Chapters 9-12

YES!! Fred is number one! PWNED! Anyway the story's ending is not really good because T.J. dies because of being accused of stealing the pearl handled gun. The Simmses were the ones who really stole the gun but since black could not blame whites with the whites believing the blacks. Nothing is really resolved at the end except for they left off with a cliffhanger so that we don't know what happens to the Logan's and their problems such as their land problems, Mr. Morrison's hurting problem, and their dad's leg problem. I think T.J. should not have been killed like that, they didn't even question the white people and when T.J. said that the Simmses did it he got hit for it. Personally I hate this ending, it is sad and there is no happiness at the end.

Also a fire started to end T.J.'s beating and his family's bad times. The fire started and the fighting immediately stops so that they can put out the fire. The whole end of the book was a disaster but i just thought of something good, the fire was put out...

The Wallace boys beat T.J. The three of them were at Mr. Barnett’s store trying to steal the pistol that T.J wanted. T.J wouldn’t go with them because he was going to tell that R.W and Melvin did it. The Logan children watched helplessly as some men were taking the Avery’s forcefully out of their house while the Logan children were hiding in the woods. At the end of the story there was a great fire that passed through the Granger land. Everyone started to pitch in when the fire amassed. The children went back to school and T.J died from the beating that he got. I didn’t like the ending only because T.J passed away for something he didn’t do.

Derek- I agree with your comment 110%. It wasn't fair that T.J got killed but R.W and Melvin hit Mr. and Mrs. Barnett with an axe and didn't get in trouble. Those two murdered Mr. Barnett and T.J just handled the pistol and got killed. We also don't know what happened to the land after the fire and the Logans problems like Papa with his leg.

I agree with David, T.J. should not have died especially since he was trying to tell them not to but he got dragged into doing it anyway..

The ending of the story in my opinion was unhappy. Poor T.J. dies L. Anyway, even though Cassie did not like him and Stacey and him were in a fight, both still cried for T.J. I would have cried for him also because he was a friend no matter what happened between him and Stacey, they were still friends. One thing that was resolved was the fight between Stacey and T.J. One thing that was resolved was the fight that Stacey and T.J. had. Another thing that was resolved by the end of the book, in my opinion, was the white people were helping the Logan family put out the fire. This was a big thing because the Logan family is black. Even though Harlan Granger ordered them to put out the fire, I think they still cared because they would have let it burn the Logan’s house but they didn’t. Also, when the fire was put out, Kalleb Wallace was still looking to make sure there was no more fire anywhere else. Then, we realized Mr. Morrison started the fire so that way he can get Stacey and T.J. to safety. I did not like the way the book ended, but T.J., in a way, deserved that because he was always doing bad things but maybe the author should have just made him paralyzed or something because as bad as he was, deep down he was probably really nice.

I don’t really like the result of this ending. Seriously: T.J. was accused of stealing the pearl handled gun, was beaten up by R.W. and Melvin, was sentenced to hanging, and a fire started by MR. LOGAN burned up nearly half of the Logans’ cotton, even though it happened to prevent T.J. from being hung. However, at least the ending wasn’t the type of ending where the people are just skipping along a road with big, wide smiles on their faces, pretending like nothing in the book happened. The ending did have a lot of drama, and a good cliff hanger to go with it. Stacey even had a brief emotional breakdown. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen Stacey so sad, so that had to be one of the coolest moments (and not to mention one of the saddest) in the book. Nothing really resolved during the end of the book, since T.J. was going to die and the Logans lost some of their land. The ending is so-so, but there could have been more of a resolution towards the end.

By the way, to people who think this: T.J. did NOT die. It was just HEAVILY IMPLIED that he was going to die. He was sentenced to a hanging, but he was not hanged that night or that morning. If the book had been extended to a couple of pages longer, then maybe T.J. would have died in one of those pages.

Derek- Do you think that R.W. and Melvin put the BLACK stockings over their face to make the Barnetts think they were black robbers to get T.J. into trouble?

