Short Story : Thank You MAm, By Langston Hughes

Utilizing the literary element characterization, Hughes develops the central idea that guidance is the necessity one needs to excel by receiving random act of kindness from the woman Roger was stealing the purse from. The story presents the readers the notion of goodness rather than incarcerating by following the social norms and standards in the real world. Langston Hughes shows the importance of generosity and certainty by implying indirect characterization while the readers examines the interactions and actions between the old woman and Roger.

Roger, at first, tried to steal Mrs. Jones' purse, but the weight of her purse was too heavy and caused to fall on the ground. Mrs. Jones’ reaction was to turn around and defend herself. “The large woman simply turned around and kicked kim right in his blue-jeaned sitter. Then, she reached down, picked the boy up by his shirt front, and shook him until his teeth rattled,” (Hughes 1). This shows that in the start, Mrs. Jones didn’t trust Roger and thought he was a robber, which he was for that short period of time because he was trying to steal her purse.

I believe Mrs. Jones’s kindness changed Roger and now he realizes he doesn’t have to steal purses. If you don’t know, Roger, a 14 or 15 year old boy, tries to steal Mrs. Jones purse. She takes him and cleans him up. Mrs. Jones begins to cook and asks Roger if he is hungry. She turns around and cooks. Mrs. Jones turned her back on Roger while cooking to see if he would steal her purse. While she is cooking, Roger began to realize that he didn’t want Mrs. Jones to not trust him. So Roger asked. “Do you need somebody to go to the store”. She replied, “No”. He really wanted Mrs. Jones to trust him. On page 32, the author said, “And he did not want to be mistrusted now”. As you can see from the story, he is beginning to start changing. You can

Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. His parents got divorced when he was a child and his dad dad moved to Mexico shortly after. He was then raised by grandmother who took care of him until he was thirteen. When he turned thirteen he moved to Illinois to live with his mom and stepdad. Hughes started writing poetry when he moved to Illinois. He graduated from high school in Cleveland, which is where his family eventually resided permanently. After high school, he lived in Mexico for about a year and traveled to Africa and Europe. Hughes also attended Columbia University for a year after his dad agreed to pay for his college. Hughes dropped out after facing discrimination at the school, although he did love living in Harlem. He has mentioned that his major writing influences were Walt Whitman, Carl Sandburg,

Ramona was an innocent looking girl, right? So her parents thought she was, but oh no they were wrong. That night she went out attempted to rob a bank her former friends, parents owned. In the story, Thank You, Ma’am, Langston Hughes, the author, shows how the main character Roger gets taught a lesson after trying to take something that wasn’t his. When one makes a bad mistake, a lesson must be learned from, yet with care.

On page 6 line 36-42 Roger tells Mrs. Jones how he has no one at home and is all alone. That is when Mrs. Jones decides to take him home. I think she understands the situation he is in and wants to help. She wants to teach him not to steal without him going to jail. This is proven on page 8 line 81-84 where Roger asks if Mrs. Jones is going to take him to jail and Mrs. Jones says no. I also think Mrs.

In the short story “Thank You, M’am” by Langston Hughes Mrs. Jones’s Forgiveness, kindness, and empathy has a positive impact on Roger life changing him for the better.

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.

“Do You Think Respect or Disrespect Impacts Your Character ?” In Langston Hughes short-story, “Thank You, Ma’am” Hughes shows how Roger’s attitude changed from disrespectful to respectful. My first piece of textual evidence “She said, “what is your name? “Roger” answered the boy.”

In the short story “Thank you, M’am” by “Langston Hughes” Mrs. Jones affected Roger after that night. She affected him by kindness by helping him even though he tried to steal something from her, Mrs.Jones didn’t run off scared or call him names or hit him, and that surprised him. Roger was surprised that he was actually treated like a human being for once.

First Mrs. Jones is non judgemental when she took in a street kid, that was a thief, and treated him like a normal human being. According to the short story, Mrs. Jones acts with acceptance when she said, “Then we’ll eat,’ the woman said. ‘I believe you're hungry-or been hungary- to try to snatch my pocketbook!” She eats with him even though he’s filthy and just tried to steal from her, if people in the real world would treat people with this acceptance, when their less fortunate, we could help so many people that can’t help themselves. Also Roger learns to respect others when he is treated nicely by Mrs. Jones. Because, when he first is in the house he does not run when he could which is proven when the author writes “The woman did not watch the boy to see if he was going to run now, nor did she watch her purse...” He could of easily ran out with her purse but he respects her kindness and doesn't want to be mistrusted now. Finally Mrs. Jones teaches Roger good morals and how to be a good person. For example, when Roger is leaving the house Mrs. Jones says, “And next time, do not make the mistake of latching onto my pocketbook nor nobody else's - because shoes got by the devilish ways will burn your feet.” Mrs. Jones helps show Roger to make good decisions; so that he would not end up in a jail cell later

In a story called Thank You M’am, by Langston Hughes, a boy named Roger tries to steal from a woman named Mrs. Jones. Instead of calling the authorities, Mrs. Jones Brings Roger home and begins to care for him and teach him right from wrong. At the end of the story, Mrs. Jones even gave Roger $10 to buy the blue suede shoes he wanted. From this, we can reason that the reason Mrs. Jones took Roger to her house and cared for him is because Mrs. Jones sees something in Roger that she saw in her past self.

This short story by Langston Hughes carries out many central ideas and themes. Although one theme certainly caught my eye. Throughout the entire story the theme is carried out and developed through the main characters, and the actions they make. The predominant theme of this story was the sense of belonging, or lack thereof, which lead to many actions taking place. Towards the beginning of the story the boy is wandering the streets, just looking for his prey. He went in believing he would receive some type of monetary value, such as money, but he leaves with much more.

Langston Hughes short story “Thank You Ma’am” takes place during the evening hours. Roger, a poor young boy, tries to take Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones pocketbook so he may purchase a new pair of shoes. That didn't quite go as planned since Mrs. Jones caught Roger in the act. Rather than taking him to the authorities, she is taking him to her house to to teach him a lesson. One lesson in the story suggests that there are people in a person’s life that help them along the way.

Words and stories can connect generations through understanding of the struggles of the opposite generation, and they can resolve conflicts between people. In “Thank You M’am” by Langston Hughes, a teenage boy attempts to steal the purse of an elderly woman by the name of Mrs. Jones. He is unsuccessful, and Mrs. Jones takes the boy home where they have a conversation, although Mrs. Jones does most of the talking. Eventually, the Mrs. Jones reveals to the boy that she too once resorted to less-than-honest measures to get something she wanted, creating a connection between her and the boy that allowed her to instill in him a sense of honor and respect, as the text says, “The woman did not watch the boy to see if he was going to run now, nor did