In the book “Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry” Taylor has created a character which I found was really interesting to talk about as my ISU. The character Little Man was created by Taylor as a symbol of persecution, standing straight with his head up and always fighting for his rights even though the odds are stacked up against him. Little Man knows that he is going to be treated deficiently because of his race. Being a black person like Little Man is very derogatory for the .
Little Man seems to be a very courageous man. Even though he was treated poorly in some occasions he would always fight for his rights, doesn’t matter who it is. “Why do I get the old, scrappy book when everyone else gets a brand new one?” (p 84, Taylor) He was outraged at being given a book which is a castoff from the white school. He is very brave even though, as I mentioned before, the odds are against him he won’t hold back until he gets what he really deserves.
“No Tj I am not going to leave I came here to buy mamma these goods and I won’t leave until I get them.” (p 145, Taylor) Little man is also a very intelligent 12 year old boy with a highly developed sense of right and wrong, able to read before he started school, Little Man prides himself on cleanliness and cannot stand humiliation as when he was punished by the teacher for refusing the very poor conditioned book allotted for the black children or when he was splashed by the white school bus. He is an out spoken and fearless kid even when those qualities threaten to get him in trouble for speaking his mind in a white-dominated world or simply with his teacher at school. He spends most of his time with his two brothers and sister, who are his confidants and playmates, and worships his father. At the beginning of the novel Little Man is outspoken, proud of himself and his race but he is unaware of the consequences that may occur from outspokenness. “Is it because we are black, is that why we can’t get any bus tickets?” (p 71, Taylor) Little Man is a very friendly individual only at the age of 12, tries all he can to get along with the white people but finds it difficult to succeed. “Would you guys mind if I can join in.” (p 55, Taylor) The white people in this novel are really judgmental most of them will not cooperate with him, except for 1 person Jeremy.
“Jeremy, my papa says that you should come to my house for a while.” (p 123, Taylor) He doesn’t care about a person’s appearance, he only cares about their personality. His friendliness to others makes him have a really great correlation between him and his father not like his other brothers and sister, Little Man has grown on his Dads lap.