In "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry", by Mildred D. Taylor, especially in the last chapter, the thunder plays an important role and can almost have a character of its own. In the novel the thunder makes contributions both to the mood and the story line. The importance of the thunder earned it a spot in the title. Throughout the novel thunder is mentioned many times. In the last chapter the thunder makes an appearance …showed first 75 words of 426 total…

…showed last 75 words of 426 total…starting the fire. The thunder here seems to be answering Mr. Logan's prayer which was to get through that night without any deaths. This was the thunder's direct input to the story line. The thunder added a lot to the story and deserves to be a character of its own. Although it had no lines it was as important as any other character and for that reason the thunder deserves its spot in the title.