Who are the riders in Chapter 3 of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry?

With the historical setting of Mildred Taylor's novel as the Jim Crow South of the 1930s, there are incidents in the lives of the Logans that cause great fear in their hearts. In Chapter 3, for instance, after Mr. Avery arrives at the Logan's house, there is a terror that makes its presence felt. Big Ma orders the children to bed, but Cassie sneaks into the boys' room where they all overhear Mr. Avery answer Big Ma's question as to why the men "are riding,"

"I don't rightly know....Anytime they thinks we steppin' outa our place, they feels like they gotta stop us.  You know what some of 'em done to the Berrys.....It don't take but a little of nothin' to set them devilish night men off."

These "devilish night men" who ride at night are vigilantes. On another recent evening, they burned John Berry for supposedly flirting with a white woman; when two of his relatives tried to defend him, they, too, were burned. 

After she is in bed, Cassie observes Big Ma coming into the room and stooping over as she looks under the bed. When the lights strikes her grandmother, Cassie can see that she has a shotgun in her arms as she sits watching out the window. Later, having heard a noise on the porch, Cassie hurries out, believing that her brothers are sneaking around to her from the front of the house. However, she instead notices "the vision of ghostly headlights" as a car turns into the Logan's drive. A white man gets out, scratches his head, then shakes it in denial. He returns to his car and waves the next one off, until each turns around in this drive. Returning to her bed, Cassie is racked with fear of another visit from these vigilantes, and she does not stop trembling until dawn.

Who are the new characters introduced in Chapter 4 of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry?

The graphic tale of the Logan family who with fierce pride fight to maintain their dignity against racial dissension during the Depression, Rolling Thunder, Hear My Cry is peopled with many characters. In Chapter 4, new characters are introduced to the reader:

• Kaleb Wallace

One of the Wallaces who own the general store that was once the Granger plantation store, Kaleb stands behind the counter and tells the people milling around to go to the back of the store where the music plays.

• Dewberry Wallace

Another of the Wallaces, he and Kaleb come out onto the porch of the store and stare at Mr. Morrison, who has come to fetch the Logan children.

•  Melvin and R. W. Simms

They are Jeremy's brothers, but are trouble makers.

• Harlan Granger

When the children return from the store after Mr. Morrison picks them up with the wagon, the children see Mr. Granger's car as it "rolled from the dusty driveway." When Stacey asks Big Ma why Mr. Granger has been there, she replies,"Nothin'....Just worryin' me 'bout this land again." Harlan Granger's father had to sell some land during Reconstruction, but Mr. Granger, who wants all the land back, has purchased all but the two hundred acres that Big Ma owns.

• Charles Jamison 

Charles Jamison bought acreage from Harlan Granger's father back when it was sold. But, he was not a good farmer, so after he died, his son Wade allowed Harlan to purchase eight hundred back; however, he sold the remaining two hundred to Paul Edward Logan, the children's grandfather. This action by a white man infuriates Harlan Granger.

• Kevin and Mitchell Logan

Two of Big Ma's sons who died: Mitchell was killed in the War, and Kevin drowned.

• Mr. Turner

One of the parents of Mrs. Logan's students, he sharecrops for Mr. Montier. When Mary Logan asks him to boycott the Wallace store, he says he cannot travel to Vicksburg. But, he does agree to shop there if someone would back his signature.