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The Role of Education in Roll of Thunder, Cicely Denean Cobb In Song of the Trees, Taylor first introduced the Logan family. She relied on both social and psychological realism to describe how Blacks attempted to survive in the racist South in 1930. She explored themes like racism, poverty, and family flexibility. In Roll of Thunder, and Let the Circle Be Unbroken, Taylor highlighted a fourth theme (the Logan family's stress on formal and informal education). By presenting education as the main interest for southern Black families, Taylor's fiction became the first children's literature family story to address the role that education would take in 20th-century African American culture. Also, Taylor showed her readers Black adult attitudes about the formal lessons children learn at school and compared them with the informal ones they learned from their elders and neighbours. Taylor was the first African American children's writer to address the importance of this theme. About 100 years after the end of slavery, the vast majority of southern Whites continued to cling to the same belief, that black people shouldn't be educated. It was difficult for many Southern African American men to get an education. Black male teenagers' education revolved around picking cotton and other farm tasks. If some African American boys were able to have a formal education, it was usually a limited one. White northern donors or contributors became interested in educating the southern Negro and said that their main goal was to challenge racism, but they encouraged its growth by demanding that Black formal education remains an industrial rather than classical education. But this so-called 'right' way of educating African Americans only benefited Whites by providing them with a strong investment in social stability and economic security. So, a vast majority of these students were incapable of achieving wellpaying jobs. Despite gaining education, Black males remained 'good field hands'. Taylor's series shows that Black males were educated for manual labour. The Logan men (the characters) were inspired by Taylor's paternal relatives (her uncles from her father's side). While living in Mississippi, Mr Taylor (the writer’s father) suffered psychological pain from social injustice. Formal education was not an option for him, work was his key to social and economic mobility. An emphasis was placed on his informal education. His knowledge was derived from the daily experiences of life as a southern Negro. Throughout the Logan series, Taylor suggests that southern Black men who were from her father's generation benefited more from informal education than from formal education. These Black men used their normal or ordinary common sense as they faced discrimination and attempted to survive in a racist culture. Within the story, Taylor illustrates the importance of education to the southern Black family, and she openly acknowledges the role that Black women played in education. Mary stresses the need for her children to receive a formal education. Throughout the series, Mary is linked to formal education, while David is linked to family or informal education, (Taylor credits her father

for providing her with the informal stories and values). Papa Logan teaches his family that they should be careful of both present conditions and past events that have shaped their experiences. So, Taylor is true to southern history in her portrayal of females and education. In 'What a Woman Ought to Be and to Do', Shaw argues that the only options that were available to the vast majority of Black women were marriage and/or domestic work and teaching. A small percentage of African American women sent their daughters away from the South in order to receive a formal education, because they knew that marriage restricted women to the home. In her stories, Taylor shows the influences that grandmothers and mothers have on their daughters. Big Ma's character is inspired by Taylor's maternal grandmothers, and Mama's character is inspired by Taylor's mother. So, Taylor fictionalizes her personal experiences in these novels. She shows how limitations prevented the elder Taylors from achieving their goals, and that they relied on Mildred Taylor to achieve them through her education and writing. Taylor reveals how both Big Ma and Mama, two women who were denied the full chance to flower, rely on Cassie, their strong-willed, plain-spoken and full of energy granddaughter/daughter to achieve what they couldn't. In a sense, Cassie becomes her mother, grandmother, and Taylor's representative or agent. This is especially important for Big Ma because her own daughter died in infancy, so she was unable to teach and advise her. That's why Cassie is essential to her. Both of Cassie's matriarchs (her mother and grandmother) realize that without an education, Cassie will have few economic alternatives. Cassie's two educations (formal and informal) enable her to believe that regardless of the limitations that others impose on her due to her race, class, and sex, none of these conditions necessarily determined her ability and aspiration. Cassie's education will allow her to pass on a legacy to her daughters and she will show them what they must be and what to do. Taylor's young heroine becomes educated and independent within the series, and she is able to define a new position for educated African American women. A small minority of Black southern women hoped that their children would receive a formal education, especially those female workers who had daughters. Black mothers who supported female liberation from America's controlling images for black women wanted to see their daughters formally educated. Furthermore, some southern African American women used their community work as a way to encourage the black women's activist tradition. Some southern Black domestics (maids) and field workers viewed their work as enabling their daughters to fight for opportunities that appeared to be impossible. Taylor's fiction reflects this desire for formal education that's found among a small group of southern Black women. Over the years, scholars have questioned Taylor's motive for writing the Logan family series. When considering the historical events that happened around the time that Roll of Thunder was published, as well as Taylor's personal childhood, it should be no surprise that Taylor saw the