Cool. 9th comment on this blog! Omg!
The last few chapters in this book. Father broke his leg because horse’s wagon ran his leg over. The Cassie has to do most of the work and there financial life is going down. Then T.J. starts to hang out with the older Simms brothers. They then rob the store. T.J. got the blame. The Simms SHOULD OF got the blame. Then T.J. came to the Logan’s house and he was badly injured. There was a mob and attack him up. While this happened a fire in the Logan’s crops. The fire breaks up the mob and cops come and T.J. goes to jail. Cassie stopped the fire. She soon realized that her dad started the fire. I liked this ending because if T.J. didn’t go to jail and get beat up the end would f been boring and dull. The end to me was the best part. It had action and suspense (I love books with that in it!)

And Adriana is right T.J. did not die!!!!!!! He just went to jail!!!!!!!!!

Also Adriana, it was sad how T.J. got arrested for the robbery even though he didn’t do it. But if this did not happen the end would have been dull. The author had to put some action to make it good so others would read it and not have to like we had to! (I’m just not the biggest fan of books).

Here is a good Socratic Seminar question “Should the Logan’s just of hovered over and watch T.J. get beat up or do you thing they should of helped?” and “Do you think T.J. hanged out with the Simms to act cool or to impress Stacy?”

Frank T.J. did die and yes Amanda I think they did something so that their faces were black.

No, i did not think that the story had a happy ending. Besides the obvious (T.J. sentenced to death)i think that another factor that contributed to the sad ending was when papa had to burn his own crops down to help T.J. and Stacey. Now the Logans will have to find another way to make more money. The only good thing that came out of this ending was that when everybody was fighting the fire, they came together and put their differences aside. I think that one thing that was resolved in the end was the hate between the blacks and the whites. Even though they all hated each other, they agreed to help fight the fire without any questions. Also when reading over the other comments, I realized that I forgot to add how papa broke his leg. That made the ending sad too, because he couldn't do much to help anything. Overall this story had a sad ending, but I wish it told what happened after T.J. was sent to jail, not just saying that he would be hanged.

Adrianna- I am making this comment about yours, because there was so much that I agreed and disagreed with. Although i agree with your last comment about the fact that T.J. did not die, I do not agree that nothing was resolved in the end. The black people and white people finally got along in the end. Although it may not stay this way, it might be a beginning to firendship. Also the ending, to me, was not at all so-so. It was a pretty good ending. If I had just heard the ending, and we didn't have to read it for school, I would probably choose to read it on my own,(COUGH COUGH ACROSS FIVE APRILS!!!COUGH).

sorry- in my last comment, in my last sentence I meant to say this. If I had just heard the ending, and we didn't have to read it for school, I would probably choose to read it on my own, over some other books I have read.(COUGH COUGH ACROSS FIVE APRILS!!!! COUGH)

why is my name the only one with no spce in it? life isn't fair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I read the last few pages like 70 times already and it says like T.J. will never return and, "Why does it have to be this way?" and they were crying.

First off, WOW that was one weird ending. It was very sad and it made me feel horribel about T.J. I don't think the story had a happy ending at all. The only good outcome was stacey and t.j. were friends again and Mr. Logan didn't have to harm anyone. I mean, T.J was blamed for a robbery he didn't do or even want to participate in. The boys disguised themselves as blacks. The man they hit on the head died, meanwhile T.J was blamed for all of it! Plus, He was beat up so bad he couldn't even stand! Then they tortured his whole family, beat him up some more and a FIRE STARTED! talk about a bad day. T.J then was sentenced to be hung! This poor kid was so stubborn and full of himself look what he got into! And NO! T.J. DIDN"T DIE. HE WAS SCHEDULED TO BE HUNG, BUT! THE STORY ENDED SO WE WILL NEVER KNOW! Okay, well i liked this book, sort of, till the end. It was kind of a violent book and very upsetting. I also thought it was kind of boring too. Not my type of book.

