Thank You, Ma’am Introductory Paragraph Practice “The robb’d that smiles, steals something from the thief; He robs himself that spends a bootless grief.” This paradox is demonstrated through the short story, Thank You, Ma’am, as a woman that goes by Mrs. Jones. Helps this fourteen year old straggly boy, that goes by the name Roger find the real answer to life. As Mrs. Jones takes him into her home, even though the boy tried to steal her purse. She teaches him that you don’t need to steal if you want something in life. You could just ask, because someone would be willing to show an act of kindness. She forgives the boy for trying to steal her purse, because everyone sins and no one's perfect. We all have sinned and we just have to live with
In the story “ Thank you, m’am “, the little boy known as Roger is motivated to get money to buy blue suede shoes. Roger’s emotional needs have gotten him in a situation that motivates him to steel. One of Roger’s major flaws are that he tried to steal a purse to get money for shoes. Roger may have done that because he doesn't have a family and so he resorted to stealing as a way to get money. In conclusion Roger was driven by his flaw in expectation to get his blue suede shoes, and because of the generosity of Mrs. Jones Roger get his blue suede shoes, so her generosity is the
“If i turn you loose, will you run?” asked the woman. In the short story “Thank you ma’am” by Langston Hughes it explores integrity by showing trustworthiness, honesty, and fairness. In this story a boy 14-15 years old tries to steal a woman's purse but doesn't succeed, and she takes him back to her house. This shows trust because she is bringing the boy who tried to rob her back to her home.
This English Composition II class has educated me so much on how to write better, write in different formats, schedule my time better, and how to improve my writing. Learning more about all of these categories will help me in the future when I need to write other essays for future college classes that I will have. I am very happy that I took this class when I did, because of it I am more prepared for college this fall. I just hope my future professors are as funny and kind as Mr. Stout has been towards
In the beginning of Unbroken, Hillenbrand introduced readers to Louis’s generosity and delinquent behavior. Growing up, Louis stole items from people and kept them. When it came to family members doing it also, Louis got caught the most: “‘Pete never got caught,’ said Sylvia, ‘Louis always got caught’” (8). Although not good at stealing at first, Louis learned the hard way what not to do. However, knowing he
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
Though individuals have different opinions on certain matters, all individuals have some sense of right and wrong. It is wrong to cheat on a test, it is wrong to drive without a license, and it is wrong to steal, but for some obscure reason the majority of individuals have done so. Chester Himes was the director of Special Publications for the Phelps-Stokes Fund in New York City and wrote Mama's Missionary Money. In Himes’s passage he tells of a boy named Lemual who purloins money from his mother. Lemual finds money in his mother’s dresser, and he takes coins every day until his mother realizes her money is missing. Lemual has become idolized by the neighborhood kids as he takes them out to eat and watch shows. Through the author’s use of simile, hyperbole, and anaphora the reader gets a thorough understanding that all actions have certain consequences and individuals must be prepared to face them.
In the article titled “Autism is a Serious Public Health Crisis” Ann McElroy Dachel claims that the CDC (the Center for Disease Control) is hiding a secret which she calls “the big lie.” “The big lie” is a result of the CDC lying about the fact that more and more children are being diagnosed with autism or forms of the disorder because of an increase in mercury that is put into new vaccines. Dachel is well educated on how autism is affecting children because her own son, John, has a form of autism known today as Asperger’s. She acknowledges from the beginning that John wasn’t like the average kid his age, she noticed that “his talking and interacting with people began to regress” (Dachel, Paragraph 10) which caused her to take action. She enrolled John in multiple activities including speech therapy to help cope with the interaction with people, but yet he was still not being treated as equal. As time passed results came forward detailing why John was having so many problems with interaction. When he was in second grade John was diagnosed with being “possibly autistic” (Dachel, Paragraph 12) which opened many new doors for Dachel. She now knew that her son was in fact not like the other kids. 20 years later, after being officially diagnosed, John is a very well educated, not only in school, but instruments as well.