need to create positive images of African Americans who overcame racial difficulties as they fought for equality. Taylor had faced a number of racial problems while growing up. At age 8 (the same age as Cassie Logan), she had regular trips to Mississippi with her family. During those trips, she noticed how they didn't stop in any restaurants because they wouldn't be allowed to eat in 'White Only' restaurants. She realized that they drove straight through because they wouldn't be allowed to stay in 'White Only' hotels or motels along the way to Mississippi. She learned that the police stopped her father in the South only for being a black man driving a nice new car. She saw the signs, 'White Only, Coloured Not Allowed' over restroom doors and drinking fountains. On her trips to Mississippi, she learned much about her family and her heritage, but she also learned about racial discrimination in the South. Taylor's juvenile fiction accurately records her experiences and memories and emphasizes that Black women were determined on gaining a formal education while maintaining informal family education within their southern Black society. In Roll of Thunder, Taylor explores the lessons that she learned both at school and at home, allowing the Logan children, especially Cassie, to receive similar treatment. Cassie is a charming protagonist who serves as Taylor's intelligent female narrator. The novel features one year of the Logans' traumas living as a strong and loving African American family in rural Mississippi. She shows that southern Black families understood the importance of informal and formal education. When placing Cassie in scenes with her male siblings, Taylor points out the differences in male and female perceptions of education. Taylor contrasts Little Man's obsession with his appearance with Cassie's practical attitude, and when the children are running late to school, Cassie warns them about the consequences of being late. Most students are children who are needed in the fields from early spring until the cotton is picked. So, the school, Great Faith, adjusts its semesters accordingly beginning in October and dismissing in March. Each academic year, the student enrolment decreases. Cassie's mother is an outsider in this community, she is outspoken about Black education. Her daughter is also confident, outspoken, and bold. Taylor shows regional differences between Cassie's mother and the other teachers when Cassie refuses to join in agreement with her classmates. An incident that shows the teacher's disgust with Cassie's informal upbringing is when Miss Crocker announces that each student will receive a textbook, books that are previously used by the students of the White elementary school. Immediately, Cassie realizes that Little Man is going to be offended by the condition of his textbook. Indeed, Little Man tells the teacher that the book is 'dirty'. Taylor's more mature narrator comes to her brother's defence, establishing that Cassie is her siblings' saviour or rescuer. Within the borders of the school, Cassie is learning to speak out for what is right, and she is learning the consequences when she does or doesn't voice her concerns.

In terms of informal education, the Logan children are taught by their parents, Big Ma, and Mr Morrison. The elders educate them about the difficulties that both their family and neighbours have suffered. The various lessons that the children are taught range from the family's rich history to the hardships that are associated with being Negro (inequality from social institutions, the judicial system, health and law enforcement agencies), and that Blacks should not befriend Whites. Although the children have been educated about the consequences that happen when a Black person doesn't remain in his or her place, none of them has personally dealt with the White brutality. While in Mr. Barnett's store, it is Cassie, not her brothers, who is reminded of her subordinate state. She was waiting for her turn at the store, but no one paid attention to her nor asked her what she needs. She was about leave when she saw Mr Barnett wrapping an order for a white girl. She says that if the customer was an adult, she would understand that, but it was some kid who is no bigger than her. She thought that maybe Mr Barnett had simply forgotten about T.J.'s order and decided to remind him. Taylor's main character reacts as any child would if faced with a prejudicial incident. However, when Cassie tries to inform the store owner of his error, he tells her that she is nothing but someone's 'little nigger'. Despite the fact that her family has owned land for over 50 years, Cassie is only a child whose mother needs to remind her of her place within southern society. Taylor shows how the vast majority of women in southern Black families had to rely on social and psychological networks in order to survive racial discrimination. In Roll of Thunder, Cassie's need to receive both a formal and informal education is stressed. Throughout her series, Taylor shows her youthful readers the experiments and heartaches of southern prejudice. She places Black history at the lead and shows how Cassie learns to take her right through her informal and formal education. In doing so, Taylor shows her readers how to be like Cassie and how to function effectively in American society.

Composed by: Mennah Alshafey. [email protected]...