Even though TJ probably died, I liked the ending. His near-death experience led to Papa setting the cotton afire, which led to the communal helping to put out the fire, so they left TJ alone. I felt that it was extremely odd for Papa to set fire to their land to save TJ. Thinking about it now, I think it may have been for more than TJ’s sake. I think Papa might have even done it to prove to Mr. Harlan Granger, that “we” can be equal. I read that Mr. Granger was also helping to put out the fire, if only to save his own profits. Mr. Simms was also there, working alongside Mr. Lanier. I don’t feel that anything was permanently resolved, although I think for the time being, there is more peace between the white and black community.

Troy, Im commenting on your comment about Adrianna. I agree with what you said about T.J. not dying. I disagree with it being a good ending. Its a creepy cliff hanger and too much violence! I also disagree with ur resolution. The blacks and the white were not getting long or beginning a friendship.They were just putting out a fire. Maybe over time there would be a "truce" but I doubt there will ever be a serious friendship of anysort. I think there was the resolution with T.J. and stacey though.

I think he died at the end... and Shenandoah how could you like the ending it was so sad, T.J. was sentenced to die so he probably did at the end and Mr. Granger only cared about his trees and his land. It was the worst ending also because there was such a huge cliffhanger.

Just to add more to your post Kristen, Papa purposely started the fire to save TJ from being hanged.
To comment on David’s post, I disagree because TJ didn’t die for one, and he didn’t get almost killed for nothing. He sort of did it himself, hanging out with “the wrong crowd”. And maybe in the books TJ’s jailing and near-death will have been for some higher purpose.

Derek, I liked the ending. TJ didn't die (yet), and think, would you rather (hypothetically of course) have a peaceful community, since TJ’s almost death led to the whites helping out blacks; or an almost fueding community with TJ still being a jerk????????

I know the fire was started by Mr. Logan on purpose. I said that I thought...oh well. Your probably right lol. I agree that T.J. did not die. Derek, THe book NEVER says "T.J. dies or hes hung" it just says he was SENTENCED. If we talk about it as a class I wouldnt say he died because the book doesn't say that. It said he was going to be but we dont know. IT could have changed.

I also feel like maybe,just maybe, the whites cared. If it was for their own land and profit so be it, but the fact that they willingly put out the fire without complaints. So yeah, but i doubt a "friendship" will ever form.

It gives so many clues to say that he died, such as Stacey crying his eyes out and Cassie saying how he would never be back at school.

The circumstances would have been the same if he was in jail, Derek.Come on, what are the chances that TJ will even get a fair trial. He will most likely not even get one. (hint hint not that I read part of the next book: Let the Circle be Unbroken)

Adriana- I like the points you made. T.J. didn't die yet. We are all assuming this without knowing the facts. I did like the cliff hanger at the end. You are right this book had alot of drama but know we know everything was fine in the end!!

Oh there is another book? Cool! I want to see what happens. Does T.J. actually die?

NO, I did not like the ending of this book. I thought it was a really terrible and sad ending. Papa had to burn down his own crops just so TJ would not be hanged. Tj was accused of something that R.W. and Melvin did. TJ did not die in this book but he probably would have if the book was longer. In the end they just left you hanging and made you think about what was going to happen to TJ. The ending of this book was definitely not a happy one.

I agree 100% with Adriana. This book did have a good cliffhanger. There were also some problems that could have been resolved at the end of this book like what actually happened to Tj for example. The ending wasn't that great.

Adrianna- Mr.Logan didn't start the fire, Mr. Morrison did and i agree with Kristen... Maybe the whites did care alittle especially after what they just tried to do to poor T.J.!!!

I feel that Papa was just saying it wasn't Staceys' fault just so Stacey wouldn't feel bad. I no that when people say its not my fault and it really is, it bothers me. I know that they are just trying to make me feel better and they know and I know that it is my fault. I feel that is what Papa is trying to do to Stacey, but Stacey knows its his fault.

Kristen- I disagree with your comment about a friendship not forming between the whites and the blacks. I think that maybe not a big one, but a little friendship will be formed by all thats happened to everyone those past few hours.

