Symbols in 'Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'.

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Mildred D. Taylor's Use of Symbols in

'Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'

A symbol is a sign, object or picture that represents something in every language to every person. A symbol may mean something different to different people. In the novel 'Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry' symbols are used to show changes in the characters feelings or the way Blacks in general get treated.

There are many different ways Mildred D. Taylor gets her point across and how she changes the whole story line.

In strawberry T.J saw a Pearl Handled Pistol he was very eager to show his first impressions of the gun!

"That pearl handled one. Stacey, man you ever seen a gun like that? I'd sell my life for that gun for my life."

This symbol is used in the Novel to reflect on T.J's greed and how it gets him into trouble. In this instance he doesn't get the gun and it leads him into trouble and it leads other people into trouble. He also gets other people into trouble by the way he phrases things, he uses words to try and get people thinking different things so he can benefit from it.
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The land represents lots of different things to different things to different people. To the Logans the land means everything if the land is lost then whole family will collapse. The Logans are desperate to keep the land and pay off the mortgage as soon as they can. For Harlan Granger it means another extra in his life and it makes his life just a bit more luxury. There is also an element of jealousy because the Logans are black and 'aren't meant' to have as much land as they have.

The Fig Tree represents blacks fighting ...

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