off to hang him, Mr. Jamison rushes forward to shield TJ with his body. Knowing that Mr. Jamison won't be able to hold off the mob for long, Stacey sends his siblings to get their father. Papa then sets off with Mr. Morrison to try to stop TJ from being lynched.


However, lightning strikes, and a fire soon spreads throughout the cotton fields. At least, that's the initial consensus about the fire. Knowing that his crops were in danger, Harlan Granger, the plantation owner, orders all the white men to fight the fire and to forget about lynching TJ. Later, Stacey tells Cassie that Papa was actually the one who started the fire. Papa knew that the only way to save TJ would be to distract the plantation owner's attention away from TJ.


So, you can say that Mr. Jamison and Papa's actions that day saved TJ from being lynched by the mob. However, TJ's future appears grim, and the story ends on an ominous note. The implication is that TJ may not survive his incarceration.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A man has a garden measuring 84 meters by 56 meters. He divides it into the minimum number of square plots. What is the length of the square plots?

We wish to divide this man's garden into the minimum number of square plots possible. A square has all four sides with the same length.Our garden is a rectangle, so the answer is clearly not 1 square plot. If we choose the wrong length for our squares, we may end up with missing holes or we may not be able to fit our squares inside the garden. So we have 84 meters in one direction and 56 meters in the other direction. When we start dividing the garden in square plots, we are "filling" those lengths in their respective directions. At each direction, there must be an integer number of squares (otherwise, we get holes or we leave the garden), so that all the square plots fill up the garden nicely. Thus, our job here is to find the greatest common divisor of 84 and 56. For this, we prime factor both of them: `56 = 2*2*2*7` `84 = 2*2*3*7` We can see that the prime factors and multiplicities in common are `2*2*7 = 28` . This is the desired length of the square plots. If you wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

What warning does Chuchundra issue to Rikki?

Chuchundra, the sniveling, fearful muskrat who creeps around walls because he is too terrified to go into the center of a room, meets Rikki in the middle of the night. He insults Rikki by begging him not to kill him. He then insults him by suggesting that Nag might mistake Chuchundra for Rikki. He says, "Those who kill snakes get killed by snakes."  He issues this warning to Rikki not to help keep Rikki safe but as a way of explaining why Rikki's presence gives him, Chuchundra, more reason to fear.  Chuchundra starts to tell Rikki what Chua the rat told him--but breaks it off when he realizes he might be overheard by Nag. He says, "Nag is everywhere, Rikki-Tikki." Rikki threatens to bite Chuchundra to get him to talk. Even then, Chuchundra won't overtly reveal any information. But he does say, "Can't you hear, Rikki-Tikki?" This is enough of a clue for the clever mongoose. He listens carefully and can just make out the "faintest scratch-s...
Post a Comment
Read more