The Land by Mildred D. Taylor

First published: 2001

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Historical realism; bildungsroman

Time of work: 1880’s

Locale: Mississippi

Principal Characters:

• Paul-Edward Logan, the multiracial protagonist and narrator, who suffers great injustices because of his race but seeks fulfillment through independent work and the possession of land
• Mitchell Thomas, a boyhood tormentor but adult friend of Paul who meets with tragedy due to social inequities
• Caroline Perry, Mitchell’s African American wife, who falls in love with Paul
• George Logan, and
• Hammond Logan, Paul’s older white brothers
• Robert Logan, another older white brother of Paul, whom Robert betrays
• Edward Logan, the white father of the Logan family
• Cassie Logan, the multiracial daughter of Edward and sister of Paul
• Deborah Logan, Edward’s African American mistress and Cassie and Paul’s mother
• Luke Sawyer, a white landowner, rancher, and furniture maker who hires Paul and treats him with fairness and equity
• Digger Wallace, a bigoted white man who envies Paul and brings tragedy to the narrator’s life
• Nathan Perry, Caroline’s younger brother, who assists in clearing land under contract
• Filmore Granger, a seemingly forthright white landowner who cheats Paul and Mitchell
• J. T. Hollenbeck, a white businessman who owns the prime piece of land Paul wishes to purchase

The Novel

The Land, which chronicles the coming-of-age of Paul-Edward Logan, is a prequel to Mildred D. Taylor’s award-winning novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976). Paul narrates his own story, which unfolds not only as an indictment of race relations in post-Civil War Mississippi but also as an inspiring tale of the search for identity and human validation through the struggle to own “the land.” The land (a choice piece of meadowland that is dear to the narrator’s heart) comes to represent much more than mere earth and farm—it becomes a metaphor for Paul’s metamorphosis into a man, an equal, and a self-realized human being who has come to terms with the reality of his life but who remains undaunted by it.

From the beginning, Paul must grapple with the nature of his birth: He is the son of Edward Logan, a former slaveholder who fathered two multiracial children. Moreover, Paul’s mother, Deborah, loves Edward and willingly stays with him. Logan treats his children by Deborah as equitably as his social standing will allow, but Paul bristles at the partiality Edward shows to his white sons when the presence of white society warrants it. In a hard-learned lesson, Paul is heartlessly humiliated by his father, who whips him for speaking back to white neighbors.

Betrayed by his beloved white brother Robert and cheated out of his pay by a white man, Paul decides to run away to make his own way in the world. He is accompanied by the adventurous and somewhat volatile Mitchell Thomas in a daring escape after Mitchell punches the white man and takes the money owed to Paul. The two are aided and abetted by two white women in an exciting episode of clever intrigue. After stints together training horses, logging, and clearing land, the two friends separate. Paul, who earlier apprenticed in furniture making, hires himself out to Luke Sawyer as both a horseman and a craftsman. As time goes by, Paul cannot forget the land he fell in love with, and he sets about to own it. A series of intense events and double-dealing complications almost unravels his dream to obtain the land, but through several surprising twists and turns and Paul’s constant tenacity, the land becomes his.

The Characters

Paul-Edward Logan is the controlling voice in the novel, but paradoxically, as the narrator he often communicates through “silence.” Numerous times in the novel, Paul states that “I said nothing” or he refuses to respond to insults, probing questions, and gratuitous advice. Through his silence, Paul maintains his power and his privacy. Even with his eventual wife Caroline, he seems to communicate with understanding nods. This refusal to reveal himself creates the character that is Paul. Readers feel and know his pain most when he describes his silence or inability to speak. The novel seems to promote a reality that is comprehended through silence, compassion, and understanding. There are no impassioned speeches in the novel. There is action, and there is silence.

Caroline Perry acts as an independent and defiant counterpart to Paul. From his first observance of her—when she berates some white boys for taunting a little black boy—to his falling in love with her no-nonsense demeanor, Paul has met his match. The foil character to Paul is Mitchell Thomas, who through his temper and unguarded license with words brings about his own downfall. Mitchell acts as a contrast to Paul, who utilizes his self-control, his silence, and his mental powers to thwart and outsmart white characters.

Edward Logan represents the paradox of the Reconstruction period in the United States. A white man who tries to “protect” his illicit black children while training them to live and survive in a white man’s world, Logan is at once a seer and a limited man. He is understandably shackled by the social strictures of his day, yet he does not have the inner fortitude to truly defy them for the sake of his children. Perhaps Taylor is indicating a sad and sorry truth about the nature of race in late nineteenth century America.

Critical Content

The Land was received as a worthy addition to the Logan saga. Most critics viewed it as a substantial addition to the multigenerational story and as a novel that stands in its own right. The novel received the Scott O’Dell Historical Award in 2002. Taylor began writing in response to her feeling that school texts neglected the “true” story of African American struggles. She relied on her own family’s stories, which related the actual history of personal racial struggles in a country still adjusting to the end of slavery, to desegregation, and to the Civil Rights movement. The Land is based on the experience both of Taylor’s great-grandfather and of the author herself. Each engaged in monumental struggles to obtain land and, through it, independence. Taylor also has indicated that she hopes her books present a real and valid picture of African American history for both races. She believes that African Americans cannot hide from the past and must realize that “black people were second-class citizens in the past and had to react in a certain way just to survive.”

Bibliography

Bontempo, Barbara. “Exploring Prejudice in Young Adult Literature Through Drama and Role Play.” ALAN Review, Spring, 1995. Discusses strategies for teaching books such as The Land to adolescents, using role playing to understand issues of prejudice.

Crowe, Chris. Presenting Mildred D. Taylor. New York:Twayne, 1999. Based on interviews with the author, this study delves into Taylor’s life and its relationship to her work, including the saga of the Logan family continued in The Land.

Rochman, Hazel. “Working the Land.” Review of The Land, by Mildred D. Taylor. Booklist 97, no. 22 (August, 2001): 2108. Discusses Taylor’s novel and its place in her Logan family series.

Taylor, Mildred. “The Booklist Interview.” Interview by Hazel Rochman. Booklist 98, no. 2 (September 15, 2001): 221. Taylor discusses the publication of The Land and the characters featured therein.