Student Question
Who is Big Ma's husband in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry?
Quick answer:
Big Ma's husband in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is Paul Edward. He was a former slave who worked his way to freedom and became a carpenter. During the Reconstruction era, he purchased land that the Grangers had to sell due to financial difficulties. Big Ma recalls their youth and his deep connection to the land, which he dearly loved. His legacy is intertwined with the land, symbolized by the clearing and the pond named Caroline.
The answer to this question about Big Ma's husband can be found in Chapter Four of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in which the children approach the house on their way home after having gone to the Wallace's store, Mr. Granger's expensive car comes away from the dusty driveway of the Logans. Stacey asks his grandmother why Mr. Granger was there, and she replies that he was "Just worryin' me 'bout this land again." Cassie asks why Mr. Granger needs more land, and Big Ma replies that he already has more than he knows what to do with, but he just wants to have it. When Cassie asks, "You ain't gonna sell it to him, are you?" Big Ma does not respond; instead she pushes open the gate, walking down the drive, across the road into the forest.
Cassie runs after her; having caught up, she walks silently alongside her...
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grandmother until they come to a clearing made because Mr. Andersen's lumbermen came. It was only when Mr. Logan arrived that the clearing stopped. Walking around the rotting trees, Big Ma reaches the pond and sits down.
"I'm sho' glad your granpa never had to see none of this. He dearly loved these here old trees....He used to call this place his thinkin' spot and he called that old pond there Caroline, after me.
Big Ma recalls her youth; she was barely eighteen when she married Paul Edward. A former slave, Edward worked his way to Vicksburg and freedom. There he met Big Ma while he worked as a carpenter. But, he always wanted land of his own. During Reconstruction, Paul bought two hundred acres that the Grangers had had to sell because he could not pay his taxes since the Confederate money was worthless. Another man, Mr. Wade Jamison, sold Paul Edward another two hudred acres. Big Ma explains that the Logan blood is in the land. She thinks again of Mr. Granger,
"He don't know nothin' 'bout me or this land, he think I'm gonna sell!"
Big Ma, of course, refers to her husband, Paul Edward, as well, whose memories is in the Caroline, the trees, and the wind.