Thank You Ma Am Essay

One small act of kindness has the potential to change a life. This heart warming story “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes introduces Mrs.Jones, a big strong willed woman. Roger, a young troubled boy, runs into Mrs.Jones and she changes his life forever. In this short story, Roger tries to steal from Mrs.Jones. After being unsuccessful instead of punishing Roger, she takes him to her home, washes him, feeds him, and gives him the money that he before tried to steal. The author makes the point that no matter how different two people can be, their stories can be very similar teaching the reader to never

His desire to steal the purse was driven by the strong want to buy blue suede shoes. This desire of the shoes can be compared to Macbeth’s desire of the throne. Both characters did evil deeds to reach their ultimate goal. Roger, however, is unable to successfully steal the purse and learns an important lesson through his failure. After Roger’s failed attempt, the story explains the woman’s initial actions, “... she reached down, picked the boy up by his shirt front, and shook him until his teeth rattled” (Hughes, 1). This quote shows her aggressive behavior that masked her knowledgeable and caring personality. Roger is made to go back to her house to clean up and have a meal. The theme of patience is learned during his visit to her house, “The woman did not watch the boy to see if he was going to run now, nor did she watch her purse which she left behind her on the day-bed. But the boy took care to sit on the far side of the room where he thought she could easily see him out of the corner of her eye” (Hughes, 3). This quote expresses the amount of respect and trust built by both Roger and the woman in this short amount of time. She later explains to him that she understands his motive to steal as she has done wrongful deeds as well. She finished her talk with him by saying, “And next time, do not make the mistake of latching onto

Roger’s character resembles the fall of innocence. At the beginning of the novel Roger is shy and when asked to introduce himself he muttered his name and was then silent again acordding to http://blog.yssd.org/ . Roger decides to throw rocks at Henry (one of the younger children). His morales stop him from harming the child. At that time he was still the innocent young boys he was back home. Roger , having to turn to survival instincts, he starts to feel rebellious. As the novel progresses Golding

Roger, the quiet, introverted child, was very clearly molded by social ethics. At one point in the novel, Roger was throwing stones at little’uns, but feeling forced to miss. “Here, invisible yet strong,

At the beginning of the story Roger just wants to get away from Ms. Jones then she just takes him to her house. When they got to the house she let him go and he wanted run but he didn’t. Then he tried to earn her trust by asking her if she needed someone to run to the store to get some milk. After they ate their dinner she gave him the money he needed to buy the shoes he wanted. He learned manors and to ask and not steal.

While most could argue that she is not the main protagonist in the story, she still plays a crucial role by being a mentor and teaching Roger, if only for a little bit. In the beginning, she already recognizes that Roger is not a bad person, but simply a young man that has gone astray, and due to her prior experience, which she briefly hits about in the middle of the story, she wishes to lead him back onto the right track, even if the time

In the short story Thank You Ma'am, Langston Hughes uses symbols frequently throughout the book to stir empathy, show motivation, build a mood, and provide context clues. Langston demonstrates that he used many context clues throughout the story, and with these context clues, he provides the goal symbolism. Here is the first sample of symbolism. The main symbol that appears routinely throughout the book is the pocketbook that Roger attempted to steal.

Roger changed because of how he was thinking about running to being so trustful and good. On page 32 it says he could make a dash for it down the hall because, the door was open. Then, Roger and Mrs. Jones were trying to win each other trust. On page 32it say that he did not trust the woman not to trust him. And he did not want to be mistrusted now. On page 32-33 it says that “Do you need somebody to go to the store,” asked the boy, “Maybe to get some milk or

Langston Hughes story, “Thank You, Ma’am,” Takes place late at night on a darkened street, where life is tough. Roger is caught trying to steal a woman’s pocketbook but when an unexpected act of kindness from the woman towards a poor boy that brings them together. As the woman cares about the boy she takes him in to give him food and let clean his look up. The boy does not resist going to the woman's house. The boy could really use the woman's trust in the future so in the story, he is trying to build her trust back The theme explored in “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes is that when one person goes out of their way to help another, everybody benefits from kindness.

Jones also portrays the theme by showing resilience, dauntless, and adult responsibility. She shows resilience when, “A boy ran up behind her and tried to snatch her purse...the large woman simply turned around and kicked him right square in his blue-jeaned sitter,” this shows that she is not scared of Roger when he tries to snatch her purse. She also shows dauntlessness when she doesn’t give up on Roger. She says to Roger that she will, “Teach you right from wrong. Least I can do right now is to wash your face. Are you hungry?” she has an unusual way of teaching Roger, as she first shows that she is not afraid of him and fearless then Roger learns that hard way not to mess with people’s belongings. The last thing Mrs. Jones shows is forgiveness. She shows forgiveness when even after Roger tries to steal from her, she ends up giving him what he wanted in the end. She tells him, “Now, here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes. And next time, do not make the mistake of latching onto my pocketbook nor nobody else’s.” this related to the theme because when Mrs. Jones gives this to Roger she is showing him that if he learns his lesson not to steal, good things will come from it.

What would you do if all you wanted was a pair of shoes? Roger’s idea was to take Mrs. Jones pocketbook. However, that did not seem to work. The creative title, dynamic conflict, and extremely bold characters give the story “Thank you Ma'am”, written by Langston Hughes, tremendous twists and turns. The title is a significant part of the story “Thank you Ma'am.”

It is tough to treat others the way you want to be treated.Mrs Jones realizes that, but still does it. The golden rule (treat others the way you want to be treated) is important in the story. In the story “Thank you m'am¨ by Langston Hughes, Mrs.Jones gives second chances, is helpful,and caring. It is important to realize that treating others the way you want to be treated is a big theme in the story.

Last of all, Mrs Jones is very wise when she leaves Roger alone in her room with her purse. She takes the chance of getting her purse stolen by Roger and lets Roger decide the course of action: Steal Mrs. Jones’ purse and have to live with the guilt for the rest of his life. Or gain Mrs. Jones’ trust and show that he is changed by not running or stealing. Mrs. Jones does this because

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

In “Thank You Ma’am” written by Langston Hughes, a young boy by the name of Roger attempts to steal the purse of a woman of the streets. Roger’s growth was greatly impacted through the teachings of Ms. Luella Bates Washington Jones, about choice, trust, and about honesty. As Roger is caught he learns a valuable lesson from the compassionate woman who treats him with kindness rather than reporting him to the police. If a person who was nearly robbed caught the thief they would not have been so kind as to do the things the Ms. Jones did for her robber. Every life decision made is a choice, people choose to go one way or another. Roger chose to steal the purse of the women on street. He chose to put himself in a situation that could potentially end badly. After his encounter he did not expect to receive the kindness that he did from the women.