Prejudice takes place in both texts. In 'Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry' Cassie, gets bullied because of the colour of her skin,
“maybe that way you won't be bumping into decent white folk with your little nasty self.”
Cassie has just been told to walk on the road instead of the pavement because the people of Mississippi have the view that only white people can walk on the pavement. This suggests hierarchy, that white people have a higher status than black people.
In 'Jane Eyre' the social snobbery of Victorian England was very apparent. Jane is an outcast therefore, she gets bullied.
Jane obeys everything that John says. When John gives Jane a direct command, “show the book!”,
Jane immediately goes to get it, “I returned to the window and fetched it thence.”
“Jane is habitually obedient to John.”
This implies that Jane is afraid of John. As well as John ordering Jane around, he calls her names, “he called me 'RAT! RAT!'”
He indicates that she is an unwanted dirty vermin.
The bullying to Jane and Cassie occurs to both of them as verbal and physical.
Here is an example of Cassie from 'Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry' getting verbally abused,
“Ain’t that the same little nigger was cuttin' up back there.”
It suggests hierarchy.
Cassie is getting physically abused in the following example,
“Someone caught it (my arm) from behind, painfully twisting it.”
Lillian Jean's father, Mr Simms is physically abusing her because she accidentally bumped into Lillian Jean.
From the extracts of 'Jane Eyre', Jane is getting bullied, as she says,
“he bullied and punished me; not two or three times a week, nor once or twice a day, but continually.”
Jane is explaining that she is getting punished by John Reed. Jane uses the words “not two or three times a week, nor once or twice a day” to emphasise how often she is getting punished.
After putting up with all of the bullying, Jane decides to get revenge on Mrs Reed because she always takes John's side, not stopping him bullying her and doesn't mind him intimidating and threatening Jane.
Jane decides to get her revenge not physically, but verbally.
Mrs Reed sends Jane to the 'red room' and sits with her for a short while. Jane sees this time as an opportunity to get revenge and express how she feels about her aunt.
Mrs Reeds “eye of ice continued to dwell freezingly on mine.”
This shows that Mrs Reed is concentrating very hard on Jane.
Jane says, “I am glad you are no relation of mine: I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to see you when I am grown up; and if anyone asks me how i liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty.”
By saying this, Jane is expressing her feelings and trying to make Mrs Reed feel bad.
Jane also quotes, “people think you are a good woman, but you are bad, hard-hearted. You are deceitful!”
This quote explains Mrs Reed is untruthful and dishonest.
As Jane Eyre says how cruel Mrs reed is, Mrs Reed gets upset by this.
Cassie from 'Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry' gets physical revenge on Lillian Jean for being racist.
It is clear that Cassie has already planned her revenge as she says,
“When Lil Jean arrived, I sighed thankfully that only Jeremy was with her; it should be today for sure!”
She also says “I had purposely asked Big Ma to braid it into flat braids against my head.”
These two quotes prove that she had already planned her revenge.
After leading Lillian into the forest, Cassie gets her revenge.
“I had pinned Lillian Jean securely beneath me, I yanked unmercifully on her long, loose hair and demanded an apology.”
Cassie had hit Lillian Jean. She got her revenge physically.
In conclusion, Cassie and Jane both got their revenge, but really it was pointless. Although Jane felt good about herself, “my soul began to expand, to exult with the strangest sense of freedom, of triumph I have ever felt”,
she is still lonely.
Cassie is still going to get racial remarks made to her. She was feeling good after she had got her revenge, but when Lillian asked bewildered, she was confused in why Cassie hit her.
She said, “Cassie why? You was such a nice little girl...”
Lillian Jean was really confused.
Both girls had the same ending and soon realised that nothing had changed.
