Describe in detail the character of Jeremy in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

Jeremy Simms is a very interesting character in the novel.
As a white boy whose father is one of the group of white men that go round lynching and
abusing blacks at night, we would expect him to demonstrate the same kind of belief in
white supremacy that his sister, Lillian Jean does. Of course, the clearest example of
this is when Lillian Jean expects Cassie to apologise for bumping into her and then to
walk on the road to let her pass. However, Jeremy has a friendship with the Logan
children, and in particular, Stacey. Thus it is that Jeremy tries to appease Lillian
Jean and get Cassie out of trouble.

In particular, on
Christmas day, Jeremy brings a bag of nuts to the Logan family and also gives Stacey a
present that he made especially for him: a wooden flute. As such, Jeremy is an important
character as he seems to symbolise the possibility of friendship between whites and
blacks, in spite of Papa's beliefs otherwise:

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"Far as I'm concerned, friendship between black
and white don't mean that much 'cause it usually ain't on an equal basis. Right now you
and Jeremy might get along fine, but in a few years he'll think of himself as a man but
you'll probably still be a boy to
him."

However, in spite of
the doubt that Papa has about Jeremy and his friendship with Stacey, it is clear that
Jeremy seems to symbolise hope of a better, more equitable world in this novel where
blacks are not discriminated against and where they can be respected and loved by
whites.