Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

The metaphor of thunder, which has continued throughout the book, takes center stage in this chapter, which is the crisis of the book. In the song which Mr. Morrison sings at the opening of the chapter, the reader sees the origin of the title. The full lyrics are:

Roll of thunder

hear my cry

Over the water

bye and bye

Ole man comin'

down the line

Whip in hand to

beat me down

But I ain't

gonna let him

Turn me 'round

The song is a spiritual previously sung by slaves and its presence in this chapter speaks to the continued attempts at the whites to dominate blacks seventy years after the Civil War. But the end of the song is most significant, because it portrays blacks' refusal to be dominated.

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