Kristen-
I agree when you said that all the things that happened to T.J. were horrible. When I read the part when he was being tortured by the Wallaces and the other white men, I actually started crying a little bit (and that's saying something, because I NEVER cry when I read books).Also, if you think that this book is violent, then you should read My Brother Sam is Dead (if you haven't already). That book became pretty gory as you kept reading.

Troy's response on my comment-
Hmm...when you put it your way, the ending does seem like it had some sort of resolution. The blacks and whites did collaborate when they put the fire out, so some sort of friendship could have formed. Also, T.J. and Stacey did make up, so in a way, the ending did tie up the knots.

Actually Amanda, on page 273, it said "...and without even a murmur from him I suddenly did know. I knew why Mr. Morrison had come for [Stacey] alone. Why Mr. Jamison was afraid for Papa to go into town. Papa had found a way, as Mama had asked, to make Mr. Granger stop the hanging: He had started the fire." This proves that Papa started the fire, not Mr. Morrison.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry did not have a happy ending. On the contrary, the ending was very sad. I was horrified by what happened. T.J. was going to either die or suffer life in jail. I thought that what happened to T.J. was very unfair. R.W. and Melvin Simms had killed Mr. Barnett and injured Mrs. Barnett. T.J. was also beaten up by Melvin and R.W when he threatened to tell about what they did to the Barnetts so they would take him home. Another part of the end that was sad was that Papa had to burn the cotton. Without the cotton, the Logans may not have enough money to pay for the land, since Mama lost her job. The Logans had so much pride in their land. It would be a shame if they had to give the land away, after all the trouble that they went through to keep it. T.J. may be sentenced to death. I’m sure that T.J. was at least sentenced to life in jail because in the book, Cassie said that T.J. would never be able to trudge to school again. I was surprised that when Jeremy told his father that something was burning on the Logans’ land, he went to help. I didn’t think that Mr. Simms would want to help the family that Cassie was a part of after that incident in Strawberry. I don’t think that anything was resolved at all. T.J. was going to a life sentence in jail or get sentenced to death, some of the Logans’ cotton was burned, and the Logans may lose their land. I think that many more problems were created at the end than there were to start with. There were also more conflicts at the end of the book than resolutions.

I disagree with what Kristen and what other people are saying. They are saying that T.J. was going to be hanged. I did not find that in the book at all. T.J. may not have even got the death sentence. Papa just said that it was possible. I deduced that T.J. was going to get a life sentence because Cassie said that T.J would never trudge to school again.

I think that T.J. deserved to go to jail. Even though it was R.W. and Melvin's idea, T.J. still did it. He didn't have to steal the pearl handgun. Also, he did many other immoral things that lead up to stealing the gun. For example he got Mrs. Logan fired and he conned Stacie out of his coat. This story's ending wasn't really happy, but not all are supposed to be. I don't think anything got resolved.

Shenandoah-

I agree with your fourth comment. If T.J. didn't go to jail he would probably get into a lot more trouble and go to jail anyway. If he did go to jail the community might become more united. The whites and blacks might work in unison.

now that I looked back at page 273, your right Adriana it did say that and I am sorry for that mistake. When I read it, I thought that they were talking about Mr.Morrison.

Well I think that the ending wasn't too happy as you think it would be. I still think that R.W. and Melvin should have been going to jail along with T.J. because they were the ones who robbed the store in strawberry. Although I can see why T.J would be arrested because he would steal as well, but feel that the ending was quite scary. Having a lynching mob come to your home and hurt your family is terrible! I think the only problem that was resolved was having T.J. getting what he deserved for all the bad things that he had done. Although, I think that a death sentence is a little too much for a boy his age. The burning of the Logans' field is also very bad because they probably wont have enough money to go on. So I don't think that the overall ending wasn't such a great ending.

I agree with Rajat, the ending was very sad. Having the lynching mob beating and hurting a family that you are close to is very heartbreaking and scary. Also having the logans to lose thier land just creates more problems and more sadness got the Logan family.