“Yes! I promise please please I’m sorry.” at this point, I was crying uncontrollably. The cashier came up to me and hugged me. I felt safe and forgiven but knew what trouble was coming next – my mother. Why? Why was the cashier so nice to me? I don’t understand. This made me feel even more guilt for what I had just done. I knew it was wrong to steal – yet I still did.
Now reading that sentence alone might be quite confusing but the important thing to note is what he does when he sees the boy. At the sight of the father, the man holds up a knife prepared to defend himself and keep the stolen goods. But at the sight of the boy, the man surrenders the cart with all the stolen items as well as the knife he was wielding. He showed a set of morals that other people, specifically the gang member from earlier, had not shown. This moment also shows the good and the father and his son after they realized they had done the wrong thing in making the thief give them everything they had and went back in hopes to right their wrong (even though they were not able to in the
He had himself convinced that he was doing the world a favor by holding back his sister, Dagny, an idealistic Objectivist. Other demonstrations of this ludicrous practice are displayed in the characters of the family of Hank Rearden, a successful and very driven steel manufacturer. His own mother, an advocate of such practices as indiscriminate charity and pity, informed him of his supposed social responsibility. She firmly believed that it was the duty of every man to give to every other man. “Virtue is the giving of the undeserved,” she said (265). These second-handers are the villains of the novel, the only enemies of the true genius. The looters are those who sit back, allowing others to do the work for them, so that they may simply return it with accusations concerning a lack of virtue and social concern. They believe that goodness arises from living on one’s knees, begging forgiveness for a transgression that should not be considered wrong: success, greatness. Jim Taggart repeatedly says things such as, “Why does he think he’s better than the rest of us – he and that sister of mine,” (899) in reference to people such as Hank Rearden, and of course, to Dagny. The only cause for these statements, and this fear of greatness, is the evasion of the lacking of it in his own character. The looters attempt to steal that which they could never be able to – the integrity of the
“ Honesty is the best policy” is one of the most well known themes in literature. Themes give a message to remember throughout our lives. The short story, “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O’Henry and the film, “Home Alone”have multiple similar themes. One similar theme these stories have is “Don’t Judge a book by it’s cover”. In the short story, “The Ransom of Red Chief” the kidnappers, Bill and Sam, talk about how they are going to kidnap a kid from a small town, the thought the town would pay the ransom to “save” the kid. This shows that the theme “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is true in “Ransom of Red Chief” because the kidnappers thought that the dad would pay the ransom but he didn’t. In the movie< “Home Alone” the robbers thought it
In "Thank You, M'am" by Langston Hughes, Roger behaved in a rebellious, vulgar, and desperate way while he spent time on the streets until Mrs.Jones’s beliefs in his potential caused him to be obedient and eager to prove his trustworthiness. To demonstrate, "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" (Hughes 3-4). This quote displayed Roger’s ignorant actions since he had bad intentions of nearly robbing Ms.Jones’s belongings. However, it is then stated, “ ‘Do you need somebody to go to the store,’ asked the boy, ‘maybe to get some milk or something?’ “ (Hughes 96).
I think Mrs.Jones handles the situation the way she did because she wants to teach Rodger a lesson. The lesson to this story is simple, you don’t have to steal for what you want. She wanted to teach Rodger that no matter what stealing isn’t the answer. In the story she told him to just ask for what he wants instead of trying to steal. She is trying to accomplish the goal of teaching him that doing wrong is never right. Stealing is wrong and even thought his parents neglect him, stealing for a new pair of shoes is never right. I think this experience will affect Rodger because now he understands that what he did is wrong and he is not likely to do it again. Even though he tried to steal from her she still feed him and gave him money for his
Susan Beth Pfeffer's realistic fiction story “Ashes” is about a girl named Ashleigh, or Ashes for short. Her parents are divorced and she loves her father even though he is irresponsible. One evening he sweet talks her and takes her out to eat, just to ask her to steal money from her mother. Ashes has to choose to help her father or stick to her morals. One lesson the story suggests is that sometimes the individuals that people trust could be using them.
The story ‘‘Thank you, M'am’’ has changed the way I see the word because it tells you you don't have to steal to get something.