Roll of thunder hear my cry

The Logans are better off than sharecroppers. The Logans own their land. They struggle to pay the mortgage by growing cotton. Papa often works the railroad to make extra money. Mama works at the black school as a teacher for a small sum of money.

The reason they struggled financially was because Mary Logan had lost her job and David Logan couldn't go back to their job on the railroad due to a broken leg and hurt head. Another reason they struggled was becasue they had to provide for their family as well as pay the morgage with the little money Uncle Hammer had given them.