The ending was okay. First , papa broke his leg. A bullet was shot to scare the horse, and Stacy couldn't hold the horse back and the wagon wheel runs over his leg. I feel bad for Stacy. If i was in Stacy's shoes, I would have never forgave myself and feel so guilty. Then T.J. has an incident from Strawberry with Melvin and R.W. T.J. went to strawberry because he thought they were going to buy the gun that T.J has been wanting for awhile. Instead he finds out that Melvin and R.W. are robbing the store instead. When Cassie and Stacy sneak out to walk T.J. home, they walk in when a mob is beating up T.J. and his poor family. I disliked the ending. This book was adventurous and had to do with bravery but had no interest in me. I constantly found my self dosing off and daydreaming while reading this. But the ending should have been better. I mean i at least thought that the ending would have been better but I was disappointed to find out that i was wrong!!

I agree with Rajat because no matter what T.J. will die maybe not in this book but maybe in the beginning of the next and T.J. even if he didn't go to jail he was already beaten up really bad by his "gang".

The end of the book was sort of sad because T.J. is most likely going to die, quarter of the farm is destroyed and papa has to work on a bad leg. T.J. in my opinion got what was for him especially for this time period. I feel bad that R.W. and Melvin beat him up but I feel even worse that he his going to die. I guess thats what T.J. gets for hanging out with the wrong group and stealing that pearl handled pistol, or helping to steal. The fire that destroyed a quarter of the farm was another tradegy that was a factor of this not so happy ending. The fire started by papa resolved in him losing enough of his farm that can prevent him from paying the rest of his taxes. I feel bad that now papa is most likely going to lose his house and everything he ownes. What is even sadder is he did this all to prevent T.J. from being hanged right there on the spot. He sacrified part of his land for T.J. to live a little bit longer. To top it all off before all of this happens Papa shaters his leg. Him, Stacey, and Mr. Morisson are in there wagon when all of a sudden a shot is took papa falls out of the wagon and Jack runs over his leg. This busts papa's leg (now it is difficult for papa to work on the farm and support his family). Mr. Morrison retaliates by going all King Kong on the Wallace brothers (who took the shot). He brakes the arm of one and the back of the other. In the end nothing is really resolved. T.J. goes to jail for something he really didn't do the, farm is in ruins, and papa's leg is still broken. The Wallaces didn't even go to jail for causing the accident. I didn't really care if the ending was sad, sometimes it has to be that way.

Annisa-
I agree with the fact that R.W and Melvin should of went to jail and that T.j. got what he deserved. I think the only reason he went to jail was because of his race.

Ok, obviously this was not a very Happy, 'Let's skip around in a field of flowers and then walk passionatly down a perfectly paved road into the sunset' kind of ending. OR BOOK FOR THAT MATTER! I loved this book but it was so depressing. T.J. was arrested & beaten for a crime he didn't even commit, poor Papa broke his leg AND set his own crops-HIS OWN blood sweat and tears-into flames just to save T.J., and the children were witnessing the whole thing! Also, I completely agree with Adelina that if I were Stacy I would have never forgiven myself for running over David's leg. The guilt would eat me alive no matter how many times I was told it wasn't my fault. Now, in a way I kind of agree with Wooden, but also disagree. I do think T.J. deserved to be arrested, but not for the crime itself. I personaly hated (or if you're one of THOSE teachers, Mrs. Sullivan, I greatly dislike him) him all throughout that book from the minute he came up. He obviously shouldn't be a friend of the Logans no matter what the children argue. He was a con artist and a real pain in the butt. He stole Stacey's Jacket, blamed STACEY for the cheat papers, STACEY got in trouble for the Wallace Wrangle (HA! that SOOO should've won!), so basically T.J.'s only perpose for Stacey was to have someone to blame on. So I was in no way upset with T.J.'s punishment. However, IF he does die, WHICH HE HASN'T!, I would definatly cry if I had known him because like most of you have said a friend will always be a friend no matter what. Anyway, I don't think that anything was resolved at the end, like Rajat.

