In the short story “Thank You M’am”, Langston Hughes tells the story of a lady named Mrs.Luella Bates Washington Jones (or Mrs. Jones) and a young boy named Roger. The story starts off with Rodger taking Ms. Jones pocketbook, but Roger does not take her pocketbook, so, Mrs. Jones grabs Roger and takes him to her house to get him some food and teach him a lesson. The question is, In what ways do the ideas of kindness, helping, and making the world a better place emerge in “Thank You M’am by Langston Hughes. In paragraph 42 it says “she heated some lima beans and ham she had in the ice box, made the cocoa, and set the table.”. This passage shows that she was making food and cocoa for Roger even though he tried to steal her pocketbook. In paragraph
The central meaning of Langston Hughes' story is that kindness, empathy, and understanding, have greater impacts on the lives around us than cruelty does. Hughes demonstrates this concept by using Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones interactions with Roger. From the first time they meet, when Roger tries to steal Mrs. Jones purse, to the end when she gives him ten dollars for a new pair of blue suede shoes, she never ridicules or truly punishes him for his actions. Instead, she asks him why he tried to steal and uses kindness to show him that there are other ways to survive, without resorting to stealing. The clear message here is that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover. By not immediately judging
"The large woman simply turned around and kicked him in the blue jeaned sitter," Though it may not seem like this is a story of learning and positive influences, so begins one of many such stories about a child being positively influenced by a parental figure in a way that will affect every decision he/she will ever make. Parents have an enormous impact on what their children do and what ideals said children believe in. Without parental interaction, children may become lost or come to accept mistaken ideals such as the rightfulness of stealing which Roger, a main character symbolizing a child, actually agrees with when the reader originally reads the story. While some children might find their way if left alone, many would become overwhelmed and their young minds would perish. In this article, two texts will be discussed that express this topic: "Thank You, Ma’am" by Langston Hughes and "Fish Cheeks" by Amy Tan. In the Modern Era, it is all the more important to
Treat your elders with respect. This is a common theme between the two short stories “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes and “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan. The authors reveal this through the plot, conflict, and symbolism. In the story “Thank You, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes, there is a common theme, which is to treat your elders with respect and I'll show you. The theme is shown when In the story “Thank You, Ma’am Roger wanted money for blue suede shoes, but Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones did not let him by beating him up, so she took him home and made him wash up, then she ended up giving him the money.
thank you ma'am seems to have the same setting which is a city full of African-Americans it seems to be in Harlem since Tony Bubba Bubba boo-boo has raised in Harlem and Langston Hughes live there after college and it makes sense to put things in your past and your writing is
Langston Hughes (1902-1967), one of the most prominent figures in the world of Harlem, has come to be an African American poet as well as a legend of a variety of fields such as music, children's literature and journalism. Through his poetry, plays, short stories, novels, autobiographies, children's books, newspaper columns, Negro histories, edited anthologies, and other works, Hughes is considered a voice of the African-American people and a prime example of the magnificence of the Harlem Renaissance who promoted equality, condemned racism and injustice that the Negro society endured, and left behind a precious literary and enduring legacy for the future generations. In an endeavor to explore why and to what extent his poetry has still
When is a risk worth taking? That is the question we ask to figure out the central idea of progress. In the three stories, “Thank You, M’am,” by Langston Hughes, “Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” by Doreen Rappaport, and “NFL is cracking down hard on illegal celebrations” by Mark Maske all show answers to, when is a risk worth taking. They all have different answers but they use the same question to show the progress.
In the text “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes and “Zebra” by Chaim Potok, the main characters, Roger and Zebra, lose hope at the beginning of the story. Roger loses hope throughout the story. In the text, Mrs. Jones states, “What did you do it for?” after Roger tried to snatch Mrs. Jones purse bag.
At the beginning of “Thank you, Ma’am,” we see how just how compassionate Mrs. Jones really is. The moment she meets Roger, she tells the boy to wash his face. “Least I can do is wash your face. Are you hungry?” This might not seem like a very compassionate thing to do at first, however, she doesn’t even know the boy, yet she has enough compassion to make sure he is clean. Then, she takes the boy inside of her house! In addition, the boy, Roger asks, “You going to take me to jail?” But Mrs. Jones doesn’t. Maybe she sees that Roger is really a good boy inside, so she shows compassion to bring out his true kindness. This makes me think that he was probably trying to steal because he had to. And when Mrs. Jones asked him if he had anyone at home, he said, “No’m.” Mrs.
This quote can be compared to the story, “Thank You Ma’am!” written by Langston Hughes. In this story one character named Roger tried to steal another character named Mrs. Jones purse. He didn’t get away; instead he was dragged to Mrs. Jones house. He thought he was going to get abused or battered about his decisions but he didn’t. Instead Mrs. Jones had a huge impact on him without hurting
In the story “Thank you Ma’am” by Langston Hughes, the character Roger changes from an egocentric person to a more appreciative person. In the beginning of the story, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is walking down the street at night, “…When suddenly a boy ran up behind her and tried to snatch her purse.” This boy’s name was Roger. What I know is that only someone desperate would try to steal someone’s purse. The boy did look like he needed food, but that’s not what he was going to do with Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones purse. He only wanted to buy a pair of blue suede shoes. Therefore, making Roger egocentric. Later in the story, after Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones makes Roger go clean his face. She then starts to prepare food
“Seek the good in others and the best you will find.” In the short story, “Thank You, Ma'am” by Langston Hughes, Mrs.Jones lives by this quote. When a raggedy boy runs up behind you and steals your pocketbook you naturally would think,”he is not a good boy.” Well when this happened to Mrs. Jones one night she had a different approach. She sought the good in others by looking past the bad, giving second chances and kindness. She shows this when she took Roger in and taught him a lesson. From this story, we can all learn the important lesson of seeking the good in others.
In the story Thank You, M’am by Langston Hughes Mrs.Jones treated Roger very generously because she didn't put him in jail, she gave him $10, and she gave him some hot cocoa and ham. In paragraph 27 and 28 the author writes, “You gonna take me to jail?” Asked the boy, bending over the sink. “Not with that face, I could not take your nowhere.” This quote supports the claim because not taking him to jail, this means she gave him a chance. This means she generous, but if she did take to jail this means she does not give anyone another chance most likely. Another piece of evidence is on paragraph 42 the author writes, “ She heated up some Lima beans and ham she had in the icebox, made some cocoa, and set the table. The women did not ask the boy
She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but hammer and nails. It had a long strap, and she carried it slung across her shoulder. It was about eleven o’clock at night, and she was walking alone, when a boy ran up behind her and tried to snatch her purse. The strap broke with the single tug the boy gave it from behind. But the boy’s weight and the weight of the purse combined caused him to lose his balance so, intsead of taking off full blast as he had hoped, the boy fell on his back on the sidewalk, and his legs flew up. the large woman simply turned around and kicked him right square in his blue-jeaned sitter. Then she reached down, picked the boy up by his shirt front, and shook him until his teeth rattled.
Langston Hughes shows that there are still people that care it does not matter if you know them or not they still care about you. Hughes also shows that not everyone is so quickly to judge because of what someone has done, and he makes it obvious with Mrs. Luella Bates not judging roger but instead teaching the young boy
In the story “Thank You M’am” by Langston Hughes I think that Mrs. Jones seems to be bold because she dragged Roger home with her, helped clean him up, and most of all she tested Roger. The story is about a woman who was walking down the street and was almost robbed. Instead of letting herself get robbed she took matters into her own hands.