There are many important Themes in the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry. These themes include: racial prejudice, loyalty, honesty, friendship, personal integrity and respect for others. Although Jeremy Simms and TJ Avery are fairly minor people in the book, their characters are used to inforce and strengthen the themes of the novel.

We first meet TJ Avery when Cassie, Stacey, Little Man and Christopher-John are walking to school. Right from the very start we find out that none of them actually likes TJ, except for Stacey. The reader sees that he is a liar, a cheat and a coward. He is ashamed of being black and he lets the Logan family down in many ways throughout the novel.

One of the ways that he lets them down is when he gets Miz Logan fired. He went up to the store and told Kaleb Wallace that Miz Logan failed him on purpose and that she was destroying school property.

"...I got fired...Harlen Granger came to the school with Kaleb Wallace and one of the school board members. Somebody told them about those books I'd pasted over...but that was only an excuse."

Jeremy Simms is a complementry character. He is a quiet and timid boy who is kind and loyal. He is one of the few white people who see the blacks a equals. He always walks to school with them, despite the fact that he gets ridiculed and beaten by his family and piers.

So, although TJ thought that being friends with white folk would benefit him, he got in a lot of trouble. All the whites come after TJ and try to murder him. Mr Logan sacrifices 1/4 of his cotton in order to save TJ. Because of this incredible act of friendship towards TJ, TJ only got arrested - as opposed to killed. TJ causes a great deal of damage to himself and the people around him and everyone just wishes that he would grow up.

"He was often ridiculed by the other children at his school and he had shown up more than once with wide red welts on his arms which Lillian Jean, his older sister, had revealed with satisfaction were the result of his associating with us. Still, Jeremy continued to meet us. (Pg 17)

Another time that Jeremy tries to show his friendship is at Christmas time. He secretly comes over to the Logan's to give them presents, even though he doesn't expect anything in return. His father does not know that he is there and he takes this opportunity to give his present of a homemade flute to Stacey.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lillian Jean, RW Melvin, Stacey Logan, Jeremy Simms, Pa R-right, Kaleb Wallace, Simms Jeremy's, TJ Avery, Miz Logan, TJ Stacey, jeremy tries, lillian jean, jeremy simms, tj avery, simms tj avery, kaleb wallace, simms tj, rw melvin, racial prejudice, 'merry christmas, themes novel, jeremy simms tj,
Approximate Word count = 899
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)