NO!! I did not like the ending of this book!! At first I was a little confused about if T.J. died or not but then when I read over it again about a thousand times I finally got it! =P Anyway so even though T.J. didn't die in this book he will probably die which bothers me deeply. I was sooooo mad when those boys blamed what they did on T.J.

I actually thought that the ending was both happy and sad. Sure, the crops were fried and T.J. got chucked in the slammer, but I believe that something was accomplished in these chapters. During the blaze all the men, white and black, were working together to put out the fire. I think that this could possibly give them respect for one another. It was also just relieving to know that the Logans saved the life of a friend- at least temporarily. Great climax, intence ending. Loved it.

And I defiantly agree with Chelsof when she said that the author leaves you hanging wondering what is going to happen to T.J. And it makes me sad that he gets blamed for what Melvin and R.W. did.

ALso, Wooden, even though I am not a huge fan of T.J., I don't think that sending T.J. to jail would make everything better between the blacks and the whites. In fact, I completely disagree. I know that one person can make a difference, but you saying that the blacks and whites would get along automatically if T.J. did time, well thats like saying if Obama died then all of a sudden there would be world peace and everybody would love each other! (I know that wasn't the best example, but I LOVE OBAMA!!!! hahaha) Now we all know that just because one persone is taken away it doesn't mean that it will make everything better.

To all of you death-of-T.J. readers out there...
THE DUDE, DID NOT, DIE!!!

He was captured and arrested by the police thanks to the intervention of Mr. Jamison. However, I gota say he probobly won't last long in the future.

Yes, Connor. I think everyone got their point across with the fact that T.J. did not die.

I agree with Conner. The ending did have its positive. When the crops were burned, blacks and whites got together and helped. This was an accomplishment and this resolved the end of the story. This was a not so bad ending!

I thought the ending was good. At least, it was a lot better than the beginning and middle. I liked how unexpected things were. Overall, I would say it had a sad ending. It was good, but sad because TJ dies, the Logans cotton burns, and Jim Lee Barnett was killed. You kind of knew TJ was going to go to jail, but I didn’t think he was going to die. I was also surprised at how much he was hurt when he arrived at the Logans. In my mind, I pictured a bruise, not spitting up blood. I was also sad when Mr. Jamison told papa that Mr. Barnett died because he was just trying to defend his store. Also, I never would have linked the fire to mama’s request to find another way to save TJ. That was surprising, too. In the end, I don’t think anything was resolved. Maybe it even got a little worse because the Logan children lost a friend, R.W. and Melvin killed a white man, and part of the Logan cotton was burned.

Connor, I think that the whites were helping the blacks so that the fire didn’t spread all around. Maybe the white people were working with the black people to save their land from burning as well. In the book, it said that the fire could spread very far if it reached the trees. I think that the whites did not want to live in a place that was on fire. I think that they just wanted to help because the fire would affect them too. Maybe, if something dangerous happened that would only affect a black family, the whites would not have helped. There could have been a few nice white people who helped the black with something that would not affect them.

Troy - I agree with what you said about papa burning down his own crops. I didn't consider it as a factor of an unhappy ending and didn't think of the consequences it had on the Logan family. It's sad that papa had to do it to save TJ and Stacey.

The end of the story isn’t good because T.J. is put in jail for something he didn’t do. He was falsely accused for robbing the Barnett’s store. The Simmses were the real people who robbed the store and they were the ones who hit Mr. Barnett over the head with the axe. The only reason T.J. was blamed was because Mrs. Barnett only saw T.J.’s face and immediately thought that they were all blacks. Also none of the problems were resolved because the story ended before any of them were.

Conner- I agree with you. It was nice that both the whites and blacks were working together to put the fire out at the end of the book. It was really cool that even the Wallace’s after what they had done to the Logan’s were actually helping to put out the fire. It made me feel good when I read that everyone had pitched in to help. I think that everyone realized that the Logan’s land was the land of a good family and they dropped all of the disputes for a brief time to come together and help the Logan’s.

