Thank You Ma Am Langston Hughes Analysis

     People always listen to music, watch movies or plays, and even read poetry without once even thinking what is could be that helps and artist eventually create a masterpiece. Often times, it is assumed that artists just have a “gift”, and people just do not consider the circumstances and situations that gradually mold a dormant idea into a polished reality. This seems to be the case with nearly every famous actor, writer, painter, or musician; including the ever-famous Langston Hughes.

Maurice continues with the original plan and goes swimming, but Roger hides in the forest and starts to throw rocks at Henry. His intent is not to hit him, but rather to scare him and feed into the fear of the beast. This evil act is significant to Henry and the rest of the impressionable littluns, because in their eyes it is another offense from the beast which is the embodiment of all the boys fears and insecurities. Even though Roger obviously takes pleasure in hurting other people, he is still “conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins” (82) and therefore decides to only throw the rocks in his general direction. Roger’s behavior at the beach demonstrates an overall negative presence which is Golding’s way of portraying Roger as the shadow archetype. This furthers the theme of all people are inherently evil by describing how the only reason Roger does not throw the rocks directly at Henry is because he has not forgotten all of the rules modern society has set. The rules most of society follow are to never hurt anyone unjust and to be respectful and kind. In this situation Roger is not fully savage and still has societies basic rules lingering in the back of his head when he only throws the rocks near Henry and not directly at him. Although, Roger was more civilized, he becomes full savage and forgets all of the rules of civilization when he malevolently kills Piggy. After Jack and the

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Roger changes from a proper British schoolboy to losing his moral compass as the island corrupted his character. At the beginning of the story, Roger is introduced as a dark, furtive boy with an heir of secrecy about him. His original character displays Roger’s potential for corrupt savagery. When Jack showed Roger the face paint, “a darker shadow crept beneath the swarthiness of his (Roger’s) skin” (Golding 57). The face paint along with Jack’s power-hungry influence leads to Roger becoming unscrupulous, showing that bad influences corrupt character, both in the story and in our society today.

One of the most clear reasons for why Ms Jones wants to teach Roger not to make the same mistakes that she made when she was his age is that when they are having dinner together, she tells him “I have done thing’s to, which I would tell you, son-neither tell god if he didn't already know” This shows that Ms Jones has done things in the past the she now regrets because she said that she has done things in the past that she was not

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

This quote shows how Roger’s upbringing, of which he could get in trouble for hurting little Henry, affects exactly how he decides to handle the situation. “Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space round Henry … into which he dare not throw.” (Golding 62). This shows that he still wants to fuel his inner beast yet has been taught not to by the society he grew up in.

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

When the law and his parents were around, they nurtured him by teaching him what was right and wrong. However, when Roger was on the island without supervision, he was no longer receiving that same nurture. Now, he watches what the other boys are doing around him and follows in their footsteps, not getting the correct nurture that is needed. Being nurtured by watching and listening to those around, affects whether a person is good or evil. The way someone is nurtured, determines how they behave and who they become.

Everyone has difficulties and tragedies in life, some more than others. Though when people show compassion, it makes your spirits rise and make your challenges more bearable. In the short story, “Thank you, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, a woman whose purse has been an attempted target by a boy, shows the theme of compassion with an overflowing amount of it. The boy, Roger, learns throughout the story that compassion is very important, and his true personality is revealed by some woman he doesn't even know.

In the short story, Thank You Ma’am, by Longston Hughs a powerful message is communicated. The story begins on an empty street in New York City where Roger attempts to steal Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jone’s purse. Roger has to decide between running away or going with her. At her home she lets him wash his face, eat dinner and she gives him $10s to buy blue suede shoes. All this generosity leaves Roger speechless at the end of the story. He could barely say “Thank you ma’am”. And then Roger never saw her again. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones has every reason to reprisal against Roger, but doesn’t. As readers we are left with the question, why does Mr. Luella Bates Washington Jones take Roger home? I believe that Mrs. Luella took roger home to teach him how to be selfless not selfish. An important lesson we seem to assume Roger lacks.

“I wanted to say thank but, deep inside me wanted to say something more than thank you.” this proves roger wanting to change who he is because miss jones has changed him to be a better person. The story An American Childhood states turning points however in the text it states “I realized my parents didn’t care about what I did means im on my own.” The cause of this turning point is her parents didn’t care about what she did and it caused her to feel

“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.

He just wanted to help but segregation was in the way. In “Thank You, M’am,” Roger makes the decision of either grabbing Mrs. Jones’ purse and run or stay to become trustworthy enough so he can be let free. He decided to stay with Mrs. Jones. Both of these stories show how a little decision can make a big difference.

To begin with, Roger progressively transforms from a mysterious boy to a barbarian over the course of civilization to regression. Roger avoids social contact, initially, until refinement unravels among several boys, and he gets unruly--walking into the littluns’ sandcastle purposely--after relieving his signal fire duties. Afterwards, Roger continues bothering the kids, more particularly--Henry--as he “stoop[s], pick[s] up a stone, and thr[ows] it at Henry--threw it miss” (Golding 62). Roger gives in to the lack of civilization on the island by having the idea of harming a mere, young boy. However, civilization embeds a part of him, and it prevents him from hitting Henry literally. For example, he “pick[s] up a stone” (Golding 62) with the intent of using it to hurt a person since over time, the island gradually loses its authority and order. Consequently, these boys influence one another dramatically by their thirst to hunt or simple goal of survival. In this case, Jack, a power hungry tyrant, barbarically impacts Roger and his viewpoints. However, at home, society reminds Roger such actions are not acceptable, so he “threw it to

So what I'm trying to get to is that toward the end of the story, Roger begins to show respect to Mrs. Jones. He shows respect by listening to Mrs. Jones and he doesn't want her to not trust him for example “Mrs. Jones insists that Roger wash his face and she makes them some food. While she is busy, she leaves her purse and doesn't even watch Roger ensure that he doesn't still steal her purse and run away”. Roger, however, is unsure of the situation which is why he says that "he did not trust the woman not to trust him." He is confused and his words show that when he uses a negative action he tries to replace it with a good one.