How you’re raised can impact the way you view the world. The authors of these three short stories, “Thank You Ma’am” “King of the Bingo Game” and “Am I Blue?”, are African American. All three of them were raised in a society where, to a lot of people, being African American wasn’t a good thing. African American’s were called horrible things, and were still being discriminated against, but some communities were close, and others were not. This affected how they saw the world, and the way they write.
“Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes, displays a theme and main idea of community. A young boy, whom we later find is named Roger, tries to steal a pocketbook from a woman. This woman, Mrs. Jones, stopped him from doing that. She was upset with him, but she took him into her home and fed him. While they ate dinner she didn’t say or ask anything that would embarrass him. Although she does ask why he wanted to steal her pocketbook. He tells her he wanted some blue suede shoes. A supporting quote to the main idea is, “The woman …show more content…
It appears that the main character, who remains unnamed throughout the entirety of the story, moved up north from the south, this is hinted at when the main character says if this was down south. The man mentions the need of money, and that he can’t get a job because he has no birth certificate. Made clear by this statement, “I'm just broke, 'cause I got no birth certificate to get a job, and Laura 'bout to die 'cause we got no money for a doctor.” This need of money puts him in the position of playing bingo in order to win the jackpot. Ellison, had been raised in a different society than the one we see today, where there was quite possibly few jobs an African American would be allowed to do, let alone if they even had a birth certificate that would allow them to have a job. This way of life created a view he had of the world, which we can see in the
“Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes, displays a theme and main idea of community. A young boy, whom we later find is named Roger, tries to steal a pocketbook from a woman. This woman, Mrs. Jones, stopped him from doing that. She was upset with him, but she took him into her home and fed him. While they ate dinner she didn’t say or ask anything that would embarrass him. Although she does ask why he wanted to steal her pocketbook. He tells her he wanted some blue suede shoes. A supporting quote to the main idea is, “The woman …show more content…
It appears that the main character, who remains unnamed throughout the entirety of the story, moved up north from the south, this is hinted at when the main character says if this was down south. The man mentions the need of money, and that he can’t get a job because he has no birth certificate. Made clear by this statement, “I'm just broke, 'cause I got no birth certificate to get a job, and Laura 'bout to die 'cause we got no money for a doctor.” This need of money puts him in the position of playing bingo in order to win the jackpot. Ellison, had been raised in a different society than the one we see today, where there was quite possibly few jobs an African American would be allowed to do, let alone if they even had a birth certificate that would allow them to have a job. This way of life created a view he had of the world, which we can see in the