Annissa-I agree with you. I also feel bad because TJ thought that they were his real friends and by they I mean RW and Melvin. They got him in this trouble and it's not fair.

Rajat- It does not matter how or why the whites got involved, but what will happen because of it. What I was trying to say is that them working together could trigger respect for one another.

Yo! My name is spelled with O!

I think the ending of this book was a very good example foor the fact that not all books have a happy ending. I felt that T.J. got what he deserved in the end, even if that sounds a little mean. I felt that when some of the cotton was burned in the fire that was really upsetting because the fields meant so much to the Logans and represented their independence and claim to the world as a successful black family. I defenitley did not like the ending to the book, but I think the author ended it the way he did to show people how badly slavery and discrimination effected Americans' lives. Though it is not my favorite book ever, I feel Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry held an important message to be accepted by all.

Amanda- From reading your posts I noticed you said "poor T.J.", but I felt that T.J. got what he deserved in the end, even if that sounds a little mean. He did so many people wrong and deep down he might have been a good kid but he sure didnt show it. The Logans gave him a fair amount of chances and he blew them all, first with cheating then the coat then getting Mama fired- he really wasn't a good kid in my opinion and though I think it was wrong for him to get punished without getting to prove himself can't you agree that he did have something coming? KARMA!!!!

SO......wowza......... That in my opinion was a pretty sad ending. Not much happiness in the ending. TJ got mixed in with the wrong kids especially cause they were white it doesn't make the situation any better. Hanging out with these kids wasn't the brightest idea cause they end up framing him. Papa tries to stop the hanging but as they leave the cotton fields catch on fire and must put the fire out. All in all not a happy ending, or such good luck. =P

While I do not like the ending, in all honesty it was in effect a good one economically - if there is a sequel, you would buy it immediately to find out what happens. Also, if you look at it from a historical (I will never look at this word the same way again) perspective, it would likely have happened similar to this, because if you noticed, Granger and all them were worried about the forest catching fire andd burning up their land than they were about the Logan's land burning. T.J.'s "friends" that beat the cr-er, stuff out of him would not have gone to jail, and T.J. would be dead as soon as possible. As it is, there is a large likelihood of T.J. being hung, and the Simmses are getting away with what they did. Also, the Wallaces got away with shooting Papa, and even if they had killed him the repercussions would have been much less severe than if it had been the other way around (Papa shooting Kaleb Wallace or the like). Even so, this proves just how strong Mr. Morrison is; he was the perfect man for the job Papa wanted him to do. Not much if anything is resolved, since even the whites helping put out the fire was more out of self-interest than helping a neighbor ("If it reaches the forest, we won't put it out for a week!").

Dan(+everyone else who posted on this topic; I just saw Dan's first)-When you think about it people are falsely accused and convicted constantly; there is only so much evidence needed, and if you know the person, planting evidence can be quite simple. Of course in this case, the only evidence required was T.J. was black, but it is similar to the MJ case-as many times as those children come out and reveal the truth (he never laid a finger on me), his legacy (yes, it is a legacy, man was a music icon for two decades) will be forever tainted by the molestation charges. As someone I know said, whatever the man's personal demons, he was a talented person. In another legacy-torn-down thing, Tiger is in the process of also having his on-the-green achievements (as well as his endorsements and other money collecting strategies that made him the first 1,000,000,000 [that's 1 BILLION] dollar athelete) stained by his off-the-green shortcomings.

Ciara- Yes and I can see where you are coming from because at first I felt that way but TJ was trying to take all that bad stuff he did and put it behind him. In the end, he really did care about what he did becausse he tried to beg for help and normally if Stacey was to ignore him he would just be like 'thats fine i don't need yo help anyway' and he didn't do that.

Amanda-in my opinion, TJ had no choice but to beg for help because he was going to DIE. If it was just a regular thing, he would have said he didn't need help, but since it was Stacey's help or DEATH, he chose to try to get Stacey's help.

I will say, now that I reread my comment (I knew I left something out, I just couldn't remember what), TJ probably regretted hanging out with R.W. and Melvin, and going to Strawberry with them.